apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

When it comes to rugs I make sure it's a rug that has a Rugmark label on it. This assures the buyer that it was NOT made by children and that a portion of the price goes to educational programs for former child weavers. There are plenty of places that carry these rugs. Go to rugmark.org for the list.

(stepping down from my soapbox now)

Not the biggest selection, but I love my rug from Conrans.

I bought the rug that's in my living room from the Bronx warehouse of ABC Carpet. It was marked down from $8,000 to $3,500 and I ended up paying even less. And the guy there was SO aware of his inventory that once I told him that I wanted something with peach and teal in it, it really didn't take him long to steer me in the right direction. And the thing has silk in it, and feels like heaven underfoot.

I'm with Curtis on the ABC sales . . . you have to have the patience and visual focus of a lama to get through it tho!

Been looking at those Flor squares for my office lately . . .

And then there's
Ikea
Do we know for sure that they have stepped back from the child labor? I hope so.

And then there's flea markets. I got a lovely old large area rug, wool hand-hooked old floral with black borders like old linoleum. It cost more to have cleaned than it cost at the flea market...but that cleaning did wonders. I still remember my girlfriend's dismay at time of purchase changing to happy agreement at the beauty of the thing . . .

In every city I've lived in there are these imported rug stores with TONS of inventory and astronomic prices (for my wallet).

Does anyone have any tips about negotiating on price with these places?

The few times I've ventured into these places I feel like I'm shopping for a new car - as if there is a 'trick' to getting a reasonable price.

Anyone?

At the rock-star range, Tufenkian...
http://www.tufenkiancarpets.com/index.php?mode=home

The Rug Company
http://www.therugcompany.info/london/

Storehouse, Crate & Barrel, and Pottery Barn

Endless Knot Rug Company
http://www.endlessknotrugs.com/tibetan_rug_history.html

the rug company on wooster, abc carpet and home (the store closing sale in dumbo has great prices, hurry) aaronsons on 17th street,

Overstock.com has some nice high-quality rugs for not much money. I had to order a bunch because the apartment I just moved to has serious floor problems (why oh why did my evil new landlord put ceramic tile on an old, flexible plywood floor? The grout's crumbling out and no amount of patching and re-grouting can keep the tiles from shifting off their glue, since they're on a flexible foundation). I returned one rug because it didn't look like the picture; it was a bit of a pain to send back, but at least Overstock accepts returns. I'd rather have a nice bare floor, but these aren't too bad.

I've had good luck with Rugman.com. I've bought four rugs from them.

I've also bought several rugs from Rugman.com and I've been pleased with the quality and price. However, it's difficult to really know what a rug is going to look like when you buy online. I was a little surprised with the way one particular rug I purchased looked in real life, the colors were a lot different then they looked on the computer screen. Although I've gotten used to it and it's in my living room right now, I'm not sure I would have ever purchased it at a brick and mortar establishment.

I don't see where to vote, so I'll just post a comment. As a starvicing student, I can recommend eBay for rugs. It's a little trial and error, and you have to have seen hundreds of rugs in real life so that you can interpret how the online photo relates to how the rug really looks. I have bought 6 rugs on auction from ebay for average price 200/each, including shipping. I have been cheated twice, in the sense of seller misrepresenting quality i.e., stains, fading, stretching. But it's cheap enough and five of the six were beautiful enough to keep or gift, one even with stains (they blend in).

west elm has the most gorgeous rugs i've seen in ages and they are very reasonable.

Odegard is the leader in responsible rug production. High end, and I believe to the trade (but accessible through design-center programs like Interior Options), but they create some seriously beautiful work, and have pioneered the idea of responsible production in the category.

Founder Stephanie Odegard's company is a model of How It's Done. But, as it seems, responsible production comes with a high price tag (Yes, I know, IRresponsible production comes with an even higher price tag...)

http://www.odegardinc.com/flash/index.html

Found in New York at the New York Design Center at 200 Lex (nydc.com)

I'd throw Pier 1 into the cheaper end of the mix.

I'd also add that ABC Carpet, sale or no sale, actually has a great range of prices. Some of their flat-weave wools (Amagansett Collection, maybe?) and cotton dhurries upstairs are comparably priced to larger retailer, but the ABC selection beats all.

(and I think Odegard may also qualify as "Rock Star"...)

Dolma has a deluxe product but some rugs aren't much pricier than what's in the 'affordable' category. And they are all beautiful.

Meanwhile, a rug query: I just noticed that one of my rugs has patches that I think the moths are eating. ew! what to do ... have it cleaned?

