Style on a Budget - Part 3

Area Rugs

A new area rug represents one of the best home decor purchases you can make. These affordable rugs come in a multitude of styles, fabrics, and colors. You can use them to brighten a room, accent your furniture, or provide a lively contrast to the primary decorating theme. Area rugs work well in living rooms of course, but also in bedrooms, halls, even bathrooms. There are three broad categories of area rugs.

Persian Rugs

Persian rugs have a well-deserved reputation as the finest in world. All Persian rugs are made by hand. Each rug is a beautiful and complex original, painstakingly made by skilled humans. Many weavers come from families that have been making rugs for generations. The symmetry and accuracy of the complex designs is stunning. A Persian rug represents an investment in gracious living that, with proper care, will yield decades of beauty and elegance to your home.

Four main factors contribute Persians legacy of excellence:

Beautiful colors - rich vibrant colors reflect the use of the finest dyes

Enchanting designs - while each rug is unique there are three broad categories of design, each stunning in its own way: geometric designs, curvilinear and floral designs, and pictorial designs

High knot count - simply put, more knots are better because they result in a tighter weave

Highest quality materials - these rugs feature the highest quality wool, silk, and dyes. The highest quality materials yield the finest rugs.

Oriental Rugs

Oriental rugs come from Asia and are less expensive than Persian rugs. Oriental rugs come in a vast array of sizes, colors, and designs. All Oriental rugs have the following key characteristics:

Stunning Colors - rich, lush colors that blend together beautifully predominate

Beautiful Designs - complex patterns and even pictures characterize these rugs. The religion of Islam inspires many of the designs and themes, giving the rugs an elegant and exotic look

Contemporary Rugs

Generally the most affordable of area rugs, contemporary rugs tend to defy description; there are so many great possibilities. Broadly speaking, however, contemporary area rugs have the following characteristics:

Bright colors

Bold designs and patterns

High tech fabrics such as acrylic, polypropylene, rayon, and wool (low tech but high quality)

Unique shapes - unconventional shapes abound

Who has the best selection of area rugs at the lowest prices?

Internet merchants. A quality Internet-based retailer can carry far more stock than the local carpet store. They have lower prices because their overhead is lower and they tend to deal directly with the carpet makers thereby cutting out layers of middlemen and the expensive mark-ups.

If buying a carpet over the Internet seems unusual, don't worry. (People didn't used to buy computers over the Internet either.) The key to buying a great carpet you will love is finding a reputable online merchant. You want someone who has a solid reputation, great selection, excellent product knowledge, and guarantees.

Continued on Next Page > Furniture and Lamps