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What Can an Area Rug Do for You?

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The popularity of hardwood floors is at an all-time high. Some designers are going so far as to recommend to their clients that they take a peek underneath their wall-to-wall carpeting to see if there isn't a beautiful wooden floor hiding there that someone foolishly covered up several years ago. It happens more than you might think!

But this surge in the popularity of hardwood has also resulted in an increased need for area rugs. Unlike traditional carpeting, rugs can do a whole lot more for a room than many people realize. So, what are some of the many things you can do with an area rug?

Create a Focal Point
Depending upon the size of the room and the amount of wood on the floor, there many not be a place (or places) that focus your attention. A rug can do this - either with a pattern, or a color, or a combination of the two. Contrast is the key. Don't copy the color or style of your walls, drapes and furniture - complement them.

Muffle Sound
There's no mistaking the sound of heels or hard soles on a wooden floor. A rug will all but eliminate this. So if you need to dampen the sound of footsteps in a hall or well-traveled passageway, a soft, padded rug will do the trick.

Warm Up a Cold Room
Actually this can mean two different things, and both apply equally to the benefits of area rugs. A room might physically be cold - as in having a low temperature. A rug can insulate your feet from a cold, bare floor better than just about any other option. But also the room may be cold in the sense of being uninviting or lacking "warm" colors. The addition of even a small area rug on tile or oak flooring can do wonders toward making the room simply feel warmer and more inviting.

Protect the Floor
It's a lot harder to repair a fine wooden floor than clean - or even replace - an area rug. In a high-traffic area it makes common sense to place a rug to preserve and protect the floor underneath. The importance of this increases exponentially if there are children in the home!

Cushion Your Feet
As anyone who regularly works on his or her feet knows only too well, standing on concrete or tile or a wooden floor all day is not very comfortable on the feet. Simply by placing a padded area rug in the space can make a world of difference. The same is true in your home. Living spaces should have soft rugs available so you can kick off your shoes and give those barking dogs a break.

Keep Dirt Out of the House
Although many people don't think of them this way, a simple doormat is a type of area rug. In addition, a wool or braided rug just inside a door is a great place to trap all the outside dirt that might normally be tracked inside on one's shoes. Again, it is so much easier to vacuum a rug - or even wash it, depending upon the material - than to clean the floor underneath. Every outside entrance should have a durable area rug as the initial landing point.

Create Livable Spaces
Most designers agree that large rooms with expansive floor space look better if broken up into smaller, more inviting areas. The best way to do this is by starting with area rugs and then arranging furniture and objects to create these smaller living modules. It can be challenging and does not apply to every home, but rugs are a great way to subdivide large rooms to make them more practical, inviting and enjoyable.

Obviously there are many more things an area rug can do for you and the only limitations are your imagination - and budget! There are literally tens of thousands of choices available to you, but a great place to start your search is Rugs Direct. Our search engine for area rugs can help you narrow down the vast styles and selections available to quickly find the one that is perfect for your home. To get started, click here.

 

Layered Rugs - a Hot, New Decorating Trend

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America's top interior designers have hit upon a new technique that is greatly expanding their decorating options with area rugs - layers. That's right - why settle for one rug on the floor when you can add one or two on top of it to make a totally new three-dimensional design?

Nicole Gibbons of So Haute in New York City calls this new look "a hot design trend." She recommends placing multiple rugs on hardwood floors so that there is at least 12-18 inches of space on all sides. That way the contrast between the rugs is most evident. You want to stay away from placing two rugs on top of each other that are too close in their overall dimensions.

Some designers recommend looking for rugs that fall into the same pattern and color family so as to not create too "busy" of a layout on the floor. The same holds true for fabric. Most people find it more pleasing to put wool on wool rather than mixing in cotton or silk. However, don't be afraid to experiment with using polypropylene and wool. They often match well enough not to create a problem.

Kristen Hutchins, a professional designer based in Los Angeles, sees a floor as a blank canvas on which to build a nice layer of art. Wh recommends starting with a large, neutral rug as the bottom layer and buiding up from there. You can add one patterned rug, or multiples to define seating or activity areas. The only limitation is your imagination!

If you are a bit bolder and more adventurous in your decorating, you might try an animal-skin print or a natural fabric such as jute or seagrass. It's amazing what a black-and-white zebra pattern rug can do to enliven a room, especially when placed over a darker contrasting color. Give it a try!

