Area Rugs Blog

There are area rugs and there are more area rugs, and then there is that one rug that blends perfectly into your room. The trick lies in knowing how to choose. You have to keep a lot of things in mind while choosing that ideal area rug for your home. Whether it is the color, the texture or the design, you have to consider each of these and see how snugly they fit into the general decor of your room before you buy your area rug.

10 Easy Tips to choose area rugs from a vast selection.

So let’s check out some easy tips that can come handy while choosing area rugs for home decorating.

Color:

The first thing that’s important about an area rug is its color. The color of the rug you choose must be in tune with the color of the place you’re going to place that rug in. You should not forget that color coordination creates the vital bond between your room and the rug. Thirty percent of a room’s color is dominated by the color of the floor covering. If you want the area rug to be the center ‘color bank’ for your room, choose the paint color of your room according to the colors of the area rug.

For instance, choose a rug that has patterns with multiple, distinct colors. Then you can plan your room’s color scenario around the colors of that area rug and even extend the plan to other rooms with different rugs while keeping the rug colors complementary to each other. If you want area rugs that conform to your room’s general appearance, then you may want to opt for low key tones and designs that easily blend in your room’s decor while adding a new dimension to it. A textured rug is a really great choice when you want to provide a backdrop for your furnishings. You can use textured rugs that are slightly darker or lighter than the wall color to create a subtle color movement in the background.

Design:

After color, the second aspect that counts is the design of the area rug. While area rugs as a whole are an extension of the owner’s personality; the design of the rug can easily be termed as the most visual way of achieving that. Be it contemporary or traditional, both styles account for your self-expression and taste. Geometric patterns are best suited for modern settings; whereas traditional floral patterns are the ones you can use to enhance the English garden feel. When mixing patterns, it is important to remember that either the color or the pattern should be in sync with each other. This helps in binding the décor of your rooms. Another thing to note is that patterned area rugs are far better at hiding stains than solid colors. So you may want to place one under your dining table, where spills are likely to occur!

Karastan Artworks, Plum Blossom

Texture:

The texture of an area rug matters a lot in choosing the right one, too. It is the key feature that adds to the room’s warmth. The way the rug feels, literally adds to the feel of the room. A wool rug adds warmth and definition to a room that has shiny or smooth surfaces. What you can do with this is aim to get a balance of textures. Considering the variety of area rugs available today, the possibilities are endless.

Materials:

They can be divided into two categories, natural and man made. By far, the material that dominates the world of area rugs is wool. Wool rugs are elegant in texture, highly durable, maintenance is easy and they are crush resistant. Other natural materials like silk, viscose, cotton and jute are used. Silk is expensive but is highly appreciated for its luster. The original rugs which Karastan’s Persian Renaissance collection were inspired from, offered exhaustive examples of how silk is used as accents along with other material. The effect is exquisite. Apart from silk, cotton is used as a foundation for many rugs and viscose (which is derived from wood pulp) acts as a good substitute for silk when used as accents with another material. Jute, coir and sisal are also used but though they have interesting textures, they get stained pretty easily. Man made fibers like nylon and polypropylene are cheap and easy to maintain but traditionalists may say that they lack the warmth of natural fibers, and environmentally conscience consumers find these choice unacceptable due to the effect they have on mother earth. We, AreaRugsClub.com, offer Echo-Friendly, or “green rugs” inline with our commitment to save our environment for us and our future generations.

Quality:

Now we can talk about the whole new concept of quality. Various factors blend in to determine an area rug’s quality. The first thing to notice is the craftsmanship of area rugs. They can be hand woven, hand tufted, machine-woven and tufted. To figure out the best option for you, consider the general make of the rug along with the fiber used and the precision in design. All of these account for a good area rug.

Among the materials used, wool tops the list for various reasons. It is the unanimous standard for comparisons with other materials. You pay more than man made fibers but it’s worth the price.

Skill:

The skill of the artisan who has made the rug (and the machines in power-loomed rugs) is another important factor. The skill of the artisan and the beauty of the rug are directly related.

Pile Density:

This, along with the fiber which was used to create the rug, is arguably the most important indicator on how long your rug will going to last and keeps its original look. It refers to the amount of yarn used in making of the rug and how close the Knots, or weaves, are to each other. Denser the rug, the better it will stand up to time.

Finishing:

This is important as wool area rugs need moth proofing and you should make sure when buying a wool rug that it has been done.

Size:

It is also necessary that you know the size of the room where you want to place your rug. For family rooms, it is good to have one large rug with 12 to 18 inches floor space to frame the rug. Measure the dimensions of your dining table if you intend to place one in the dining room. The table should fit within the rug with extra space for the chairs. We recommend pulling the chairs out on each end, then measure from the back legs and add a few inches. Long runners are good for hallways, and you can even opt to put different runner rugs one after the other, but keep the colors in mind. Bedrooms usually demand a large luxurious rug that is heaven for your bare feet, so that you wake up every morning on the soft side of the bed!

