apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Costco has very nice sheep skin rugs at far less money.

A sheepskin rug will always give me a weirdly sentimental feeling... when I was a baby, my parents lined my stroller with one. So it just reminds me of that! I'm not sure how I feel about it for home decor though.

Ikea has the small one for really, really cheap, by the way.

so does ikea, and home goods.

When I buy animal products, I am willing to pay more for responsible treatment of the animals. Surely at these prices there is not much room in the budget to assure a humane slaughter. It's just a thought, but violent death does not make me feel warm and fuzzy.

Once they get dirty I can never clean them (even if I follow the instructions) and have them looking great again.
Any advice?

Sheepskin is classic. Quality varies; the skins at ikea and costco look gorgeous, but aren't nearly as soft to the touch as ones I've seen at craft shows and farms, which are processed differently. They work best in rooms with contrasting textures; if everything else is glass, metal, twill, and veneer, they look like an animal walked in and died. But if there's another strong natural texture in the room -- linens in interesting weaves, jute, textured wood grains, potted plants, etc. -- I think they work nicely.

Aren't these fake sheepskins? I always assumed that the cheap ones must be, but never actually looked into it.

I agree with deidrel.

Here's my rule:

For something to keep sneaking back into home decor over the years says a lot about its staying power, so invest. Just be sure you know how to clean it!

I also dig a brown cowhide rug...without spots.

www.thebitterfoodie.blogspot.com

I also get sentimental about sheepskin rugs, but that's because I grew up on a farm where we raised sheep. The house had dozens of sheepskin rugs that my mom had tanned in our barn. They kept us so cozy and warm.

Does anyone know where I might get a realistic, soft faux one? I love the look but don't want to have a real animal skin lying around (it's just a personal preference). Thanks!

Wanna make a great bed/hide-away for your kitties? Take one of these sheepskin rugs you can get at Ikea for about $20.00 and put it inside one of those "Kennel-Cabs" carry cases. You just wind it top to bottom all around the inside. The wool keeps them cool in the Summer, and warm in the winter. My 18 yr. old Tabby loves it!

You can get these cleaned at a fur cleaner, BTW.

I have a few around my house; they remind me of two of my favorite vacation spots, New Zealand and Australia.

I agree with raven and ejbrammer re: eco-compassionate design choices.

Has anybody physically compared the sheepskins from R&B and Ikea? Besides price, what are the other differences?

My one year old sleeps much better since I put a "lamby" in her crib. I thought it would be too hot but she loves it.

Check out ecofo.com. They have nice Faux sheep skin rugs that are relatively affordable.

My experience with the sheepskin thows is that it attracts and traps all kinds of allergens. We could not figure out why my daughter had such horrible allergies, and when we removed the sheepskin from her bed they subsided dramatically. On the floor as a rug is OK, but when you wash it it turns stiff as a board and weaken it.

My terrier loves sleeping on his IKEA sheepskin.

I won't eat lamb but I splurged on a Costco sheepskin for my kitty. Her comfort is the #1 priority, after all.

Wool and dust mitts go hand and hand. Any wool will attract those little guys!

Thanks re: ecofo! That's brilliant!

reminds me of my childhood on my grandparents farm. . .there's nothing like falling asleep in front of the fire on a sheepskin rug.

I really like the West Elm sheepskin area rugs - they have
3' X 5', 4' X 6', and even a 2.5' X 7' runner, all at pretty reasonable prices:

http://tinyurl.com/WestElmSheepskinRug

Forgot to mention - the West Elm rugs looked great in person, too.

Home decorators has imitation sheepskin rugs in many, many sizes, several colors, and all are very inexpensive. I haven't had a chance to try one out, but they seem to get good reviews.

www.homedecorators.com/P/Faux_Sheepskin_Area_Rug

It's murder, not decor.

Um, no.

Per Merriam Webster online,

Murder 1: the crime of unlawfully killing a *person* especially with malice aforethought

Eco-compassionate? Compassionate conservatism? I think being environmentally friendly is compassionate unto itself. Going the extra mile of making sure the cow is comfortably contemplating the life it has lived before you rip its throat and tear it to pieces so you can have rug is not compassion.

I almost picked one up at IKEA, but I couldn't get over the god-awful smell of formaldehyde. It made me ill. Couldn't imagine living with that smell.

AlmostAD - also from Merriam-Webster...

Main Entry: douche bag
Function: noun
Date: circa 1963
slang : an unattractive or offensive person

In the Bible, God told Peter to "Rise, kill and eat!." So, I'll go with that!

Depends.... I've done a little research on these...
Some companies raise the sheep strictly to be killed for the fur. Others, buy the hides from countries where sheep are eaten in the same way that beef is eaten here.

I bought one of these rugs from a company from an online company - but the manufacturer was US Sheepskin.
Having chatted with them before I bought the rug, they specified that they bought their hides after market of the meat industry in Australia -- since the option was for the hides to be thrown in a landfill, it at least makes use of the product, rather than wasting it.

I personally disagree with the use of fur from any animal that was raised solely to killed and skinned, such as mink, as the only care the animals get is to keep the fur nice -- however, the sheep used for these rugs are actually raised, sheared regularly for wool production, and when the herd gets too large, used to provide food, with the skins used both for comfort, and also for warmth, or medical purposes -- I have a great aunt, and she uses a sheepskin pad to keep from forming pressure ulcers -- just one more use -- Interestingly enough, I asked the hospital where they got their medical sheepskin, as I wanted to get one for my aunt's home, and they told me that they got it from US Sheepskin......

John in Seattle

Just a question for the people who favor the artificial furs...
Most of the artificial furs are actually a plastic compound. We have yet to discover a means of making plastic that does not burn oil and release a fair amount of toxins into the enviroment.... so how is making many creatures sick preferrable to using one animal's fur?
Pollution has killed far more animals, through actual poisoning and suffering, destruction of habitat, and exploitation of resources than hunting, or animal farming has ever done. I agree that we should keep the animals in a humane fashion... but the fake furs seem to be far more destructive than real ones...

John in Seattle

On the general subject of sheepskins and their smell, a friend invested in an Ikea sheepskin for me as a gift... and the smell is just phenominally bad... I've hand washed, machine washed on gentle cycle, sprayed it with febreaze... nothing gets rid of the horrid smell!!! any suggestions on easing the stench? otherwise it's going straight to the cats bed...

If the smell is that bad - you might want to take it back to the Ikea --- it was probably not tanned correctly. Sheepskin does have a light smell, but if it is that bad, and especially if it got worse after washing, then the leather was not tanned correctly.

John in Seattle

Personally I enjoy the soft feel of the sheepskin wool. I just got a large one for the floor and a smaller one for my desk chair. So comfortable! I found great deals on genuine sheepskin rugs at http://www.GoShopUs.com. They marked down prices and I saved 15% more with a promo code I found online (code is Bowron).