Y’all…pinch me. What a freaking cool experience I just had in NYC last week! I’ve worked with the rug brand Well Woven for almost two years now, and they invited Russell and I to fly out to New York to tour their Midtown showroom, their New Jersey warehouse…and begin the process of designing and curating my own line of rugs!! So neat to see this partnership come full circle, and at one point I LITERALLY fell out of my chair with excitement! 😂 Let me show you behind the scenes of the process!

*Photos via Well Woven

I spent the morning touring the showroom with the awesome Well Woven team and owner Adem, and we talked textures, colors and design ideas as we went! I learned so much about the work that goes into designing new rugs beyond the pile height and color family. They put so much work into trend forecasting, feedback from customers and really trying to make things affordable AND quality, and I’m even more excited to be working with this team after spending the day learning from them!

Next, we did an interview and a mini photo shoot in the showroom, and, per usual, I was nice and awkward. LOTS of talking with my hands as we know is my norm. 😉 Loved talking about my inspirations, the hopes I have for Cotton Stem and my “brand” or vibe in general and dreams for the future! I’ll let you guys know when the interview is live!

After interviews were done, I got to sit down and really get to work on the upcoming rugs for the collection….EEEK!! I tried to mix in my own style with feedback from my Instagram followers along with dreams and ideas swirling around in my head. It was SO. MUCH. FUN. I hope you guys love the upcoming collection! (Needless to say, this was the portion of the day when I fell out of my chair due to excitement. Sadly…not caught on camera. Phew. 😂)

Last stop of our day with Well Woven was a tour of their New Jersey warehouse filled to the brim with gorgeous rugs! We learned all about how their ordering system works in correspondence with the warehouse, and I was amazing at just how fast an order gets processed. The warehouse crew was so friendly and helpful, and I love how this company even donates returns and/or factory error rugs to causes and those in need. Such a cool example of giving back!

This experience will definitely go down as one I’ll not soon forget, and I was honored by the invitation to curate my own collection of rugs for y’all! The team at Well Woven made us feel so welcome, and I learned so much along the way. Absolutely CAN’T WAIT to bring you guys along with me during the rest of the process….! Stay tuned, and be sure to peek at Well Woven for more behind the scenes soon….!
❤️ERIN

P.S. Mr. Stems got in on the photo shoot action, too. I’ll just leave this here…😉