How to pick rugs that will floor you

The day we moved into our 130-year-old money pit, my husband Dan and I went crazy stripping away the old, worn trappings that covered the marvelous bones of our house.

One morning I awoke to find Dan ripping up the ancient carpet to see what was underneath. We struck gold by unearthing wonderful hardwood flooring. But now we had a new challenge: Finding a fleet of area rugs to warm up and pull together each room.

Unless you run into one heck of a sale, area rugs can be a hefty investment. For that reason, once you select a rug, you’re likely to keep it forever. Since you and your rugs will be married for life, you need to be careful selecting them. Here are a few tips you can use to find rugs that will absolutely floor you.

• Love the rug

First, don’t settle for a rug you aren’t head over heels in love with. Rugs are like artwork — they have to speak to you. Don’t be in a hurry or settle for second best just to get something down on the floor. Take your time to find the rug that’s just right.

• Stay true

Second, select a rug that works perfectly in your space. Pick area rugs that stay true to the architecture of your home, reflect your personal design style and harmonize with the rest of your home decor. For instance, if you’re going for a country cottage look, choose a romantic needlepoint rug over a traditional Persian wool.

• Be fearless

Third, don’t be afraid to mix up your rug styles, material and colors. In my home, I have wool Oriental rugs, delicate needlepoint carpets and durable sisal mats all jumbled together willy-nilly, and I think the overall effect works well.
One of the reasons I upholstered my living-room furniture in white fabric was so I could bring in lots of color through accents such as flooring.
I had a blast scouting for rugs in lots of different hues. In my living room alone I have one carpet in navy, taupe and maroon, a second in blue green and rusty red, and a third in turquoise and tan. Sounds overwhelming, but it’s not. Every color in the carpets is repeated in the room’s other accessories to create a harmonious, lively space.

• Always pick area rugs that match your lifestyle.

If you have kids, pets or husbands who put lots of wear and tear on your home, make your life easier by selecting rugs that are durable and cleaned easily.

Because I entertain so much in my dining room, I’ve had more than a few glasses of red wine spilled on the formal Oriental carpet under my table. Tired of stressing out about rug stains, I decided to trade the Oriental with a forgiving sisal rug.

I’ve fallen in love with natural fiber rugs because they are attractive, durable and affordable. A friend of mine absolutely swears by natural sea-grass carpets because they can take anything kids dish out. Made from salt marsh grass, sea grass carpets are wonderfully water and stain resistant.

One night her teen boys spilled cola on the rug. When she discovered the puddle the next morning, she simply wiped it up. The rug still looked fantastic.

Finally, make sure you size your area rug correctly. I like a border of wood showing in my rooms, so I pick rugs at least 1 to 2 feet smaller than the dimensions of the room. Old design rules dictate that all the furnishings in a seating arrangement have to be on or off the carpet, but I prefer the front legs on the carpet and the back legs off.

To get the rug size right, arrange your furnishings just as they’ll be when you have your rug, then mark off the rug dimensions with masking tape. Be sure to get two measurements before you go rug shopping: the largest and smallest size that would be acceptable to you.

When you’ve found the perfect rug, you’ll be amazed by how it adds character and charm to your room.

By MARY CAROL GARRITY
Scripps Howard News Service

Choose a Wool Area Rug for Your Home

Renovating your rooms with new decor? Then you simply can't do without an area rug,and there is no better material than natural fiber, especially wool. It is durable, strong and adds an aesthetic value to your room.

The very nature of wool fiber enables it to recover well from crushing. These stretch sometimes up to 35% without rupturing and then come back to their original size. Wool is also resistant to soil and is easier to clean than synthetic fiber. The high moisture content of wool works as a natural flame resistant. Though synthetic fibers have evolved over the years, they still cannot match the quality of wool.

Important things to consider when buying a wool area rug are the size, design and grade of wool, handmade or machine-made. The size of your dining room, bedroom or study, hallway or stairs will determine the size of your rug. Next you have to decide the color and type of design you are looking for. Whether you want the color of your rug to match with your walls or are you looking for contrast. Whether you want a simple design or a more elaborate one. Wool comes in various grades. Wool may be from a dead animal or a live one, a young healthy one or an old one. Wool sheared from a live animal is called live wool. Dead wool is sheared chemically from dead animals and it contains no oils and is rough to touch.

Another important decision to make is whether you want to buy handmade wool area rugs or machine-made. Handmade rugs are not only more beautiful, but also durable, they hold their value, age beautifully and last for generations. With handmade wool rugs each strand is tied individually for greater strength and consistency.

The buying of wool rugs may be a complex issue and their uniqueness and originality is hard to judge unless you are an expert. It is advisable to take the help of an expert or deal with reputable dealers and direct importers of handmade wool rugs.

It is important to take proper care of your precious possession. Dry cleaning and steam cleaning are a strict 'NO' for your wool rug. Dry cleaning leaves a chemical in the fiber that is harmful for the longevity of your rug. Steam cleaning takes out the oil from the wool, converting live wool into dead wool. Regular vacuuming is recommended to remove dirt. Proper padding and moth-proofing are also recommended for a prolonged life.

Rory H. Hawkins writes about wool rugs and other interesting topics. Visit http://www.wool-rug-resources.info for more information.