Kids and Pets:

If you have kids or pets at home then it is very likely that mishaps will occur. In such a situation, you should always choose a rug that is easy to clean. Wool is the best choice as it is resistant to soil and stains while being easy to clean.

So when buying a new area rug, keep these things in mind and it will help you to streamline your options because you WILL have a lot of options if you are buying from Arearugsclub.com.

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Posted on August 29th, 2008 under Area Rugs. Tags: area rug, Area Rugs, Artworks, color, design, Echo-Friendly, green rugs, interior design, Karastan, karastan area rugs, karastan plum blossom, karastan rugs, Plum Blossom, rugs, texture, wool rug, wool rugs. Comments: 3

These days, you cannot buy an area rug from a reputable seller without being offered free shipping; the two go hand in hand. It is always nice to know that companies care about not only the selling part but also the safe and trouble free shipping of your precious area rug. With the area rug industry growing with leaps and bounds, the aim shifts from only selling the product to creating a new bond between the company and it’s valued customer, you. Free shipping is one of the most important values that can be added to the selling of a product. Customers love it, and when it comes to be a matter of choice, they will always go for that area rug which comes with free shipping.

AreaRugsClub.com offers free shipping and no tax!

Speaking of area rugs, the limits to your choice are endless. From the representation of your whimsical desire to pure class and elegance, the area rug of today provides for all of that with little or rather no difficulty at all. With the shattering of the barrier between the machine woven area rug and the handmade, the diversification in terms of quality, style and design is wondrous. And, the best part is that you don’t have to pay a single cent to ship it to anywhere you want. They have not started fedexing to moon at the time of this writing, but if there were people up there, and they were buying area rugs, I wouldn’t be surprised if these dealers offered free shipping. In today’s competitive market, that is, to reiterate, one of the best values that a seller can add to that splendid rug for your home décor.

Do not be under the impression that you have to spend a lot of money in order to elevate the mood of your home to a new exquisite height. An area rug does the job with acute precision. Brands like the famous Karastan sell affordable area rugs that will simply blow your mind. Though Karastan manufactures machine made rugs; don’t get fooled with that, because when placed beside a handmade rug, even the experts have doubts deciding which one is the machine-made one and which the handmade. To create something like this, a complete mimicry of human artwork, this is sheer mechanical excellence. It is not though that Karastan makes only machine made area rugs, as they import a lot of Persian rugs and Indian ones. Whether handmade or machine woven, one general assurance that the brand provides you is the guarantee of the quality of the wool, which is used to manufacture the rugs. Karastan uses wool of the highest quality to make their wonder rugs. This is a guarantee that has been there since 1928 and they intend to keep it that way, with no compromises on this one, ever.

Discount rugs are available from most dealers and you’d be amazed to see the level of quality you can get even when there is the discount tag attached to it. The discount is not because the rugs are bad but rather it is the celebration of the goodwill of the various companies as they are out to provide the customer satisfaction and in return, the inception of a life long relationship between them. The free shipping policy plays a pivotal role in developing this relationship.

Choice of material is never a matter of constraint. So what if you don’t like wool? There’s so much to choose from. New materials and fibers are being introduced constantly, in an effort to provide you the best possible option that you can have for your home. For example, manufacturers are using nylon in ways that you can’t imagine. It won’t even feel like nylon to you. Some may say that this is overworking the methods of rug making but on the contrary, it is the evidence of the untiring dedication of the manufacturers to furnish the maximum possible choices for you. They are very well aware of the fact that your home is important to you and it is important that you get an exhaustive range of options from which you can find the perfect one for your home.

Rugs and home; the former complements the latter and becomes the pride of any home owner for whom the look and feel of his or her home matters. This relationship has its own history and the variety of rugs that are found all across the globe are a testament to it. The Persians made their rugs a whole aspect of their identity and so did many other cultures. The explanation is simple, because rugs can define one’s home, add that essential warmth and color to any part of your home. This wonderful property of the area rug makes it the pride of any room and of course, your home. Use a rug to change your home and the way you will remember your home when days have passed across the landscape of time. A rug adds to the perfect home and takes the not so perfect home to the pedestal of perfection. If you own a good rug from a reputable collection, your satisfaction, so far as making your home a more livable place is concerned, is guaranteed.

So stop looking for expensive ways to achieve your goal of beautifying your home, and go buy an area rug. You’ll most definitely end up saying, “why didn’t I try this before?”

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Posted on August 22nd, 2008 under Area Rugs, Karastan. Tags: area rug, Area Rugs, discount rugs, free delivery, free shipping, handmade, home decor, Karastan, karastan area rugs, karastan rugs, machinemade, persian rugs, rug, rug and home, rugs, wool, wool rug, wool rugs. Comments: 4

Copyright © 2008 Area Rugs Club

Wool is one of the oldest textile fibers known to man and because of its unique natural properties it has been treasured from Stone Age human to today’s top fashion divas. Wool has been providing man with shelter, clothing, decoration and floor covering.

