apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Many things from the 70s should not be resurrected, and shag carpeting is another one of them. It looks like the crappy carpet in my college apartment junior year, only the color is better. They were impossible to keep clean, but maybe that's the point. Yuck.

But they're really no cheaper than a shag rug from C&B or Pot Barn, so what is the benefit?

You just talked me out of it! But I LOVE that chair in the second shot.

Well, I guess the good news is, you can remove it easily when it's no longer trendy. Some people on this blog have neuroses about mattresses and bare feet. Mine is carpet. It offgasses when it's new (ok, maybe not this one, but some people are allergic), harbors dustmites and filth when it's old, looks gross as it wears, and clogs landfills when its short life is over and it has to be replaced. It requires two pieces of noisy, heavy machinery to clean it properly. If you want someone else to clean it, they have to invade the privacy of your home. And this carpet needs to be RAKED? That's disgusting! I'm no clean freak by any means, but keep the dirt out where I can see it. I don't like nasty surprises.

I think this only makes sense if you are trying to go for a wall-to-wall shag look, which I agree is a bit much. I don't think anybody wants to go back to that era again.

My experience with FLOR is that the flor dot stickers that are supposed to hold them together are pretty worthless. I've used packing tape to help keep them together and even that doesn't work very well. That being said, trying to vacuum these would just pull the tiles apart. I have the short shag tiles in my bedroom and with those you have to really take care when vacuuming.

I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in finding shag carpet to be revolting. I deal with it in my old Rya rug, because, after all, it is a funky old bit of the 70s, but to buy more?! I think not.

Not a fan of shag did not care for shag carpet when I was a child and did not care for the shag rug when it was the trendy in 1998-2000.
I like many of the FLOR carpet tiles because you get the low, clean profile in fun colors without it looking too contract office like.

I do LOVE the more modern play on the shag like the beautiful rugs designed by Nani Marquina - Bicicleta Rug (100% recycled from tires), Cukus a high pile woven with wool and jute a new classic, the Velvet rug -large exaggerated loops that are so soft all hand made to die for in the orange or red..

I like some of Chandra's Shag's....they have some great range and are so affordable.

check it out here http://www.chandrarugs.com/node/3519 href>

or buy a 5x8 for less than what it would cost you to piece it together http://www.rugsdoneright.com/ProductDetail.asp?SKU_ID=34099&ImageName=POR4902-Chandra_Rugs-Multi-n_a-Rectangular.gif&remid= href>

I like Nani Marquina, but its so pricey...definitely check out Chandra Rugs!

Love it. To those who *do* love shag, this FlOR application is overdue... it takes away many of the maintenance issues normally associated with shag.

And I disagree that this is only made for wall-to-wall installations. I think it a perfect area rug solution, and the fact the shag camouflages the normal-to-FLOR seams makes it even better.

Great, I was waiting for that! I see a shaggy rug in front of my sofa in the future...

Is shag carpet back? Really? Does that mean I have to stop feeling bad for the people who have it?

soididwhatyouaskedmeto - love those Chandra Rugs keeping in my file for future reference.

Nah, Lisa, I still do.

I did not know that so many people hate shag rugs. But shag FLOR tiles might be much easier to clean, since you cat take it off and beat it off every so often.

I like the look - the shag texture looks better in the natural wool shades than in dated aniline brights. That said, I wouldn't buy this for myself because it's expensive and hard to clean. At nearly $800 for an 8x10, there are many other options for wool rugs available.

Love it for an area rug, though maybe not in the color pictured above. Would worry about tiles coming up when vacuuming.

Really nice as a area rug.
Difficult to take care of is putting it mildly.
Your vacuum needs a rake attachment.

I dig it--especially in these neutral colors. Great way to add texture to a monochromatic room. Plus, FLOR shag and pets might actually work--Outtasite!

Yuck. I abhor shag carpeting: it's filthy, hard to maintain, and doesn't wear well.

Not for me, but the magic of Flor is that it affords you options. I imagine there are low traffic places where this could look very nice.

The price, however, is another matter. Flor continues to elevate the price point of its products at an alarming rate. This time last year, the high end was $19.99. The year before it was $16.99. This year: $25.99. A tile! At less than 3 square foot of carpet per tile, that shag runs about $10 a foot, before tax and (outrageous and mandatory) shipping charges. You don't have to be much of a bargain shopper to find comparable branded carpet plus installation that is less expensive. At the $15/$16 price level, Flor stops being competitive and becomes a special circumstances solution or indulgence over regular carpet. As happy as I am with the Flor I installed 18 months ago (Toy Poodle), I stopped considering it as an option when the prices passed the $17 mark. For area rugs and runners, its cheaper and easier to just have some very nice Ralph Lauren wool carpet bound and finished as a rug.

No good can come from a shag rug. I mean really none. It's always hit my gag button. But a flokati is like a shag rug on acid, so it's okay because it's a nuts and over the top version of shag, therefore more fun. But you have to shake it out once a week or FOR-GET-IT.

If you lived through shag the first time, you can't help thinking it's tacky and tasteless. You just can't.

It's incredible!