Rugs! and What you Need to Know
I’ve been chatting a lot about rugs over on my Instagram this past week. So, I think it’s time to talk about them a little more in detail and this blog is the perfect space. I’ll discuss the three most important things when it comes to choosing your rugs: materials, size, and pricing. Let’s talk about them.
There are several types of materials that a rug can be made with. There are man-made materials and natural materials. The ones that I come across the most are:
Wool or wool blend
Viscose
Polyester or polyester blend
Jute
Wool is a natural fiber, and of course stain resistant. Due to its origin and sourcing methods, wool rugs will be a little more on the pricey side. Wool can shed in a higher pile, so keep this in mind when it comes to the cleaning of this fiber. This is a great option for high traffic areas such as living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, etc.
Viscose is a beautiful fiber. It’s extremely soft, with a bit of a sheen, but it’s not as stain resistant as wool. It also tends to shrink when wet. It’s a derivative of cellulose, and therefore not as durable as a wool rug. You don’t have to completely throw viscose away, but don’t use it in a high traffic area. It would be perfect for a guest bedroom.
Jute is a woven material that is popular in coastal, or boho, designs. It somewhat reminds me of burlap, but better. Dirt doesn’t cling to jute fibers, so, they are usually pretty easy to clean. It is important to keep them in dry areas since they are not mold/mildew resistant.
A fiber blend is usually a combination where majority of the fibers are wool or polyester, but they use another fiber to fill it in. There are wool and viscose blends where it might be 70% wool and 30% viscose. The same goes for polyester. It can be mixed with polypropylene to get an even more durable rug. A wool blend rug with polyester is a great option for someone who wants a wool rug without the high price.
Hand tufted 100% Wool Rug in 9’x12’. In most homes these days, a 9’x12’ size rug will suffice for a living room. Don’t forget to double check the measurements of your room.
Now that we’ve discussed materials, let’s talk about sizing. The general idea is to make sure all furnishings can be fully placed on the rug. If this is not an option, it is acceptable that all of the furniture’s front feet are on the rug. So if your sofa is 89” wide, you want to make sure that the rugs wide enough to cover that and any end tables that might be on the side.
An 8’x10’ rug would work in this case. If your room is larger and can accommodate a bigger rug, use your judgment to make that call. Review the graphs below to help you get a better visual on what scaling and proportions look like for rugs in a designated area.
Standard rug sizes. Graphic x NWRF
Most common rug sizes. Graphic x HIDD
Machine woven 8’x11’ Polypropylene & Polyester blend. All the chairs of this dining room fit comfortably on this rug.
Finally, let’s address pricing. Rugs are normally broken into two pricing brackets, machine made (or woven) and hand woven (or tufted). Machine made rugs are made by well, machines. Hand tufted or hand woven rugs are made by a person or persons. Any time your rug takes manual human labor, the price goes up. Machine made rugs will drastically reduce your costs. Hand tufted easily have a starting price point above $1,000 for the smallest size.
Was this information helpful? Are there any other questions you have about rugs? If you still need help, reach out! We’d love to help you source rugs for your home (you must need to purchase a minimum of three), and find the best material, size and price to suit your needs.
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xoxo,
Brittany
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