Karaköy rewards walking. The showrooms are on the street, but the workshops that actually make things are one floor up and around the back.
/ 01Start at the water
Begin near the quay in the morning light and work inland. The district climbs, and doing it in reverse means finishing the day on a hill.
/ 02Where the makers are
Upholsterers and metalworkers still hold the side streets. This is where we go with a drawing rather than a purchase order.
Most will not have a website. Turning up with a sketch and a fabric sample is genuinely how the work gets specified here.
Half of what we make starts as a drawing on a workshop bench in Karaköy.Leyla Demir · Head of Studio, SpaceUp
/ 03What to bring
Bring your floor plan, your actual measurements and a sample of the finish you already own. Memory is not a measurement.
- Go on a weekday morning.
- Bring the floor plan.
- Carry a fabric sample.
- Wear shoes for a hill.
/ 04Making a day of it
We run this route with clients before a full-home brief, because choosing materials in daylight beats choosing them from a screen.