Area Rugs Blog

Area Rugs vs Carpet

Some people cannot make a distinction between area rugs and carpets and sometimes they use the terms interchangeably. When floor covering professionals talk about “carpet“, almost always they mean wall to wall carpet. Both are soft and comfortable floor coverings, definitely a better substitute to tiles, bare hardwood or laminates. However it is not too difficult to distinguish between the two. Both have their own pros and cons:
Unlike area rugs, carpets are secured to the floor, generally tacked or cemented to it, often underlayed with cushion padding. Thus they are slip-resistant. While area rugs cover only a portion of the floor area, carpets cover the entire floor surface. The choice between the two is a matter of preference. Some people want a differently styled covering for each room, one that matches the décor and color scheme of the furniture, one that defines each living space. For them area rugs is the right choice. There are others who go for wall to wall carpeting because they want to be able to walk around the entire house barefoot, or have their children crawl on their hands and knees without having to feel the cold, hard floor surfaces. Besides, they want to give their entire house a unified look. This is definitely an advantage but on the other hand, area rugs can easily be rearranged to suit changes in furniture arrangement, or wall colors.
Carpets are more appropriate for drier climates only, because dirt and moisture stick to them, which can turn into mildew. For people living in a humid climate, large washable area rugs on top of any type of flooring other than wall to wall carpet is advisable.
Wall to wall carpets are hard to clean, so they are not a good choice for people with dust allergies. For them it is better to use polypropylene or washable area rugs.
However, both are not suitable for kitchens because food spills would make them look and smell pretty bad.
If one wants to “install” carpet over hardwood floors one would need to install smooth edge (tack strips) around the perimeter of the room, and that would damage the hardwood. The only way to cover hardwood floors without damaging the wood floor and keeping parts of the floors visible at the same time is by laying area rugs over the hardwood. However, they should be laid over a special type of pad designed for area rugs, which will help protect the hardwood and also keep the area rug from “crawling”.
Unlike wall to wall carpets, an area rug placed in an appropriate position can introduce structure to an open concept floor plan or link disparate furnishings.
If you are looking to bring colorful patterns and designs into your room without overwhelming it, area rugs are a better choice over wall to wall carpets because the latter are look best in neutral colors.
There is one practical consideration to take note of while choosing between wall to wall carpets and area rugs, which has little to do with decoration. Area rugs are yours to keep once you buy them, unlike wall to wall carpeting. You can take them with you if you move. So if you ever fall in love with a wonderful, expensive handmade rug, you can say: “Hey unlike wall to wall carpet, this is an investment and I will get to take it anywhere I want.”
One can use area rugs even if one has wall to wall carpeting. They can be laid on high traffic areas to protect the carpet or used to tie a sitting area together.

Carpets need to be installed and you can't take them with you.

When wall to wall carpets wear out the house eventually becomes patched with different carpeting as worn out carpets in different areas are replaced. Using area rugs instead can save money because cost of replacing area rugs is relatively less especially if you find area rugs for sale when shopping for one. That shouldn’t be too difficult.
To conclude, the choice between area rugs and wall to wall carpets is as much a matter of personal taste as suitability. Being in business of area rugs, we could tell you to go with area rugs however, none of the two is better than the other in absolute terms.

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Posted on November 6th, 2008 under Area Rugs. Tags: area rug, Area Rugs, Area Rugs For Sale, Carpet, pad, rugs, wall to wall. Comments: None

Rugs For Sale: You could save big when there are genuine manufacturer's sales events.

Rugs for sale in a true sense of value do not come by everyday. Good things are either free or very expensive and hard to find; a discount coupon for good area rugs for sale, for example, is something that’s pretty rare although we are flooded with images of coupons in our virtual and snail mailboxes. Not that there aren’t sales going on all the time. Its just that most sales are not really genuine sales at all, but ways to lure people in and dupe then into buying cheap area rugs, low-grade stuff. In these so-called sales, one will find rugs looking like Momeni Rugs or Karastan rugs being sold at deep discounts. Buy them and a few months later these rugs will start looking a few years old.

People still look for sales, because original and good-quality rugs are expensive stuff and beyond the means of ordinary shop-goers. An “Original Karastan 700” may cost in the thousands, and a real Persian rug can be even more costly. People want to have these exquisite things, and the only time most people can buy one is at discount sales for area rugs, like the National Karastan Month going on at the time of writing this blog.

These sales occur when a manufacturer gets overloaded with stock, or simply when a manufacturer wants to advertise their product to the general public. It is best to look for sales held by original manufacturers or by trustworthy online shops like AreaRugsClub.com. One generally finds the best quality discount area rugs here. People, therefore, are always on the lookout for sales coupons. But one must be careful that the sales that they are getting coupons for are genuine sales.

