TinaMarie Bell can really cut a rugliterally. On a typical day, Bell isnt gliding across dance floors, but rather is busy cutting pieces of carpet and fashioning them into rugs she has designed for homes, businesses, and vehicles.


Bell owns and is the sole employee of a 3-year-old Coeur dAlene business called Rugs By Design. Her handcrafted products include entryway mats, specialty-themed rugs, inlaid carpets, tapestries, staircase carpets, logo rugs for businesses, and vehicle mats. In addition, she makes bindings, or edges, for the borders of existing carpets.


Bells rugs have ranged from a simple six-square-foot entryway mat to a 532-square-foot inlaid rug, and have been as unique as a 190-square-foot rug that looks like a miniature Denver Broncos football field. That rug now lies in the game room of a Coeur dAlene home. Her most intricate carpet was modeled after a stained glass window in St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Coeur dAlene. That rug, which now sits in the chancel of the church, included 176 separate pieces of carpet in 15 different colors.


My favorite part about this is the artistic creation involved, Bell says as she runs her hand over a rug shes making that features a mountain scene. Then, pointing to a nearby pile of carpet scraps on the floor, she says, Its amazing you can create a design like this out of junky pieces that look like that.


Rugs By Design carpets range in price from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, depending on their detail and size, but average about $1,000 to $2,000, she says. The majority of Bells customers are owners of new or remodeled houses who want to put personal touches on their homes, she says. Customers also often ask her to create rugs in shapes that stores dont sell in wide variety, such as ovals and circles. Other clients include businesses such as Spokane-based Pondera Engineers LLC, which bought mats for its office, and Bell also works with carpet stores and interior designers.


A lot of my pieces have gone into new homes, where clients want help with coordinating their rugs to have color schemes and textures that go along with the rest of their home, she says. You can pull architectural designs of a room into the carpet.


Bell became interested in designing carpets after she moved to Hayden, Idaho, from Ontario, Ore., five years ago. She had owned a hair salon in Ontario for 16 years and also had a background in painting and textile works.


After moving to North Idaho, she began looking for opportunities to own a different kind of business that still allowed her to be artistic. She heard about handcrafted rugs, and while researching the topic online she found a Seattle resident, Tami Sullivan, who makes rugs and teaches classes on the craft.


I really like working with my hands and liked the artistic ability you can involve in it, Bell says. Plus, because of the growth taking place in this area, I thought it would be a great thing to do.


Bell completed the class in a week. She says the part of the rug-making process that involves carving designs in the carpet came easy to her, thanks to her years spent razor-cutting hair. During the class, she completed several rugs, including a particularly complicated one that involved 63 separate pieces. That rug, which is black with a colorful floral border, now hangs on a wall in Bells workshop.


When creating a rug, Bell first meets with a client at their home or business to measure the area that the rug will occupy, to study the surrounding dcor, and to discuss design options. She then designs a rug using a computer software program that originally was intended for designing stained glass windows. She converts measurements in that software from inches to feet then prints a life-size image of that design.


Bell buys her rug materials from carpet suppliers. She usually uses 100 percent nylon carpet, but also can use wool, which is more expensive, upon customer request. Bell cuts pieces of carpet with a knife or other tools, then bonds the edges together with glue. For rugs that feature inlaid designs, she cuts holes out of the main body of the carpet then inserts the separate piece of carpet into the hole and bonds it with glue.


To reinforce the bonding, Bell applies a fibrous, sticky material, called scrim, to the back of the carpet. She then uses a high-powered air compressor to apply another type of glue to the back of the scrim. To cool the glue quickly so that she can continue working on the rug, she runs a heavy, cold pressing device over the back of the rug.


She can also sculpt images and textures into the rug, using electric carpet shears. Once she has completed design work, she attaches either a felt or rubber and felt material to the back of the carpet and binds the edges of the carpet.


Its very fun when I start a big project, but then I think, Wow I have a long way to go, she says. Once I get into it, though, I have a hard time leaving it to go home.


On average, Bell produces one rug a month. It only takes about a week to make the rug, but talking with clients, designing the carpet, and getting the necessary materials for it also take time, she says.


Rugs By Design originally was located in a 60-square-foot space in the garage of the home Bell shares with her husband in Hayden. In November of 2005, she moved the operation to a 900-square-foot leased space, at 7040 Government Way, in Coeur dAlene, because she needed more space to assemble her larger rugs.


The workshop is dominated by a 320-square-foot white work table thats elevated about four feet from the ground in the center of the room. Carpet pieces lie scattered on the table, while large rolls of carpet sit on the floor beneath it. Shelves filled with tools line the walls of the shop, while two large deep freezers situated on the north and east walls contain the cold presses that Bell uses to cool down the glue.


A number of rugs that Bell has made hang from hooks attached to the walls of the shop. One red-colored carpet includes the image of a rose that has been sculpted into its plush surface. Another rug features a big letter B emblazoned in its center. On the wilder side, one mat has a leopard print design surrounded by a black border. Still another includes a swirling blue, orange, and beige border that is made out of upholstery fabric.


The hardest part for me right now is getting the word out about Rugs By Design, Bell says. I find myself explaining to people what I do, because most people can just say, Well, I sell insurance or something like that.


Bell takes the sample rugs in her workshop to trade shows in the Spokane and Coeur dAlene area, such as a home and yard show at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center this week. She says demand is strongest during the spring and summer, when she attends such shows. She declines to disclose her annual revenues.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.