But to talk about wool area rugs and carpet I like to go over a brief history of sheep, where wool comes from. Sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated by man. This was a marriage of convenience - man protected the sheep from predators, while the sheep provided man with food and clothing. Domestication of the sheep took place in South West Asia at the foothills of the Zargos Mountains (modern day Iran) around 9,000 B.C. Flocks were a medium of exchange in barter economies. Babylonians, Sumerians, and Persians all depended on sheep. Since then sheep have become an important part of the global agricultural economy.
Sheep also have had a strong cultural presence from ancient times when Egyptians considered ram as sacred, symbol of several gods and mummified them to Mary Had a Little Lamb and the St. Luis Rams.

Wool Characteristics

Wool is a natural fiber given to us by mother nature and no synthetic fibre has been able to combine all wool’s characteristics (see glossary of wool terms). It is truly a nature’s masterpiece of design.

Image Courtesy of Australian Wool Innovation

Wool is Healthy:

Wool does not promote the growth of dust mites or bacteria, it actually contributes to air purity indoors by absorbing polluting gases. Wool resists mildew and mold which are one of the most detrimental irritants to the immune system.
Because it has the ability to insulate against heat and cold, wool protects against sudden changes of temperature. A study conducted by scientists at the Polytechnic Institute of Wales measured the effects of many common fibers on human subjects as they slept. The scientists discovered that the subjects using wool-fill comforters actually had lower heart rates which indicates the sleeper is in a deep, relaxed state.

Natural Resistance To Mildew:

The wool fiber while holding moisture within itself, allow moisture to pass through without retaining any of the moisture in the wool itself therefore it will never mildew.

Wool insulates against heat and cold:

Rooms covered with wool rugs and carpet stay cooler in summer and warmer in winter therefore reducing energy usage. It’s good for your health and your pocket. Wool is commonly used in insulation for buildings, ventilation ducts, pipes, boilers, vehicles, ships and other applications.

Wool rugs wears longer:

Wool rugs wears longer, therefore they retain their good appearance for a long time. The world’s oldest wool rug that is still around was made in Iran in 5th Century BC.

Wool is fire resistant:

Wool is naturally safe and fire resistant. It does not have to be chemically treated to become non-flammable. While it can catch alight, it will not flare up nor support a flame. Because of its fire-resistant attribute, furnishings and carpets in your home are good insurance. In many rural areas, firemen ensure they dress themselves in wool before rushing to fight a fire.

Wool resists static:

Because wool naturally absorbs moisture from the air, the tendency to collect static electricity is reduced. You are less likely to receive a shock walking across a wool carpet and touching a grounded object. Wool clothing are much less likely to cling to the body or generate a spark.

Wool insulates against noise:

Wool absorbs sound and reduces noise level considerably. Wool is used in many places such as home, offices and concert halls to get the best acoustics possible.

Wool is green:

Using wool rugs and carpets in your home will reduce your energy usage. Although there is a close competition for “the greenest” title between wool and cotton, wool production is a lot less damaging to environment than production of synthatic fibers. Wool insulations have been widely used for more than 60 years as thermal and fire protection. Insulation wools make a significant contribution to energy-saving and thus to the protection of the environment.

Wool Rugs and Carpets

Wool rugs came to existence as simple articles of need to protect the nomadic tribesmen from the cold and damp, but their increasing beauty found them new admirers; kings and noblemen who looked upon wool rugs as signs of prestige, wealth and distinction. Wool handmade rugs have been used as a medium of currency in many cultures and just like a fine wine they have increased in value in time. Today wool rugs are rightfully one of the most desired objects in furnishing homes around the world. You can use area rugs to add warmth and colors to any room. Decorating with wool area rugs is easy, probably the easiest way to revitalize a room and tie together your home decor elements. Wool area rugs are highly regarded for their strength, durability, crush resistance, cleanability, comfort, and beauty. Wool is considered the superior fiber for area rugs. Wool has a special oil called Lanolin that stops water and spills from soaking in. That makes wool rugs more practical, easier to keep looking new and clean. Find your beautiful wool rug by browsing Area Rugs Club’s selection of high quality rugs including Karastan, Safavieh and Sphinx just to name a few.

Did you know…

• Australia is the world’s largest producer of wool followed by China.
• There are 13 sheep for every person in New Zealand.
• 60% of New Zealand wool is used to make carpet.
• The majority of sheep shearing is done in spring.
• Wool is comparatively stronger than steel.

Image Courtesy of IWTO

See our selection of Area Rugs. We have hundreds of fine quality wool rugs including Karastan rugs, Sphinx by Oriental Weavers and Safavieh. Your satisfaction means everything to us!

External Links:

• Preparing wool for market
  Wool Processing
  Education and Health for Carpet Knotting Families
  Australian Wool Innovation

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Posted on March 5th, 2008 under Area Rugs. Tags: area rug, Area Rugs, Karastan, karastan rugs, rug, rugs, Safavieh, sheep, sphinx, wool rug, wool rugs. Comments: 1