WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING AN AREA RUG

reproduced by kind permission of www.arearugsforhome.com

Do you want to add a little style to your floor? Area rugs can quickly and easily give rooms character. They add warmth to a room, not only taking the chill off cold floors but also producing a mood of intimacy. Selecting a rug that blends with your décor is not difficult, with all the options in size and color available. You also have a choice between quite a few natural and synthetic fibers. Oriental, Persian, contemporary and Native American designs are just a few that can be found in nearly any price range.

A rug can help to decrease the noise level in a space with hardwood, tile or other hard surface floors, besides its aesthetics and design characteristics. Hand made rugs are the standard for the industry, but machine made rugs can copy the patterns used in the most popular of the hand made designs, at a much more affordable price. Machine made v. hand made, synthetic v. natural fibers and size are all factors that will affect the pricing of rugs.

Think of your floors as the basis for your design scheme when decorating your home. Tips for buying an area rug for your home:

Think about how the room is used, how much traffic it gets and who will look at the rug under what lighting.
Light colored rugs make a room look larger, and a deeper color will lend coziness to a room.
Select a rug with the best combination of density and fiber - the denser the pile (with closer tufting or stitches), the better your rug will wear.
Don’t underrate the importance of padding. It will lessen wear and tear on the rug and make vacuuming easier, and it will also absorb the impact of feet and noise.

Keep in mind that your rugs don’t have to be the same color as your upholstery or curtains. You want your rugs to complement the colors of your walls, artwork and furniture. If your window treatments are light green, for instance, your rug doesn’t have to be exactly the same. The most important thing to bear in mind is that there are no rules and you can opt for the rug you like the best.

How To Choose The Right Size Rug

The most frequent blunder that buyers make is selecting a rug that’s too small.

Leave a border of 18-36 inches around the edge of the rug.
To install a rug in a dining room, start by adding four feet to the width and length of your dining table and work up from there.
A hallway carpet runner should be no more than four inches narrower than the hall and 18-24 inches shorter.

Know Your Rugs

From the stylish hand-knotted rugs of Ancient Persia to the braided rag rugs of the earliest American pioneers, rugs have been part of history and culture right through the ages. Some of the rugs available today are:

Hand Hooked – hooked rugs are made by pushing yarn through the back of a canvas cloth until a design is created. A protective backing cloth is attached once the rug is finished.
Woven/Flat-woven – looms controlled by hand, machine and computer are used to weave this type of rug. Computerized looms can now copy patterns once only produced by hand, such as Spanish berbers. Kilims and dhurries are examples of flat-woven rugs, both of which are reversible.
Braided Rugs – the first braided rugs were made from strips torn from blankets and canvas, and then made into a braid. An innovative mechanized process at the turn of the century turned continuous yarn into beautiful braided rugs.

Persian And Oriental Rugs

Not sure what to look for when buying Persian or Oriental area rugs for your home? Here are the main considerations:

Materials – wool, cotton and silk and other natural materials are much stronger than synthetics. A Persian or Oriental rug usually becomes an heirloom and is hardly ever thrown away, while wall-to-wall carpeting fills a major portion of landfills.
KPSI – a first-class indication of the worth of fine carpet - the higher the number of knots per square inch, the better the rug.
Flaws – slight inconsistencies are the proof that a rug was not made by machine.
Cost – the price should be acceptable for the quality you are getting.

Buying an Oriental rug is an important decision. You must be careful of discounts that appear too good to be true. In due course you must come to have faith in your rug dealer, and this can take more than one afternoon. There isn’t a better deal than the rug you purchase from an honest, knowledgeable dealer. If you’re new to rug buying, your eye for Persian and Oriental rugs will develop with experience, and you will come to appreciate quality that might not be obvious at first.

A fine Oriental rug on the floor is like having art you can walk on, and an Oriental rug completes a room. Rug prices nowadays are fortunately at record lows, and huge collections are available.

Bamboo Rugs

Bamboo and Sisal rugs offer a chic yet heavy-duty alternative in natural floor coverings. Since they are durable they are a great choice for high-traffic areas of your home. A bamboo rug can be used as a wall-to-wall carpet, a runner, or a central rug in a family room, kitchen or bathroom. These rugs offer you outstanding quality at the lowest prices and are available in a broad range of shapes and styles.

How Do I Buy A Rug Online?

Purchasing a rug online is very easy. Look through the online catalog of your selected rug merchant and when you locate the rug you want, choose the correct size and click on the “Add to Cart” button. Most online merchants have secure shopping carts that will walk you through the rest. Many shopping carts can help you prepare a fax or mail order if you don’t want to place an order online.

On the downside, the biggest problem for the online buyer is to determine the quality of the rug being purchased. What’s the pile height? The density? How does it feel to the touch? Are you really getting good value for your money? Samples are not always available and catalogs don’t show quality. The solution is to buy from online merchants that offer an ironclad money back guarantee, so that if you are not satisfied with your new rug, you can return it for a full refund.

Having bought your area rug you will need to know how to keep it looking good and you may also find these hints and tips on how best to utilise it of interest.

About the Author:
Astrid Bullen is a professional writer and rug buff, who helped to create the website, arearugsforhome.com. Her articles offer historical, moneysaving, and other valuable tips and advise for online purchases of Shaw Carpet and Area Rugs.