Unlike carpets that usually provide wall to wall coverings, rugs cover a smaller area of the floor. With the right choice, this area which you cover with the right rug can be the focal point of the room. With so many varieties of rugs available you could be confused as to what kind of rug to buy. A famous quote goes like this – ‘Problems emerge and some people try to sweep them under the rug.’ But we won’t let that happen as we are going to tell you all that you need to know about rugs.

Here are a few guidelines that should help you be better informed and then take the right decision to buy the right rug for your room.

Types of rugs

Rug types can be split broadly into western types and Asian varieties. They are further classified into antique rugs that can become priceless heirlooms and contemporary rugs.

• Western rugs include those made in Europe dating back to the Renaissance age and rugs from Eastern Europe as well as those made in America.

• Asian rugs cover rugs sourced from China, Persia, Turkey and India with sub-classifications according to the region from where they originated.

• Apart from these, we have Hand-knotted rugs and durries and machine made rugs

If you delve deeper, you will find even more varieties according to the region from where the rugs originated, the tribes that make them and the materials used in weaving them.

Materials

Rugs are available in a variety of materials, natural and manmade:

• Silk – exquisite look and feel, beautiful coloring and shades as well as designs
• Cotton–cool and comfortable, best chosen for pastel colors
• Jute–affordably priced natural fiber, best chosen for its natural shade
• Coconut fiber–rough texture, affordable
• Wool–priceless and antique rugs with rich coloring, patterns and textures
• Polypropylene–modern easy care material with good feel underfoot
• Nylon—very durable and tough, springy texture and tough
• Acrylic fiber—easy to clean, mimics wool and has a rich feel
• Apart from material, there is the style of weaving such as cut pile, loop pile, patterned loop and cut and loop piles, each with distinctive feel, abrasion retention, texture retention and other properties.

Choosing the rug that is right for you

Instead of buying the most expensive and lushly rich Persian or Bukhara rug, stop and think a little. Consider these points.

• Do you want the rug to decorate your living room, the dining room or the bedroom? A muted, darker shade or design and deep pile is more suited to bedrooms. Lively colors and rich florals will do fine in living rooms and stand out in marked contrast if the furnishings are somewhat muted in color. You can splurge on a rug and even buy a rich Persian rug if it does not clash with furnishings. On the other hand, if you have pets and children then expensive wool or natural fiber rugs will be tougher to clean and maintain. Acrylic or polypropylene fiber rugs will be better.

• Where will you place the rug? If it is a high traffic area then you will want a rug that can bear the wear and tear. Synthetic fiber rugs are better in this respect and will be easier to maintain.

• If you relocate every once in a while then transporting heavy rugs can be a chore. In such cases opt for synthetic fiber rugs that are lighter in weight.

• Timeless design or contemporaneous?  If you want to retain the same furnishing for a long time to come, you will find timeless design and style the best. If you like to keep changing your furnishings and decor then you can consider a contemporary rug with simpler design or even a plain rug with minimal design or even consider buying different rugs to go with the décor.

• Cost is the prime consideration. It is tempting to consider antique rugs that increase in value over the years but these can be expensive. You could achieve nearly the same look with modern reproductions in acrylic.

• Hand-knotted or factory made? From a distance it would be difficult to distinguish the difference. Hand-knotted carpets do have an exquisite feel, they last long and can become priceless in time but these are expensive. On the other hand, factory made rugs can offer you more contemporaneous styles and designs. If you do damage it and need to replace such rugs, it does not cause a big heartbreak.