In five years of designing, I find my next subject is one that everyone can benefit from.

RUGS AND HOW TO CHOOSE THEM.

A rug’s design job is to enhance, brighten and add beauty to your existing floors. I’ve always felt that furniture in a room without a rug seems to float. Add a rug and watch the furnishings become anchored to the room. Rugs create an area, for example, a conversation area in the living room will be more defined. Area rugs can set the character and mood of a room, and allow you to effectively personalize your space. If your room has a slight echo, an area rug is the perfect solution since they help to absorb and reduce noise. Area rugs on top of wall-to-wall carpeting create a “layered” look which is even fashionable in clothing. For an artistic touch, pick an area such as in front of a door or an entrance into a room for that striking area rug. Area rugs can be considered floor art and used sparingly can produce dramatic results. Buy several for each room so you can change your mood or the feel of the room as your moods or the seasons change.

Choosing the right rug for your home requires planning. A rug is a functional part of a room, and has many jobs. Rugs protect, hide flaws, warm up the floor, create a look and diminish noise. The choices are virtually endless when it comes to selection. Since the late 1980s, handmade rug prices have decreased – so it is more affordable than ever to purchase original artwork for your floor.

It wasn’t long ago that custom rugs were for the truly affluent and that truly superior rugs fell into certain design looks. Well, those days are gone. World markets have opened up streams of new designs, and competition and technology have created the perfect storm. Not only do you have better selections, you also can order from broader color palettes for a custom look or have a one-of-a-kind, pure custom rug or runner made precisely to your specifications. CocoBello utilizes several different custom rug manufacturers and can help you create a truly beautiful rug. We can utilize your favorite fabrics or sculpt your favorite motif into a rug. But first we need to consider the following.

USAGE
Consider the room the rug will go in and the amount of traffic for that room. High traffic areas include hallways, family rooms and the entryway. Medium traffic areas include the dining room and home office. Low traffic areas include bedrooms and formal living rooms. If the area gets a lot of activity investigate a wool or nylon fiber. Both fibers have great resilience, clean up easily and are slow to burn – considerations if you have small children or anyone handicapped in the house.

MEASURING
Before you begin to shop for a rug, carefully measure your floor space and large furniture items. The rules are changing. It used to be that chair legs were either all on or all off the rug. Now, either two or four is OK. Sounds simple, but if you think of it from a designer’s perspective, it’s a simple concept that transforms your room with new options for seatings and settings. Have these accurate measurements with you when considering a rug. Remember, rug dimensions will vary by up to 5% from rug to rug. Almost always it is the length of the rug that will vary. Keep in mind that the fringe may or may not be factored into the size that is stated.

COLOR
If you are starting a design project from scratch – find a rug first! The color scheme will fall into place after that. However, this is not always possible. Instead, bring whatever you can in terms of color from the room – ex. Paint chips, pillows, fabric swatches. Try to find an area rug locally. This way you can see the colors first hand. Many rug sellers today offer a “try before you buy” policy. But if you are an internet shopper, beware that colors are affected by the pixels of your computer and the quality of the vendor's photography, so the actual colors may not be anything like your looking at. If you are shopping online, check the company’s return and exchange policy. Be cautious, however, some patterns and designs may grow proportionally with the size of the rug. Colors may also become more intense the larger the rug is.

CONSTRUCTION
Several rug facts reflect the price you will pay for any rug. I’m sure you’ve seen or heard of these before, but may not have known the difference.

The construction of the rug goes hand-in-hand with the durability of the rug. From the front, a hand-tufted, hand-knotted and machine-made wool rug can look very similar. Look on the backside for how a rug is made. The back will show one of three constructions.

Hand-knotted
• With a hand-knotted rug, weavers individually tie thousands of knots to create the design which can also be seen clearly on the back of a hand-knotted rug.
• The fringe is an extension of the warp strings on the back of the rug.
• The knots are what keep the other knots in place, not the backing.
• Hand-knotted rugs have edges that are hand finished.
• A hand-knotted rug has “imperfections” in color and design. You can often see where the knots have been tied off.

Knots per square inch or KPSI is also the knot density figure. This count measure quality. KPSI ranges from approximately 40 knots to more than 2,000 knots per square inch. A KPSI of between 100-160 is considered to be very good. A 9’x12’ rug with over 180 knots per inch can require over 3.500 hours of labor.

