Today we’d like to introduce you to Christiane Millinger.
Hi Christiane, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Christiane was born in Waidring, Austria to an Austrian father and a German mom. Waidring is a very idyllic alpine town and Christiane enjoyed a very close bond with nature in her childhood. Skiing all winter and roaming the woods all summer. Early on Christiane realized that her world was shaped by the strict rules of church and dominant men. This did not align with her sense of freedom, equality and spirituality. After graduating from HTL Dornbirn for textile industries she immigrated to the USA. She worked for one of the premier textile conservation studios in the country, located in Denver. She was immediately deeply in love with this work. It connected her interest in textiles and history. Christiane felt deeply honored to work on some First Phase Navajo Chief blankets, rugs as old as 800 years and and some embroidery textiles, so rare, beautiful and fragile that every move on how to touch it had to be carefully planned. The thousands of different colored strands of yarn felt beyond words inspiring and uplifting to her. To this day she loves the magnitude of colors more than anything. She has a deep understanding on what colors go together well and how to express her clients individuality through color. During a brief visit to Portland she fell deeply in love with Oregon and after three years in Denver relocated to Portland. She continued to work as a rug and textile restorer. Working alongside the well-regarded author and rug collector, James Opie, she learned about new carpets and small business. In 2000 she opened her own hand-made rug gallery in the Wieden and Kennedy building. Christiane will be forever grateful to Bob Gerding and Mark Edlen for their support and mentor ship.
Currently Christiane’s rug and textile gallery in a beautiful AE Doyle home on Lovejoy Street. She is a very proud mama of two daughters, Alesandra and Orlena, whom she considers the light of her life. She is on a mission to make caring global citizens out of her daughters. She lives with her smart and strong husband, her kids and Apple, the dog and Peach, the bunny in the apartment above the gallery. Traveling with her family is a high light for her. It is very important to her that Alesandra and Orlena are connected to her Austrian family and there are regular journeys back to Waidring to visit Oma and Opa.
She is an avid gardener, house stylist, family chef, kid taxi driver, school volunteer and soup kitchen volunteer at the Clay Street Table, seeing food to the underprivileged community members.
She is an avid supporter of the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, PETA and most of all Sandy Hook Promise,
She also serves on the board of the Austrian-American society of Oregon.
She likes to felt, sew, knit and embroider. She loves to admire and collect art. And most of all she loves to collect rugs and textiles and share them with her clients.
Recently the family purchased a thousand year old house in northern Italy and Christiane is busy designing a future home there, enjoying new challenges with language, crooked walls, “piano-piano” life style and being the steward of a 15 acre garden.
Her Motto:
Strive to be both intellectually and emotionally educated. Regard all beings equally with love and respect
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Immigrating at age 20 to the United States all by myself makes for a big, colorful story. I had to learn the details of the american culture, the language, the swim or sink attitude of our society. I had to learn how to raise american children and how to conduct business in the United States. I was game for all of it, but it came with a cost. Trying to succeed in business without a financial education nor a particular talent in leading a team it is a hard way to run a business. I am a classic case of a crafts person, particularly talented in her field, giving all her energy to make her small business work. Combine this extraordinary task with trying to be the best mom ever and a good “CEO” wife, soon enough some compromises will have to be made. I ended up selling the majority shares of my business to another retailer. Sounded like a great solution. Unfortunately I fell into the 80% of small business partnerships that fail. It broke my heart and my sense of identity when this happened, but after a few years of focusing just on my family I started up again and have been happily working in a manageable sized business. I love my client interactions so much. they give me great insight, inspiration and are an incredible outlet for my creativity.
Other hurdles like a global pandemic, wars or natural disasters in my producing nations are complicated to deal with. So are tariffs and economic uncertainties. Really, there is always something. I just keep focusing on my love for my rugs, my weavers, the amazing designers I get to work with and the exceptionally awesome clients I interact with. I feel super lucky.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Christiane Millinger Hand Made rugs is a boutique bespoke hand made rug and decorative textile gallery. We focus on expressing our clients individual styles and help them find ways to express their soul in color and texture. Christiane likes to say “the home is the outward expression of the soul”
we collect hand made rugs from all rug making countries, working close with our revered artisans and rug designers. Our collection features cottage style rugs, tribal patterned rugs and highly sophisticated couture rugs. we also create custom rugs for our clients. Only the imagination is the limit. we listen carefully and watch gestures and expressions to find the perfect pattern and colors for our clients.
we also like to celebrate our community by hosting pop-ups featuring local artists, crafts-women and women business owners. We regularly lecture school groups in design programs. christiane can share her textile knowledge reaching back 10000 years or she can just focus on the task at hand to find the right rug for the given space. After many years of working with her revered clients she has developed a sixth sense on what rug will go well with a person. it is a delightful challenge to christiane to match the right rug a person. She has gathered and designed rugs for up to 8 houses for ever moving families. She also has the pleasure to work already with the third generation of some families. Her interest in the arts, architecture, emotions, style and heritage keeps her ever current on her clients needs. She is profoundly grateful to her weavers, always expertly creating the amazing carpets for her clients. Her work can be seen in homes and offices worldwide. Christiane prides herself for bringing amazing floor art into peoples home, which is beautiful, organic and sustainable.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I am honest and I care deeply for my clients. I have a broad and extensive understanding of my field of work.
Pricing:
- we sell art
- we offer well-being for the home
- we offer incredible knowledge
- we offer home visits to help identify the correct colors and sizes needed
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.christianemillinger.com
- Instagram: Christiane Millinger
- Facebook: Christiane Millinger
- LinkedIn: Christiane Millinger
