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Choosing the right rug
Only you know the ambience and statement you wish to create whether it be tranquil, traditional, minimalist or bold. Fortunately, at the Rug Centre there is a huge and varied stock from which to choose.
Choosing the right rug involves getting the right size, colours and tones as well as rug design for your setting be it home or work. The right rug transforms your room bringing together your furniture and soft furnishings and lighting.
It is a luxury if you are able to begin creating the feel of your room based around a rug you love, and although starting from an empty room is the ideal, for most this is not always possible.
Lounge
Is the rug going to sit inside the sofas, partially under the sofas or beyond them? Always leave a frame of your flooring around the rug. Not only does this enhance the rug but it would be shame to cover all of the floor.
Bedroom
The options when buying for a bedroom are one very large rug or 2-3 smaller related rugs.
If you buy one large rug remember that the border patterns will be seen more than the centre of the rug, so choose a rug where you love the border patterns.
Your rug could lie fully beneath or partially under the bed, but with enough showing at the foot end and sides.
Alternately, you might prefer a runner for either side of the bed and if you have the space a smaller rug at the foot of the bed.
Dining room
A rug under you table whether it is square, oblong or round needs to be big enough for you to pull your dining chairs out from the table without the legs of the chair passing over the edge of the rug. If the rug is not big enough, eventually with the chairs being pulled in and out over the edge of the rug, cause wear and damage will occur.
Once you have decided which size option suits your room take the smallest and largest measurements the rug could be, giving you a range to work within. If you are not sure about size dimensions we can visit you and measure up or advise.
From experience working with many, many customers over the years, we know how difficult it is to be sure of choosing the right rug.
If you are not confident to buy directly from our online shop there is always the option of visiting our showroom and warehouse. You may prefer to borrow a selection to try in your home. If the rugs are very big we can help with this.
Alternately, contact us. We can then make suggestions for rugs which will enhance your room by sharing virtual images, some of which may not have occurred to you.
A handmade rug is for keeping so getting the perfect rug for your needs is paramount.
Home Viewing
We are able to help you select the ideal hand-made rugs for your home from our wide range of sizes, colours and designs.
If you need advice our experts can pick out a selection for you. It helps us to know your approximate dimensions and any textiles and décor style. There is no obligation to buy but experience has taught us that seeing rugs in your own setting help you to decide which is absolutely perfect and which is not quite right (and why).
If you are within a 50 mile radius to our showroom we are happy to help with measuring, as well as bring a selection of rugs to try out in situ before making any commitment to buy.
- Tell us dimensions, colour, pattern, style ideas
- We select a collection of rugs
- We bring rugs to your home
- We arrange the rugs with your furnishings
- You see them in situ
Traditional Restoration
Over time a rug can become damaged, worn or even chewed away by a pet. All of our restoration processes are completed by hand methods only.
Fringe:
We can restore the fringe ends of a rug using a process called 'end stopping' which stabilises the fringe to prevents loss or further loss of the hand knotted pile pattern and rejuvenates the look of the rug or we can 're-fringe’ a full or partial edge.
Sides:
As with the fringe ends, the side binding/whipping of a rug can become worn, eventually, if not repaired, leading to erosion of the actual hand knotted pile. When we repair a damaged edge we call this process ''side binding'' applying to a partial or full side edge.
Pile:
The pile can become worn away in ''high use/traffic'' areas of the rug. Eventually leading to a hole, rip or area where only the warp strands are visible. The restorer advises which options are appropriate to restore the pile depending on the worn or damaged area. All the natural yarns used in rug restoration are hand spun and vegetable and locally dyed colours imported directly to our restorer from Afghanistan. We do not use machine spun yarns made in the UK as these would be conspicuous and we prefer to keep our standards high. Our methods of restoring and repairing stand the test of time and fully blend in with the original patterns. We advise against placing heavy solid furniture on your rug which does not allow easy vacuuming underneath. This is because from experience, a heavy immovable piece of furniture gives a safe undisturbed setting for moths to take over.
Rug Care
Everyday care:
Handmade rugs can be shaken outside if a manageable size, brushed or vacuumed. It’s probably best to avoid using the highest suction and rotating brushes. Vacuum in the direction of least resistance in the pile. Take care around fringes to avoid them being sucked into the vacuum cleaner and becoming ripped or damaged. Occasionally, if possible, turn the rug over and vacuum the dust from the back of the rug. If muddy, allow it to dry on the rug surface before vacuuming, never rub it when damp as this may add a new colour to the rug. If a drink is spilled, spoon off immediately and blot the fluid, again avoid ‘rubbing’’ it in. A handmade rug is as susceptible to marking and staining as any other fabric, the one benefit being that a wool rug which has not undergone any type of chemical process still retains some natural lanolin from the sheep’s fleece which gives some protection. A gentle sponging using a wool wash rather than harsh detergent is ok. Again ‘blotting up’ rather than ‘rubbing in’.
Longer term care:
Over time, if you feel your rug is looking flat and less vibrant, take the rug to a Traditional Rug cleaning specialist/restorer or contact us to use our Traditional Rug Restoration and Cleaning Service. Traditional Cleaning is recommended after 2-4yrs Hand-made Oriental rugs are made using natural fibres in wool, silk and cotton or a combination of these. They are dyed using vegetable dyes. To safely clean and preserve these rugs we advise you avoid using heat or chemicals in the cleaning process. Our Traditional cleaning methods are safer and appropriate for oriental handmade rugs and can bring an old and grubby rug back to life as well as lengthen the life of your new rugs. We are happy to give advice on general care and maintenance of your rug. We offer a traditional cleaning service in-house with option for specialist restoration for damaged rugs.
Sourcing
A rug with a particular colour or combination of colours or even an unusual size rug can be sourced for you
It may be difficult to believe but sometimes despite having hundreds of rugs in our warehouse, we sometimes just don’t have the right colour or right size for a customer. We are happy to source rugs for you. Travelling 3-4 times each year to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran and India looking for the best quality of new and antique rugs and kilims to import to the UK, enables us also look for particular requests for our customers.
Bespoke:
At times, we have worked with individual customers to create their own design, colour, or unusual shape or size rug. This is always possible but of course, because the rug is hand-made to their specification, there is a time factor involved which may be between 6-9 months or possibly longer. Whilst working on a bespoke rug we always share updates and images of the progress of their rug being made.
Trade and Interior Designers:
We work with Oriental rug shops as well as Interior Designers and you are welcome to contact us either to visit our showroom and warehouse or request us to bring a selection of our rugs to you.
