Where can I purchase Middle Eastern or Central Asian blankets/quilts/bedspreads?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve decided to decorate my little apartment in a Turkish style, to commemorate the months I spent in Istanbul. Living as I do in New York City, I naively thought that if I could find furnishings anywhere in America, it’d be here. I already own a Turkish rug from Selcuk, a Turkish wall hanging, and a couple of other accent pieces. But it quickly became apparent that decorating in a strictly Turkish style was completely impossible, so I expanded my search to Persian, Arabic, Kazakh, Uzbek, Azeri, Kurdish, and other Middle Eastern and Central Asian cultures. Basically, I want a room that is rich in color and lavish and warm.

My biggest problem so far is finding a blanket, bedspread, or quilt to go on my bed. You can find rugs aplenty in stores or online, as well as wall hangings, but the only blankets I can find are either cheapo polyester, or antique masterpieces with eye-popping prices. All I want is a Turkish yorgan with a pretty pattern, or failing that, a blanket or quilt from another, adjacent culture. It doesn’t have to be antique, and in fact I’d rather not spend a cool grand on a 200-year-old blanket that’s too valuable and ancient to sleep with, anyway. I searched etsy, ebay, fair trade groups, commercial sites, all to no avail. I don’t know if there’s something I’m missing, or if these products simply cannot be purchased online. I prowled around ‘Little Egypt’ on Steinway St. here in Queens, and although I found a Turkish imports shop (where I bought my wall hanging) they didn’t have anything that you could properly sleep under.

Does anyone have any ideas? Know of any vendors? I’m at my wit’s end!

2

Er…just up the street from me, but that’s not helpful I guess, since I’m in Sydney.

I can get you their phone number? They might ship? There’s actually a couple of places on my street where you could get something like that. One’s Turkish, but there’s a Persian place and an Afghani place.

That said I’m pretty sure they’d have what you want but our dollars are at parity and it isn’t likely to be cheap. It’d be at least $100-200AUD, because it’d be handmade, I’m pretty sure.

3

Blankets and quilts are fairly work-a-day or work-a-night items. They are mostly standardized the world over.

4

Ferah is the store I was thinking of - they don’t seem to have quite what you want, but maybe if you e-mail the owner?

Afghan Interiors might have something, their site is less shopping friendly but they have embroidered…stuff?

5

Ferah is on my way back from the gym, so I popped in. They have no actual Yorgan, but they do have throws, which the very Turkish lady assured me were “same, just the same dahling”. :slight_smile:

I got some pics of what they have if you’re interested. The downside is they run about $100 - $200 each. Add about $50 for postage and insurance.