Rugs: Styles from Across the Globe

Stylish and elegant area rugs bestow timeless elegance in just about any setting. Rugs raise the class, the Status of the home and often the mind of the person who purchased the piece. Beautifully patterned area rugs affect the way we design our living area. While you plan on where to put your expensive rugs to design your favorite part of your room, remember to use them as the focal point. Tie the colors of the rug into the color palette of the room. It’s a great way to improve modify both the look and feel of your home.

Now let’s take a look at the various types of contemporary rugs available in the market and allow you to choose the best for your home.

Types of Rugs

The significantly larger demand for rugs in the International markets has spurred more people to design various types of rugs. As demand rises, so does the supply. There are 2 basic ways that supply can be filled: with machine manufactured or hand-made rugs.

Machine Made Rugs: Machine made rugs are manufactured on aseembly lines, several at a time. The periphery or the fringe of the rugs helps us identify whether it is a hand made or machine produced. If the fringe of the rug is sewn at the backside of the rug then you know that it’s a machine product. The quality and delicacy of machine-made rugs is undeniable. They are reliable and durable when they’re made from the proper material. Machine-made rugs are mostly made from synthetic materials but wool rugs, which are more durable, are also available. 

Handmade Rugs: Handmade rugs are the best rugs you can buy. Though expensive, they’re usually worth their weight in gold. Think of how people would react to a hand-stitched Persian Rug versus a quickly made carpet cut at Walmart.

Suggested Rug Shopping Places

There are two basic types of hand-made rugs: flat weave or knotted. Other forms of hand made rugs found in the market (though not as popular) are gun tufted, hooked, soumak, needlepoint, and chain-stitched rugs. Hand made rugs actually have a slight crookedness which proves their hand-stitched and actually adds value to them! The vast majority of  people prefer buying a tufted, stitched, or hooked rug as they are more affordable. The tufted rugs usually have a cloth, or canvas type of material, on the back to hide the glue used to hold the fibers in place.

Detailed Overview of Rugs

One of the first-discovered and most famous Persian rugs or Oriental rugs are found in the Middle eastern countries of  India, Iran and others. The two major categories are classified as Persian City Rugs and Persian Tribal Rugs. Some of the most popular Persian rugs are: 
 
Afshar Rugs: Commonly made from wool and cotton materials, Afshar rugs are smaller in size and have a diamond-shaped pattern.  
 
Tabriz Rugs: Pastel colored Tabriz rugs utilize a Turkish knot in common colors, but their patterns are eccentric.
 
Kashan Rugs: These designed rugs are characterized by their curvilinear construction, and they come in variety of colors.

Kerman Rugs: In 1270 Marco Polo called seeing one of these rugs: “A marvel to see.” They come from the southeastern city in Iran called Kerman. Their designs include mostly medallions or medallion-styled flower shapes.  Some said Kerman was where you could find the finest Persian carpets in the world.
 
Baluch Rugs: Hand made Baluch rugs have been by the nomads of Iran, for 2500 years. They’re often designed with practicality, to be used as saddlebags, animal traps etc….
 
Shiraz Rugs & Wiss Rugs: These durable rugs are great to use where people will be walking a lot, such as doorways and hallways. They’re usually thick and flat woven.

Rugs have served a variety of purposes throughout the ages and they still do to this day. Once you get glimpse of a beautifully designed area rug, it will be difficult not to buy one. They’re rich in personality and culture, and they just might be that missing ‘thing’ for your favorite part of the house.