Do you know the difference between a rug and a carpet? Carpet is broadloom, usually woven at twelve feet wide by any length and on a long roll. Carpet is meant to be installed wall-to-wall, although it can be cut into a rug. Rugs are woven to a specific size and can be bordered or bound and are not installed wall-to-wall but allow the underlying floor to be shown.
Commonly referred to as “Oriental” rugs because they come from the Orient these rugs come from many Asian countries. These Asian countries have a long history of producing rugs which goes back hundreds of years. The top producing countries today are these in order:
- India
- Pakistan
- Iran (formerly Persia)
- Afghanistan
- China
- Turkey
- Nepal
Their rugs vary in style, design, formality, fiber, knot count, knot type, quality and price. They are usually made of wool or silk and vegetable or synthetic dyes.
We frequently use traditional Asian rugs in designing traditional, transitional and contemporary interiors. Style matters not as the traditional rug is at home in many interiors, even the most modern.
So how do you size the rug to your room? We generally like to show one to two feet of floor space around the room. But more importantly how does your furniture sit on your rug? We usually like it all on but it could also be all off. In other words a piece of furniture would have all four legs on a rug or all four legs off a rug. But a chair or sofa can have two legs on or two legs off. What you never want to do is have one leg on and three legs off or three legs on and one leg off. That’s a no-no. Also, make sure when selecting a dining room rug that there is plenty of space to push back the dining chairs and not fall off the rug.
There are so many beautiful rugs that range in color, style and price point that when it comes to selecting the right rug it is similar to selecting the right piece of art. But getting the rug right can be the foundation for a beautiful room and it is much easier to start with the rug and build a scheme based on a rug rather than building a scheme and then finding the right rug for your scheme. However we do it both ways. If you cannot buy a rug in a vacuum without knowing what your room is going to look like we will actually design your room and then find the right rug that works with your scheme. It’s harder to find the right rug that way but it helps you see the vision and select the right rug, so it’s worth it in the end.
As always we welcome your questions on rugs or any interior design area, and here are some photos for inspiration!