This website is here with the purpose of educating our readers on how to choose genuine area rug discount sales from the rest. We will discuss great deals that are going around, and we will tell you where to find the best savings and the most genuine coupons. You will be able to interact with a community of sale-goers in our Area Rugs Forum and share your knowledge and experience of past and future sales. Have a happy shopping this holiday season!

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Posted on November 1st, 2008 under Area Rugs. Tags: Area Rugs, Coupon, Discount Area Rugs, karastan, karastan rugs, momeni rugs, Rugs For Sale, Sale. Comments: None

Area Rugs: Handmade vs Machine-Made

Have you ever wanted to be able to tell if a rug is handmade or machine-made? If so, look no further! We have put together an easy to read article as well as images, and a video to teach you the basics which always give away how a rug was constructed. We tried to keep it brief and  hope you find it helpful and fun! Go here to learn about Area Rugs: Handmade vs Machine-Made.

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Posted on October 27th, 2008 under Area Rugs. Tags: area rug, Area Rugs, handmade, learn, machine-made. Comments: None

Karastan rugs has announced that its manufacturing plant in Eden, NC has achieved ISO 14001 certification with the International Organization for Standardization. Karastan’s spinning and worsted wool facilities in Greenville, NC have receive this prestigious environmental certification. Karastan wool rugs are one of the best sellers among “green area rugs.”

ISO 14001 is an environmental management standard (EMS) that specifies a set of procedures and requirements. The purpose of this standard is to help organizations become more environmentally friendly. Some of the benefits of an ISO 14001 include:

• Encourages organizations to improve in overall environmental performance and compliance
• Provides a set of protocols for using pollution prevention practices to meet EMS standards and objectives
• Cost savings when managing environmental obligations and increase efficiency.
• Promotes consistency in managing environmental obligations.
• Advances effective targeting of scarce environmental management resources.
• Gives consumers the reassurance they need that the organization’s environmentally friendly claims are valid.

“Conformity to ISO 14001 standards benefits the environment, our company and our customers,” says Scott Mair, director of manufacturing for Karastan. “By making environmentalism a priority, we constantly strive to find better and more efficient ways to meet our eco-goals. These efforts are reflected in products with environmental value and selling power that sets our customers apart.”

Karastan is also proud that all New Zealand wool it uses is scoured by a company that meets stringent Environmental Choice New Zealand specifications.

If you are shopping for area rugs, don’t miss Karastan Sale going on right now at AreaRugsClub.com. Take an additional 20% off already reduced prices. Just enter the coupon code: KNM58 at checkout.

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Posted on October 13th, 2008 under Area Rugs, In the News. Tags: Area Rugs, Environmentally Friendly, Green Area Rugs, ISO 14001, karastan, Karastan rug, karastan rugs, Karastan Sale, Karastan Wool Rugs, wool. Comments: 1

Bedroom Area Rug

No bedroom decoration is complete without the addition of an area rug because it brings warmth to the room and comfort under the feet. An area rug of the right color and design can make your bedroom seem larger, brighter, cheerier or darker.
A rug is something that can reflect your personality and taste. It is thus a window to your inner being. Each rug comes with an identity associated with it, so the choice of the rug and its placement gives you space to be creative. It lets you explore your aesthetic side and individuality.
The practical uses of an area rug can hardly be overemphasized. One of the most popular rugs for bedroom is a wool rug. Wool rugs help keep rooms cool and warm due to their insular properties. They also mitigate bacterial growth and control allergies. As they are extremely resilient and resist dirt, no matter how rough your children play, they are likely to hold up for a long time.
An area rug not only covers the floor but its touch has a soft feel that charges you with a sense of comfort and coziness. Don’t you think that’s the feeling a bedroom should exude? If you have a dog in your house it will simply love it because dogs love sleeping on anything that’s soft.
Before you buy an area rug for your bedroom you have to consider not only the taste of the person but also the color and design of the walls and the floor. The rug should match its surrounding or it will seem in congruent. Here are some rules of thumb to follow:
•    Avoid large patterns if the room is small. They are likely to make it seem smaller.
•    Do not use busy small patterns in a large room. They will make the room feel too cluttered.
•    If your bedroom is dark for lack of light, choose warm, sunny tones. They will brighten the room.
•    To set off the stark lines of contemporary or modern furniture, pick bright abstracts in primary colors.
•    Contemporary designs really shine in children’s room. Bright or pastel colors, simple designs and easy care fabrics are ideal.

Shag rugs are very popular for bedroom.