Flor is great & affordable; each square ranges from $12-$16. Rico on Atlantic Ave. is carrying them in their store.

i bought two of my rugs at the odegaard sale. They were 75 percent off and so gorgeous! I bought two 8 by 10's and one 3 by 6 for approx $5,000. such a good deal for quality. Thing is they open it to the trade only on the first day(and we lined up in the am, oh yes we did). the second day is open to the public, but there was a ton of product. call them at D&D building to find date of next sale.

oh also, who was the guy who recommended the christie's house sales on one of these forums? does anyone else shop at those? i love them!

I fell for the angela adams munjoy rug in the Ive got color contest and am debating purchasing it.
It seems a bit trendy and I am wondering if you think it will have any kind of resale value on craigslist when I invariably want to sell it in 9 months. I am not a lady of means, so it would be nice to get something back.

Thank you,

for the rockstar category, I'd add Danskina
http://www.danskina.com/open.html

Company C just opened a boutique in the Kate's Paperie in SoHo. There are some really interesting and colorful rugs there.

http://www.companyc.com

I'm not sure which category it would fit under, however.

I love Antiquarius Imports in Brooklyn.
http://antiquariusimports.com/

Unfortunately, I haven't bought anything from them. (I was in love with one rug, but while it wasn't expensive for what it is, I couldn't justify it right now.) The prices are pretty reasonable, and the guy who runs it is a South African who is descended from generations of rug dealers. Apparently, he treks all over, and they do have some (beautiful) rugs designed.

That said, I did get a very reasonable kilim rug from Room and Board, and also got a rug I love at an ABC Warehouse sale.

Hey MB, Antiqurius Imports has rug cleaning and restoration services. Maybe call them?

i LOVE the rugs at odegard. if you can afford the hefty pricetag, they are truly extraordinary. (i don't have one, i am just a really big fan of this company and their philosophy) with ABC, i feel like it is entirely hit or miss. i kind of feel like they just make up prices sometimes? maybe it is that they inflate the prices just to mark them down and make it seem like a better deal?

A.M. Collections also has good (if very expensive) product.

Flor is the consumer version of carpet tiles from Interface. If you like Flor, you should look at the commercial version, which has many hundreds of different colors/styles, and is hardly any more expensive than the consumer version. When we did our offices a couple of years ago I used them and they are brilliant. I got two coordinating styles, one sort of a tweedy wheat and the other a dark brown tweed with tweedy-wheat swirls, and did different layouts, like inset rugs, etc. To my agrarian eye, it looks like wheat fields interspersed with plowed earth. Anyway, the tiles are wonderful because if you spill, you just pick up the tile and wash it in the sink; if you get a wear pattern, you just rearrange the tiles instead of replacing the whole carpet; if you get bored, you rearrange; they are SO easy to install; and they have ZERO nasty carpet odor. I am very sensitive to carpet odor, makes me sick within minutes, and I never had any trouble with these. I'll never use any other carpet in my office again.

I second Kathryn's comments on Danskina rugs. We have one that we got in Canada several years ago (hooray for a good exchange rate then), and it feels amazing. Friends call it the "sweater rug" because it feels like a warm, , soft wool sweater.

ABC also has a great clearance and remnant department downstairs. I got my bedroom rug from them - approx $400 for an 8x12 wool remnant cut down to 8x10 and bound, with rug mat.

I would also recommend rugsdirect.com. I bought my dining room rug from them (after seeing it in person at another store for far more $$). They have a great selection and I was happy with the customer service.

Just a cautionary note on my experience with a West Elm rug. I was seduced by one of their rugs and purchased it about a year and a half ago. It may have been a problem specific to the rug I bought, but it totally disintegrated in about six months. I think the yarn was glued onto the backing, rather than woven into it, and it just started shedding until I had to get rid of it. It was pretty disappointing for me. So my advice is check how the rug is constructed before you purchase!

Jonathan Adler, www.jonathanadler.com , has llama wool rugs in cool graphic designs that are completely customizable for no additional fees (colors & size). Plus they are all reversible in the same or different color choices. They aren't inexpensive, but they won't break the bank, either. I was impressed by all the options. Plus, there are so many cool pillows that can be ordered to match or contrast in the same graphic styles. I was told the delivery time will be 8-10 weeks. We'll see.

I have bought a beautiful Angela Adams area rug that is just a few inches too long for the space...does anyone know if there's a service that can trim off a few inches? Is this something an upholsterer could do?

I'd put in another vote for Flor. They're easy to install, easy to clean, easy to replace, etc. Plus they're eco-friendly, and the CEO of Interface was pretty impressive in The Corporation.

I'd throw Home Decorators and Home Decorators' Outlet into the mix. I picked up a lovely wool 8x10 from the outlet (linked in my name) for less than $400, including shipping.

LL Bean has some nice rugs at an affordable price.