How To Buy Oriental Rugs

Oriental rugs and Persian carpets are the be all and end all in the world of carpets. There is nothing superior to the fabled Persian carpet when you are looking for a piece of flooring that is surpassed by none. An oriental area rug can prove to be a cherished family heirloom that passes down from generation to generation just like a carved chest or trunk of drawers. The feel of a pure silk carpet made in the traditional manner can be imitated by nothing else in the world of flooring.

However, oriental rugs are quite costly because Oriental rug making is an extremely labor intensive task. Each rug is hand made and every singly knot is tied painstakingly by hand to create a beautifully patterned Oriental rug or carpet with millions of knots. If you are not really a handmade products fan, or of you have kids or pets in the house that might damage or stain your precious Persian rug, then you should consider going for s synthetic carpet.

Thanks to advances in technology, carpets made of synthetic materials nowadays can look and feel exactly like original Persian rugs, so much so that only the most practiced eye can actually make out whether the carpet is an original or not.
Synthetic carpets mimicking oriental rugs come at a fraction of the price and are easier to maintain. However, if you still have your heart set on the real thing, then read on for our tips on how to buy oriental rugs for your home.

Oriental rugs are extremely costly and making a wrong choice can prove to be a thorn in the side for ages to come. Therefore, it is advised that you first analyze your needs and wants and decide on the kind of rug that you want and which place in the house you want it for. Oriental area rugs can be used to decorate your home in a number of ways. You can either buy a rug with a medallion like central pattern and use it as a highlight in your room or go for repeat patterns. Ornate designs go well with Victorian and other ornate furniture, but if your walls and upholstery are already fussy, then choose a simpler pattern for your carpet. Repetitive patterns look good in passages, in front of fire places and windows.

Measure the area that you have available to put the rug on, making sure that you do not buy a larger rug than you have space for. I bought a beautiful oriental rug that I saw in a fair on a whim, only to discover later on that it wouldn't fit into any of my rooms without being considerably hidden by furniture. The rug has been rolled up and now occupies pride of place in a corner of my store room! Most Oriental rugs use a number of different colors in a single design. Select a design whose colors complement the kind of décor that you have.

The major problem involved in buying Persian carpets and Oriental rugs is that you never understand more than half the salesman's lingo. What is worse is that many of these salesmen throw in Arabic or Persian words that mean nothing or are actually not related to your rug just to faze you further. Since an Oriental carpet is going to cost you a lot, it is a good idea to invest some time into researching the different types of carpets and rugs that are there and learn the different terminologies that go with it. Picking up a book or searching on the net is advised, but if you are not really the researching types, then you can visit a number of rug showrooms as a potential buyer and ask the sales person to explain every term that you do not understand in English. After visiting three to four stores, you will have enough knowledge to deal with the most cunning of salesmen.

Shopping around before you buy your Oriental rug or carpet has a number of advantages. Firstly, it will acquaint you to the lingo and terminology that is used to describe these carpets and you will also get to know about the things that appreciate and depreciate the value of an Oriental rug. Another thing to remember is that there is a wide price disparity from store to store and shopping around will lead you to the best deal. Do not forget to check out online stores, because they might provide you the best prices on Oriental and Persian carpets.

Just like the price of a car is determined by its brand, its engine capacity and the accessories that it comes with, the price of an oriental carpet is also determined by a number of crucial factors that you need to pay attention to in order to get the best deal possible. The three most important things that determine the quality and price of your carpet are its fiber, density and pile.

• The fiber is the material that a carpet is made up of. Oriental rugs are either made of silk or wool on cotton, jute, wool or silk backing. Silk carpets are finer, softer and costlier than wool ones, and carpets with silk or wool backing are costlier than jute or cotton backed carpets. However, carpets with jute backing tend to last longer than wool or silk backed ones, so you might want to reconsider buying a silk on silk or wool on wool carpet. Silk carpets are also tougher to maintain and care for than pure wool ones, but since these are the ultimate in luxury carpets, you might want to go for them anyway.
  




• The carpet pile is another issue that you might encounter in a number of carpets, but which is not much of an issue with oriental rugs and Persian carpets since they are quite luxurious as they are. Thick pile carpets are generally costlier and lush looking than carpets with a thinner pile.
  




• The density of a carpet refers to the knots per square inch or square feet that a carpet has. The more the number of knots that a carpet has, the plusher it is and the costlier it will be. The carpets with the most beautiful pattern and the most luxurious feel will be the one that has the maximum number of knots.