Every rug we make at Understorey has a story

Every rug we make at Understorey has a story.
But this one felt personal.

When my brother-in-law got married, Sanjana Kapoor and I wanted to make something extraordinary for them, something that would stay with them long after the wedding was over.

There was a photograph of the two of them – beautifully captured, full of warmth, and full of who they are as a couple.

We loved the picture so much that we thought:
Why not weave this moment into a rug?
Something they can carry with them for life.

So that’s what we did.

📌 How we created it

Even though the rug was just 3 x 4 feet, it took 4–6 months to complete.
Small doesn’t mean simple — in fact, the smaller the rug, the more precise every knot needs to be.

Here’s what went into it:

1.⁠ ⁠The CAD Rendering
We recreated their photo pixel by pixel on our design software — adjusting shades, tones, and shadows using over dozens of colours.

Translating expressions into knots is far more complex than sketching them.

2.⁠ ⁠The Shade Card
To match skin tones, fabric textures, and light gradients, we built a detailed shade card… sometimes using 6–10 hues of the same colour.

3.⁠ ⁠The Weave
Only our most skilled weavers can execute something like this.
Because it demands absolute precision in every line, curve, and transition.

Hand-knotted rugs aren’t products.
They’re time – months of someone’s life, woven into a piece that will outlive all of us.

Gifting that time felt far more meaningful than gifting something bought off a shelf.

And that’s the beauty of this craft
you can take a memory, a moment, a photograph…
and turn it into something that will last generations.

This is one of the reasons I love what we do at Understorey.

It’s not just about making rugs.
It’s about preserving moments.