Rugs, General Information About Rugs

There are a large variety of rugs, from new rugs to vintage rugs and floral rugs to Tribal rugs. There are so many rugs to choose from and you may not know which ones to pick. This blog will try and help you find the rug that you want by giving descriptions of a variety of rugs that may interest you. We will look through rugs for small living rooms, oriental rugs, abstract rugs, paisley designed rugs, rug motifs, tribal rugs, and Shah Abbas. All these rugs can be found at Beautiful Rugs showroom, or you can go to the website beautifulrugs.com.

Rugs for Small Living Rooms

When choosing small living room rugs you should consider these things, which rug material works best, who uses the room, where is the main seating area, what is the color pallet of the area, and what size rugs do I need. The rug materials that work the best are wool or kork wool because they are durable, long-lasting, easy to clean and are capable of withstanding everyday wear and tear. If someone is using the room who is elderly or if they have reduced mobility, low pile rugs are safer because they reduce tripping. If children are using the room, pick a thicker woolen rug because it is safer for them. If your seating area is in a square shape then buy a square or round rug, if your seating area is rectangle, buy a rectangular rug. Choosing the right design is a personal reference or it could depend on the area of the rug, if it is a rug for a hallway, you can choose any design you like, due to the lack of furniture. If it is in a bedroom or a living room use a basic color and build off that. The standard size for small living room rugs is 5’x8’ or 6’x9’.

Oriental Rugs

An oriental carpet rug is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of purposes produced in “Oriental countries”, which are often Islamic. They can be pile woven or flat woven which is called, kilim rug. The materials used are silk, wool, and cotton. Their sizes vary from the size of a pillow to room sized rugs and to large sizes or palace size rug. Oriental rugs come from an area called the “Rug Belt”. The rug belt is a group of countries that produce rugs, a part of this belt is, Morocco, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and northern India. It also includes western China, Tibet, Turkey, Iran, the Maghreb, the Caucasus and India and Pakistan in the south. Since many of these places are Islamic, the rugs are also called Islamic Carpets, the term oriental rug is used for convenience.

Abstract Rugs

Abstract Rugs are quite different from your traditional rugs. They do not follow any patterns and resemble modern art. There is some pattern to it as you may see a certain shape or line repeated in the design, but it may not be placed evenly.  Other abstract rugs may have a pattern, but the color over the pattern changes. It is a more modern way of making and designing a rug. They are usually not handmade and are produced from factories not families. Some abstract rugs do not even go along with standard rectangle or square rugs, some being polygons and abstract shapes. The rugs tend to have a large variety of colors, usually staying in the same pallet though.

Paisley designed rugs

These are rugs that have the design of the boteh plant on them, which is known in the West as “paisley”. It is incredibly common in the rugs of many different cultures, especially in the Middle East. Boteh comes from the Persian word bush or shrub. The paisley in is designed as a teardrop. The symbol is particularly prevalent in wool or silk textiles from the areas of Kashmir India, and Kerman Iran. The paisley represents eternal life and fertility, and can also symbolize fire, and the season of autumn. The paisley motif is an ancient symbol that originates from ancient Persia, but it can be found in cultures all around the world. It continues to be a popular motif that comes from rugs made in Kerman, Qum, Isfahan, and Yazd.

Rug Motifs

Motifs are a decorative design or pattern. The last paragraph talked about the boteh/paisley motif. Rug Motifs usually have a meaning behind the symbol. For example, in Persian rug motifs a camel will represent wealth and prosperity, while a snake will represent wisdom. Motifs come from cultures outside of the Middle East. There are different ways to interpret motifs like the different languages of the Middle East. For example, there are Turkish motifs and Persian motifs, they will have different symbols to represent wealth, but they both mean the same. The motifs are like hieroglyphics and design the rug with a story.

Tribal Rugs

Tribal rugs are a broad subject and when people think of tribal rugs, they think of the Turkmen, the Beluch, the Kurds, and the Qashqai tribes. It is believed that the creation of the hand knotted carpet began with the pastoral nomads of Central Asia. Many believe that the first knotted pile carpets resembled animal pelts with long pile shags. To make a tribal rug requires work and attention over a span of months or years depending on the size of the rug.

Shah Abbas Rug

Shah Abbas rug is a rug design that is seen in Persian rug motifs. The person who designed the rug was named Shah. He ruled in Persia from 1588 to 1629. Shah Abbas was known for promoting the arts. It was during his time that Persian art reached its height and started the age of Persian arts. The art of carpets reached new heights with original designs and color combinations. Motifs would then eventually become traditional motifs. The Shah Abbas motif is a floral design. The design became one of the most frequently found motifs. It stood for his Empire, and it represented all. The design was a common design from many carpets produced at that time.

These are all rugs and designs that you can find at Beautiful Rugs. I hope that this article was able to simplify some of the rugs you may look at. You may even have a better understanding of the rugs now. With that better understanding of rugs, you can now feel confident in rugs that you would like to buy. There are many more rugs that are not listed, so if you would like to learn more about a certain type of rug, please visit our showroom or beautifulrugs.com