PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVEN VOTE

 4in Studio

 Read Hayko's latest review from The Franklin Report -- it's fascinating!

You have two choices when you go to Hayko's: You can either lug your beloved but tattered antique rug or kilim there and have it attentively restored, or you can buy a new one from the large collection.

Sale items (accumulated over five years' collecting include a nineteenth-century Chinese rug, was $2,800, now $1,800; 22-by-22-inch kilim pillow, was $70, now $35;

An editor's visit to the Lexington Avenue workroom of Hayko Oltaci reveals why good (that is, invisible) carpet repair is expensive. It requires design and color sense and practical skill.

What do you do when the puppy chews the corner of that antique prayer rug you love? When the hooked rug your grandmother bought in rural Maine many years ago begins to disintegrate, can it be repaired? Should it be? Let's say you're a collector, and you've got your eye on a wonderful Aubusson that's worn threadbare in the center. Should you buy it with restoration in mind, knowing how difficult it is to match the colors? You already know that a clumsy repaired old tapestry is worth less than one with holes.