Caesar Peña – Head Rug Maker, Floortex Design – Abbey Carpet
The day’s first light falls through the sky window and lands lightly on the shoulders of a man at work. The only sound is the brush of yarn as it passes through fiber. Each pass punctuated by the crisp pop of needle through strong backing. As he works, a neat edge forms along a span of choice, wool carpet.
This is Floortex Design’s head rug maker, Caesar Peña.
And this is the work he loves
Peña came to San Francisco from El Grullo, Mexico 30+ years ago (1992) at just 19 years of age and began hand stitching custom rugs for Abbey Carpet of San Francisco. Today, under the name Floortex Design | Abbey Carpet, he and his team produce dozens of custom rugs every month, each hand selected for its color, pile and texture. And then cut, shaped and finished to the precise needs of the customer.
“I love this work”
When asked why he chose rug making as his craft, Caesar’s response is simple (and enthusiastic), “I love this work!”
And I believe him….
As he leans comfortably against a spool of carpet, you begin to understand how much the work is part of him. Half artist, half craftsman, he enjoys the challenge of working with design consultants to create something wholly unique for each project. Sometimes that means leaving his workroom and going to the home or office where the rug will live. There, he’ll work hand in hand with an interior designer to craft a rug that precisely suites the space.
One-of-a-Kind, Handcrafted Rugs
This morning, Caesar hand cut and hand stitched an electric blue rug on-site to ensure its shape perfectly followed the irregular contours of an exquisite home in San Francisco. Yesterday, he finished a straight, 40-foot span of granite-inspired carpet, big enough to fill a ball room. The rug has the crisp modern edge that comes from his handheld binding machine. It will be installed by the Floortex team today.
Every day, Pena creates something new, fresh, beautiful AND functional. And its success is measured against the vision of the client and the deadline. And that’s precisely the point for Cesar. “Every day is different. Every project is different,” he says with delight.
His rugs reside in some of the finest homes in Northern California – from Cosmopolitan San Francisco to the High Tech enclaves of Silicon Valley, and the open spaces of Marin and Sonoma.
And it’s no wonder.
I marvel at how his fingers flay the yarn and the rug, never slipping a stitch. Creating something distinctive and new. All designed to reflect the best aspects of the room and the rug.
If you would like to learn more about Caesar and the rug makers of Floortex Design, visit our Floortex Design website or one of our Floortex Design Showrooms.
Floortex Design is a family of boutique flooring and interiors showrooms with locations throughout the Bay Area and Northern California.
