Tan Boon Liat Building : Carpet Shops Guide

Are you looking for carpets in Singapore? 

If you looking for a fancier carpet that is unique and unlike the mass-produced carpets from Ikea, there are a few shops you can head out to. These shops are often standalone and located at various locations in Singapore. There are also plenty of carpet shops on Arab Street, but from personal experience, their prices for carpets can be pretty high compared to similar quality found elsewhere.

The best one-stop location to look for carpets is Tan Boon Liat Building.

Tan Boon Liat Building is a place well known for its eccentric mix of furniture shops. From mid to high-range furniture to accessories shops, you can get everything you want for your house in one location.

If you are looking for rugs and carpets, 7 dedicated carpet shops are on the premise. Additionally, some furniture shops also provide rugs as part of their collection. However, we decided to omit these from the list due to the limited range of carpets. 

Here is a guide to all the dedicated carpet shops found in Tan Boon Liat Building, sorted by their current level. We visited each one to gauge the level of service, the quality of carpets and the prices.

Hassan's Carpets Pte Ltd
#02-06

Hassan's Carpets sell mostly traditional luxury handmade carpets from India. The selection here is limited if you want something more modern or abstract. Rugs can be found in various sizes. They do offer carpet comparison service where you are allowed to take home 2 or more carpets to compare before making up your mind.

The retail prices of the carpets here are on the high side, but we were offered discounts of 50% without bargaining for it. This makes it more affordable. In terms of service, the staff were friendly and most willing to show you the collection. You can also customise your own bespoke carpets here.

Jehan Gallery
#03-08

Jehan Gallery is a family business and has claimed to be around since the 1750s!

It has a wide selection of modern and traditional classics and has over 20,000 pieces of Oriental carpets in stock. Their collections are handmade. In terms of prices, they are equal if not slightly pricer to the competitors. The final price, though, would depend on your chosen carpet quality. We spotted some cowhide carpets there, a rare sight in this building.

We like the selection of modern carpets and can see the quality they offer. Service-wise, the staff was knowledgeable and willing to share his expertise on the carpets.

Nasser Nishaburi
#04-05

Nasser Nishaburi sells handmade and machine-made carpets. However, it does have a sister shop on the same floor - Rugs. sg that sells machine-made carpets. Selection is leaning towards traditional and vintage rugs with a decent range of modern rugs.

Like Jehan Gallery, it prides itself on having links to the rug industry since 1750. The owner is a friendly chap who shares honest views, such as the difference between machine-made and handmade rugs.

Rugs. sg
#04-07

Rugs. sg sells machine-made rugs. They have a decent collection of modern, classic and heritage rugs. Even though most of the rugs are machine-made, their design is unique to the shop as we had not seen similar designs elsewhere.

In terms of pricing, it is priced lower than hand-made rugs but higher than your Ikea rugs. However, this range of machine-made rugs is a class better in terms of quality compared to those you would find at Ikea.

Samad & Sons
#05-01

This is a small corner shop, but one that is packed with a mix of handmade and machine-made carpets.

 

It offers both traditional and modern carpets. There is a shop on Arab Street with the same name, but we are unsure if they belong to the same company.

Gabbet Carpets
#10-01

Gabbeh Carpets has 2 showrooms in Singapore. One at The Furniture Mall and the other at Tan Boon Liat Building. They sell mainly machine-made carpets.

We spotted a carpet that we had previously chanced upon at Hipvan. A Valentine High Pile Rug that retails at $899 at hipvan. For reference, the same rug retails for more than twice the price before the discount. This was not the only design we spotted, as there are other similar ones in the shop.

The Orientalist 
#12-03

]The best experience we had was probably the last one. The Orientalist sells hand-knotted carpets and has a good selection of modern and Persian carpets.

While the quoted prices were similar to the rest of the shops, we were pleasantly surprised that some hand-knotted carpets retailed at half the prices. While the selections were limited in quality, they were close to the higher-priced section. The staff were friendly too, showing us carpet after carpet that is within our price guide. 

We felt very welcome in the shop and loved the range of modern handmade carpets.

Furniture shops that sell carpets

Other shops sell furnishing, as well as carpets. However, these shops sell ready-made carpets, and the selection is not as extensive as that of dedicated carpet shops. As such, we will omit them from this list.

Tan Boon Liat Building is a must-go place if you are carpet hunting. Good luck in finding what you want here!

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