While wandering around Hayes Valley yesterday a friend and I went into a rug gallery shop on Octavia St. and were blown away by the amazing process of making these gorgeously thick felted rugs. The felt feels so much more dense and durable than an average rug, they all have these wonderfully organic edges, and are probably more than an inch thick which seems so luxurious. The touch of the rug reminds me of the way handmade paper is so textured and thick compared to a typical sheet of printer paper. The shop is called peace industry and features the designs of wife Melina and sales by husband Dodd. Dodd walked us through the whole felting and designing process which is traditionally simple (you can make felt easily by just wetting wool and rubbing your hands together) but of course it's quite labor intensive at this level of the craft. It turns out that felted wool is miraculously dirt resistant, repels stains (but for those indelible accidents it also reacts well to spot cleaning) and is totally flame retardant. I want one! I sure wish we had come across these before we broke down and got the plain wool rug from potterybarn.

Watch their 15 minute film showing the traditional Iranian felted rug making process.