each week, their guests would find a rug or two to buy....and so would Fred and Sharon. After hosting a thousand guests over the years, and finding the visitors a thousand rugs, they found that they had accumulated a thousand rugs themselves.

Turning adversity to advantage, the couple decided to open a rug and textile retail business once they retired, in hopes of seeing the piles of their personal collection diminish as their rugs and textiles found new homes. While this has happened to some degree, the business has turned out to be an excellent excuse to keep traveling and collecting wonderful rugs and textiles....making the piles in their shop increase in size, rather than decrease.

Sharon , in addition, took advantage of an interest in ethnic jewelry to find and sell both old and new pieces in the Langley shop. She also began to design and make jewelry, and, most recently, has opened a section offering unusual beads from different countries.

Fred and Sharon are members of the National Textile Museum and have loaned their rugs and textiles to a number of exhibitions. They are both rug and textile educators and periodically give public lectures and lead discussions of various types of rugs and textiles. Their particular interest is Central Asian cultures; they have both a full sized yurt that can often be seen in the yard at their shop in Langley , and a large replica yurt, which has been on loan to museums in Washington DC .

Having hand-knotted rugs and textiles of interest to both the serious collector as well as to individuals interested in wonderfully vibrant tribal rugs and textiles, the Lundahl's shop on scenic Whidbey Island north of Seattle is a worthwhile destination for anyone interested in handicrafts and domestic items from other cultures.