For children’s bedrooms, it is advisable to choose a rug made with polypropylene— because it is one of the easiest materials to clean and wash—or pick a stain resistant rug or treat your rug with a stain resistant finish. Additionally, if your kids happen to destroy the rug, you know it didn’t cost you a fortune. Tempting though it might be, it is better to avoid popular cartoon character patterns. Children’s tastes and favorites change rapidly as they grow. So instead, pick a bright pattern with colors that can coordinate with a wide variety of styles as your child grows and develops his own tastes.
For fun, pick up a small area rug in a street or checkerboard design. Your child will spend hours playing on a street map with toy cars, or setting up checkers and chess games with friends.

Sometimes multiple smaller area rugs are more appropriate in the bedroom. Place one at the foot of the bed and one or two on each side of the bed. Using multiple rugs can not only cost less but sometimes they also better complement your furnishings. Besides they are easy to adjust and rearrange in case you want to make changes to your furniture arrangement.
When a large rug is used in a bedroom, the rug does not need to be centered, but it should have the same amount of floor space on two or three sides of the rug if possible.

A room-sized Persian rug or oriental rug in the bedroom is also a popular choice. Because much of their pattern will be hidden under the bed, medalion designs are not recommended. Some less busy, wool area rugs from Karastan, Momeni or Shag rugs seem to always be in style when it comes to bedrooms. Don’t miss the Karastan Sale going on right now!

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Posted on October 4th, 2008 under Area Rugs. Tags: area rug, Area Rugs, Bedroom Area Rug, karastan, Karastan Sale, momeni, rugs, Shag Rugs, wool rugs. Comments: None

Artworks Rugs: Karastan Colette Red

PLUM Blossom, one of the twelve-series Karastan Artworks area rugs collection, is a fresh, modern and distinctive rug that offers imaginative statement-making designs in a series of hand-made rugs. A variety of available techniques are craftily used in this series to give a plethora of colors, shades, textures and definitions. Many diverse combination of wool and viscose yarn yield a juxtaposition of luxurious softness, subtle shimmer and textural interest in the Karastan Artworks collection, specifically in the Plum Blossom.

The Karastan Artworks is a spirited design in the Studio by Karastan series. What sets it apart is the use of specially constructed yarn and wool combinations in a handcrafting setting to create carved decorations and fine-grained modular texture. The breathtaking variety of techniques used to create this design element in flowers and trees and other modern motifs makes the Artwork Plum Blossoms a unique Karastan area rug creation. These decorative details are further underlined by the use of cut-and-loop techniques that contrasts yarn from yarn and creates depth and space in the design elements.

The colors of these Karastan Artworks area rugs are strong and vigorous, and shimmer effects illuminate them in a beautiful manner and style. The motifs express various lifestyle interests and draw the attention of the candid buyer and admirer. Karastan has own not a few of these latter with the artwork collection and Plum Blossom.

The twelve names in the series are Bolero, Mimosa, Bistro, Couture, Tango, Colette-red, Colette-yellow, Plum Blossom, Plum Blossom Maize, Plum, Blossom Mocha, Zen Garden and Trade Winds. As these interesting names suggest, each of these in the Artwork series is a unique and novel creation from Karastan area rugs manufacturer. The Plum Blossom, especially, with its slightly faded colors and simple natural designs is very evocative of softer shades of nature. These area rugs are highly prized in various drawing rooms across the length and breadth of the North American continent and elsewhere.

Don’t miss the Karastan Sale going on right now. Look at the previous post for discount karastan coupon!

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Posted on September 27th, 2008 under Area Rugs. Tags: Area Rugs, Artworks Rugs, karastan, karastan area rugs, karastan plum blossom, karastan rugs, Karastan Sale, rugs. Comments: None

Karastan National Month is Here!

Karastan Sale

A sale promotion as big as this from Karastan is always a much-awaited affair, and customers who cannot otherwise afford to buy a Karastan, but must have one, have their dreams come true!

Karastan rugs can seem pretty expensive to some, but considering that they are made in the US under very strict quality standards, environmentally friendly (green rugs), child labor free, with lifetime or twenty year warranty, and are seemingly everlasting, the prices don’t seem to be too high at all. Buying a rug which will not last 10 years at half the price is probably not as good an investment as buying a Karastan that can last many decades but perhaps cost a bit more. Karastan area rugs are the only machine-made rugs in the world that when used for years, you can still get good money for them.

Enjoy the Karastan Sale while you can! Just enter the coupon code in “Discount Coupon/ Gift Certificate” box at checkout.

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Posted on September 23rd, 2008 under Area Rugs. Tags: Area Rugs on Sale, child labor free, Echo-Freindly, Enviromentally Friendly, green rugs, karastan, karastan area rugs, Karastan rug, karastan rugs, Karastan Sale, Rug Sale, rugs. Comments: None