I started at home with my friend, who had graduated in tapestry art in October 2014. We started a business together. I chose patterns and colours, and she painted. That was a time when Instagram had just become very popular and we received very positive feedback. Our first products were frames and then mirrors.

The shapes of products are more modern, but the patterns I apply to them come from traditional carpets. For example, the candlesticks are cube-shaped, but their ornaments are inspired by Azerbaijani carpets.

Colour. The biggest reason for my atelier Zili's success is matching colours and paint quality. The colours that appear on a finished piece please my heart and eyes. Simple-patterned carpets attract me and to me the carpets that have the best geometrical patterns in Azerbaijan are Guba carpets.

They should learn patterns, structures and colours in carpets and tapestry. They should visit the carpet museums and read up on the books. They should study Latif Karimov's book called 'The first Tone'. Almost all Azerbaijani carpets and all the patterns are in that book.