Oriental Rugs – A Buyers Guide

If you’re thinking of buying an Oriental rug, you may find the following buyers guide a good place to start.

How Do I Choose an Oriental Rug which suits my Home?
The great thing about Oriental rugs is that they look natural in almost every room of the house. The most usual places to find them are the living room, dining room and bedroom, but once you have developed a passion for Oriental rugs, you will discover rugs in foyers, family rooms and studies, runners in corridors and on steps, and even smaller mats in bathrooms work well! Since handmade Oriental rugs are proven to be superior to machine-made carpeting, they last longer even in high traffic areas such as corridors and elevators.

What Colour Oriental Rug Should I Choose?
The colour scheme of an Oriental rug is usually the most important factor in choosing where to place it. The colours of the rug need not be exactly the same as the curtains or upholstery, they should just echo them in some manner, and be in the same range of primaries or earth tones.  Even a modern home can be enhanced by the popular traditional designs in Oriental rugs but they key is to get the right colour match. The most important thing is that the Oriental rug does not clash, in either colour or pattern, with any other fabric in the room.

What Oriental Rug Design Should I Choose?
When choosing an appropriate design for your Oriental rug, consider how you are going to use the rug?  If the centre of the rug is going to be very visible, a medallion or central motif or scene is a good choice.  If, however, the centre of the rug is going to be underneath a table or bed, it would be better to chose one with a repetitive design or one where the most detail and interest is in the borders. Very colourful Oriental rugs with busy designs can bring a subdued room to life; simple designs and a limited colour palette are better in a room that is already colourful and busy.  Geometric designs work best in new or modern homes, and curvilinear designs are more appropriate for old and traditional homes. 

Useful Information to Consider When Buying an Oriental Rug
The most important thing to remember is that there are no rules to buying an Oriental Rug, other than that you should be pleased with the look and quality of the rug you choose. Below are some more points to help with the buying process:
Natural materials - such as wool, cotton and silk have much greater durability than synthetics. They will never release chemical gases, as most synthetics eventually do, and are also innocent of other environmental concerns, like causing allergies, pollution, etc.
KPSI - Knots per square inch is a good indication of the quality and value of a fine carpet, the higher the number the bett er the Oriental rug.
Price - It is often said that Oriental rugs are ‘perfectly imperfect’. Slight inconsistencies are the proof that a rug was not made by machine. Even if an Oriental rug is coming out perfectly, the weaver will usually make an intentional mistake, in line with the belief that only the Supreme Being can make something that is perfect.
For further information about buying Oriental rugs, please contact Karel Weijand on 01252 726215 or email: carpets@karelweijand.com