Hand-Tufted
• Hand-tufted rugs are made by hand with a tufting gun that is put into a pre-marked canvas.
• A hand-tufted rug can be easily identified because it always has a cotton backing glued to the scrim on the underside, which protects the floor.

Machine-Made
• Machine-made rugs have an over-stitch pattern across the back of the entire rug, which blurs the overall design and colors.
• The fringe is sewn on instead of being an extension of the warp strings.
• The overstitching holds the knots in place on the selvedge. This can be seen on the machine cast edges.
• The warp and weft threads are in perfect straight lines.
• Machine-mades made of wool can be equally as durable, with patterns rivaling many handmades, however they rarely increase in value with age.

MAINTENANCE

All rugs – whether machine made, hand made, small rug or a large rug carpet – will last long and retain value through the years if properly cleaned and cared for.

There are protective sprays on the market that protect a rug from soaking spills into the fibers. However, some rugs are prepped with these chemicals by the store or manufacturer, and some fibers and some sprays may not work well together. Ask you rug seller before taking this step.

Floors under area rugs as well as the rug itself can change color over time. Turn rugs 90 to 180 degrees annually (depending on the shape) to even out sun exposure as well as alternating wear patterns.

Frequent vacuuming will keep rugs looking good, but be careful of the fringe.
Don’t forget to cushion under the rugs. There are many kinds of cushions from soft to firm with characteristics ranging from no-slip to those with built-in moisture barriers and odor and stain fighting technologies. So, cushion’s a lot more than a softer feel under foot. It helps your rug look new longer.

Terminology

Acrylic - Acrylic is a synthetic fiber blended with other fibers to simulate the look of wool, but at a much lower cost.
Aubusson - Aubusson rugs were originally flat-woven tapestries made in France.  The designs are now mostly made in China and India and are hand-carved, creating an embossed look.  They traditionally have a Victorian look and feel.
Axminster - An axminster rug has a stiff backing and a soft,colorful pile.  Axminster was named after the town in England, and usually contains a complex pattern.  Axminster rugs must be rolled length-wise.
Backing - The underside of the rug can be made from many types of materials, including wool, cotton or synthetic fibers.  A rug may contain both a primary and secondary backing.
Carpet - A rug that measure 8x10 feet or larger is referred to as a carpet.
Cut Pile - When the yarn in cut, the ends of yarn form the rug's pile.
Density - The density of a rug is measured by counting the number of knots in a square inch.  The higher the density, the higher the quality and price.
Dozar - A dozar rug measures 4.5x7 feet.
Fiber - Area rugs are made using either natural or synthetic fibers, which determines the durability of the rug.  Natural fibers such as wool provide soft, low luster colors and long-term durability.  Synthetic fibers provide brilliant colors, softness, easy maintenance and value.
Natural fiber rugs - Made of sisal, jute, seagrass, coir or bamboo, natural fiber rugs are often used in casual settings such as a porch or family room.
Nylon - Nylon is a man-made material and is extremely strong.  It does not absorb moisture, resists abrasion and has an elastic quality.
Olefin - Olefin is also known as Polypropylene.  It is highly resistant to moisture, mildew and abrasion.  It is a strong fiber, colorfast and quick drying.  Olefin area rugs are lightweight and inexpensive, but do not hold up well in high traffic areas.
Oriental rug - Strictly defined, an Oriental rug is one that is hand knotted in Asia.  This category includes Persian rugs.
Persian rug - A Persian rug is one that is made within the borders of Iran.
Pile or Nap - The individual strands of fibers that stand upright form a rug is called pile.
Prayer Rug - A prayer rug is a small rug that often has a temple-like motif that Muslins face to Mecca when praying.
Rayon - Rayon is a man-made material that resembles silk.  Rayon will melt if exposed to an open flame.
Rugophile - A person that collects hand-knotted rugs.  The collectors typically are concerned with the investment value of the rug, and are particularly interested in a rug's origin and design, that the wool was dyed naturally and that it has a good KPSI count.
Runner - A runner is long rug that measures two to three feet wide and seven to 14 feet long.
Scatter - A scatter rug measures 3x5 or 4x6 feet.
Scrim - A scrim is the backing of a hand-tufted rug, which holds the yarn in place.
Selvedge - The finished edges of a rug is called selvedge and prevents unraveling.
Wilton Woven- Wilton Woven rugs are produced on a special machine-operated loom.