home decor shopping in khan al khalili

bib and i are preparing for my return home, and all i can think about is how we're going to finally decorate a place of our own!   no more renting badly furnished apartments, with broken furniture, and broken appliances.  with both of us having design backgrounds, it's needless to say that we have our own ideas of what our home decor should be.  luckily, bib also has great taste, and despite the fact that we differ slightly on our home decor styles (he likes it modern and minimalist, i like it contemporary and cozy), we agree on one really important thing: decorating with souvenirs.  our cultural and travel backgrounds are too diverse to be using any other accents than the ones we acquire abroad.  we already started to acquire some great things on our honeymoon, so it was a given to go to khan al khalili to get some amazing accessories with which to decorate our future place.

we went to khayimayya, the tent making district, to find a kilim.  kilims are sold for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars back home, but just a few hundred pounds here.  the prices in morocco and turkey reflect tourist demand, but the same rugs right here in cairo are a fraction of the price.  when i was in morocco, i tried desperately to find a rug worth buying.  i was willing to pay up to $2,000 and visited 8 shops to look at the various selections, but couldn't find anything i loved.  but when we were in khayimayya, i found THE most beautiful rug i've ever seen.  i couldn't get over the beautiful, bright colors, the fun patterns, and the gorgeous linen that was used to weave the exceptional quality rug. i was struggling to pass this one up, but we don't have a place for it.  it doesn't fit our color scheme, and i couldn't think of a justification for the extra weight in my bags.  although, now that i think of it, i should go back and buy it, and just keep it here with bib's parents until next time.  i can't stop thinking about it.

several dozen carpets later, we chose another stunning, more neutral rug, to be used adjacent to the more colorful and traditional rug we bought in siwa together last year.

rug we bought in siwa last year

we also bought a stunning chess and backgammon set that was so worth going over budget for.  

stunning hand-made details

just as beautiful and ornate inside

finally, we bought a beautiful inlay picture frame that we plan to put one of our engagement pictures at the pyramids, in.  

there are 7 suitcases, 4 carry ons, and a cat making their way back to the US.  and of those 7 suitcases, 2 of them are home decor souvenirs from here or our honeymoon.

maybe i should go back and get that rug...