A little word on rugs and carpets

Rugmaking is one of the oldest crafts in the world, and rugs are often made by families who have been in the business for centuries. For up-to-date information on the ancient art, I spoke with Rivky Pines of Wallure & Flure, Nicholas of Rug Art, and David of Martin Patrick Even.

Snug as a Bug in a…

Rugs have always been both decorative and functional, providing insulation and comfort. Though tiled floors are trending right now, carpets still add a necessary layer of coziness. Using a rug over cold, hard materials reduces heating costs.

The quality of a rug comes down to construction and materials. The best rug construction is hand-knotted, followed by hand-tufted, and then hand-loomed. Machine-made rugs are the least expensive.

Rugs can be made of genuine silk, wool, sisal, hide, viscose, bamboo silk, or polyester. Silk rugs are valuable and delicate, and best for low-traffic areas. Wool rugs are valuable and very hardy. Sisal or jute, a tough natural grass, is almost indestructible. Hide rugs are durable but can stain easily. Viscose and bamboo silk both feel cheap and stain easily. Polyester is the best option of synthetic materials.

The Great Unifier

Furniture can feel adrift when placed in large, open-plan rooms. A carpet can both unify and divide an area. For example, it can designate one section of the room as the living room, and divide that area from the dining room. This looks best when all pieces of furniture in the section have all legs on the rug. If that isn’t possible, try to keep the front legs of the furniture on the rug.

Play with Me

Carpets are one of the most cost-efficient ways to reduce noise. In playrooms, the carpet also protects the floor from scratching. And it’s much nicer to play on a soft rug than directly on the floor. Outdoor rugs are the most child- and pet-friendly.

Some machine-made rugs can go in a washing machine. All other rugs are best cleaned by a professional with a steamer. High-end carpets should be vacuumed only with a soft brush — stronger vacuums like a Dyson can ruin a rug. One high-end vendor recommends cleaning wool rugs with gentle hand soap. Rugs can be protected with a fiber seal, but this is a limited level of protection.

Tales from the Field

In 2012, while employed at a firm in Greenwich, Connecticut, I worked on a penthouse apartment in United Nations Plaza. The homeowners chose Stepevi silk rugs for their dining room, living room, library, and billiards hall. The total order cost around $600,000 and took four months to arrive from Turkey. The day the rugs were installed, the family threw a party with lots of red wine. Every single rug was ruined. The next morning, they placed the same rug order again.

The same family took a trip to Africa, where they attended a hunting safari. Some big game reserves allow patrons to shoot elderly animals for a high fee, which helps cover the cost of maintaining the reserve. Importing endangered species is illegal in the US, so the family sent the (raw, oozing) hides to one of their homes in South America. They then asked our interior design firm to find someone who could cure the hides and install them in their Aspen ski lodge. The hides now decorate several bedrooms in Colorado, but the pictures on the interior designer’s website are carefully cropped.

Another Greenwich resident ordered an 86-foot-long wool hallway runner from a local vendor who employed carpet makers in Nepal. Both the customer and the vendor were traditional Jews. Unfortunately, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake meant that the carpet wouldn’t be ready for a while. The homeowner wasn’t pleased, but the carpet vendor gave the buyer a piece of his mind, reminding her that the suffering of the carpet makers exceeded her own. (“Debra, you nudnik, this is not how our people behave!”) Duly shamed, Debra sent a respectable donation to Nepal.

Dos and Don’ts

• Don’t be a snob. Outlet stores often carry bolts from high-end brands.
• Do know the size you need before going to a carpet store.
• Do get a more expensive wool rug when possible.
• Do trust a carpet store’s color samples. Don’t expect an online image to be exact — the color is often off.
• Do check a carpet’s contents for shatnez.
• Do take itchy children to be checked for a wool allergy, preferably before buying a carpet.
• Do check the legality of a hide before importing. Many species are illegal to import in the US, including endangered species, bears, and marine mammals.

Gaining Traction

The thickness of a rug is called the pile. For people with canes or walkers, the safest rugs are low-pile, wall-to-wall carpets. Alternatively, the rug pad can be cut a few inches smaller than the rug itself. This will give the rug a gentle incline instead of a step.

A high shag rug or fur rug can be a suffocation risk for babies doing tummy time.

The Price You Pay

High-end rugs retain value. Like fine art, a well-chosen piece can keep pace with inflation.

The prices listed here are for rugs that are eight feet by ten feet. Rugs listed as this size are often a little larger or smaller.

Silk carpets average around $6,000 and can be over $50,000. Silk-wool hybrids are less expensive.

Wool carpets range from $350 to over $1,200.

Sisal carpets range from $250 to $600.

Solid cow hides are $200 to $500 each. Exotic hides like zebra are over $1,000 per hide.

Stitched hides range from $400 to $2,000.

Polyester rugs can be as little as $120 and are around $250 on average.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 967)