Q. When I am decorating a room from "scratch", is it better to start with the rug first or wait until everything else is done?

A. Since the rug really creates the mood of the room, it is best to choose your rug first if possible. Then you can select a carpet that you truly love without having to work it around everything else in the room. Our experience has shown that it is easier to choose furniture and paint colors after you have selected your rug than it is to select a rug after everything else is finished. An oriental rug is something that you will have for a lifetime.


Q. How important is it to put padding under my oriental rugs?

A. We suggest the use of good quality padding. Padding protects the back of the rug and also prevents smaller rugs from "wandering."


Q. What factors affect the price of oriental rugs?

A. The quality of materials and the knot density are probably the two major factors in determining the price of a rug. A fine rug with an intricate pattern indicates that the rug has a higher number of knots per square inch, and thus would take longer to weave and would be more expensive. A rug made entirely of silk or a wool rug with silk highlights tends to be more costly than a rug made solely of wool.


Q. How many weavers usually work on a rug?

A. One weaver usually covers 3–4 horizontal feet of loom, so a 9 x 12' rug could have 3 weavers sitting side by side.


Q. How do oriental rugs get their names?

A. Traditionally, oriental rugs were named after the cities, towns or villages where they were made or after the tribes who wove them. With the number of rug weaving countries increasing, many rugs woven today prefix these traditional names with the name of the country where they are woven. For example, a Sino-Keshan is a rug woven in China having the traditional Persian Keshan design; an Indo-Sarouk is woven in India with a Persian Sarouk pattern.


Q. What materials are used to weave oriental rugs?

A. Cotton, wool or silk are used for the warp and weft of the rug, with cotton being the most common. The pile of the rug is usually made of wool. However, in finer and more intricate rugs, the wool pile may be highlighted with silk or the rug may be woven entirely of silk.


Q. Why do we sometimes find variations in shading within the colors of a rug?

A. This variation of shading within a single color is called abrash. It is not an undesirable quality in nomadic, tribal and some village rugs. In fact, in these types of rugs, abrash adds to the rug’s appeal. In these settings it is usually the result of the wool being dyed at different times under uncontrolled conditions.


Q. What is a good book for the novice to read about oriental rugs?

A. We especially like P.R.J. Ford's book, Oriental Carpet Design, now available in paperback. If you have a particular interest or would like a more extensive bibliography, please contact us.


We invite you ask us any rug-related questions you may have, so give us a call or send us an e-mail. We’d be more than happy to answer them!

©2002 Delanjian Rugs, Inc.