Some people are afraid of layering because it means they are going to need to buy two or three rugs instead of just one. However, the fact of the matter is you end up buying smaller rugs than you would if you were covering the floor with only one. It's pretty easy to do a cost comparison when starting with a room with nothing but a hardwood floor. Sketch out the areas, figure out how many rugs you will need and in what sizes. The go to Rugs Direct and have a ball figuring out what goes with what, and what will look fantastic on TOP of something else.

There are some very practical benefits to layering area rugs, especially over wall-to-wall carpeting. In a kid's room, the extra layer will add a protective cushion to the inevitable falls. It also protects the carpeting from spills and stains. It is certainly more economical to have a rug cleaned than to call in the carpet specialists or rent a steam cleaner from the local hardware store.

As you experiment with layering your rugs, don't fall into the trap of always aligning the edges parallel or perpendicular to one another. There's nothing that says you can't lay one rug on top of another at an angle. Also don't be afraid to lay two small rugs side-by-side on top of a larger one. This effect can sometimes be very striking in that you are creating a design that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world.

So the next time you find yourself looking at a large, blank floor in your home, consider layering two or three rugs in the space to make it uniquely your own. Your options truly are limitless, and the potential unlimited. Visit Rugs Direct and start exploring.

 

Purple People Pleasers

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According to many top interior designers, 2011 is the "Year of Purple" in home decor. There are actually some psychological studies that attempt to explain why this has become such a powerful and highly popular decorating color among homeowners.

Deep purple combined with lighter shades evokes feelings of kindness, wisdom and even love. Lighter shades, similar to the colors found in many flowers, make people feel tender and compassionate. Or so they say! According to classic Feng Shui home-decorating principles, purple inspires the imagination and can lead to financial success and wealth. No wonder it's become such a popular motif these days.

Of course there are many experts who feel this is one of the worst choices a home decorator can make. Even if you don't want to stick with beige and burgundy, don't use PURPLE! The one thing everone can agree on is that nobody is ambivalent when it comes to decorating with purple. Love it or hate it, you will have an immediate, strong response.

At first thought, you might believe decorating with purple will limit your choices. Nothing could be further from the truth. The trick is to balance the purple with a palette of complementary colors to create an appealing master scheme.

As it turns out, a lot of colors look absolutely great with purple, whether a deep and dark shade, or more of a pastel. Many shades of blue seem to soften the effect of purple furnishings or paint. But, as you can see from this suggested scheme, some warmer shades work extremely well too.

Again, there are all sorts of studies on the psychological impact of colors that predict the emotional response people will have to various color combinations. But sometimes all you can do is experiment and hope for the best. Start slowly. Add some purple accents or stripes first. There's no need to go out and buy a purple couch, paint the walls and ceilings plum and hang pictures of ripe grapes on the wall. At least not yet!

Of course one of the best - and easiest - ways to add a bit of purple to a room to gague its effect is with an area rug. You can find almost 200 different styles on the Rugs Direct website in a variety of styles, sizes and fabrics. Many use purple as an accent color and will add just a dash of color to an otherwise traditional scheme. Then again, you can buy a solid purple shag rug that will make you taste grape soda every time you walk into the room! You have many, many options.

So be bold! Give purple a try. Even if it doesn't immediately bring you love, serenity and wealth, it will certainly make your room unique.

Click here to explore the wide range of purple rugs available at the nation's leading source for area rugs, Rugs Direct.

How Shopping for Area Rugs Has Changed

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Fifty or sixty years ago people shopped for rugs much differently than they do today. There was a greater emphasis on the origin of the rug and even its historical background. People would speak of their "Persian rug," or that their rugs were "imported from India." To someone knowledgeable about the design of area rugs, this had great meaning. Rugs made in China, for example, had a very different look from ones made in the Middle East. And since most everything at the time was hand-made and truly custom, people took great pride in identifying the nationality of their area rugs.

Rugs also were, by comparison, much more expensive than they are today. As a percentage of family income, a rug could easily be an extreme investment to a typical homeowner. It not only had to be of such high quality that it would last many, many years, but any redecorating of the room had to focus on the rug as the centerpiece. It was the one design element that was NOT going to be replaced! It was not uncommon for a rug to be passed down generation to generation, as it was frequently the prized possession of the family.

Area rugs were also not considered a "commodity" as they often are viewed today. You couldn't go into a department store or even a furniture store and expect to find a good selection of high-quality rugs. (Big box retailers did not yet exist!) Instead, most all rugs were purchased from dedicated rug merchants, or imported through the use of a broker. Frequently rugs were purchased sight-unseen, but quality and origin were more important than color or style. The times truly were different.

As consumer expectations evolved and rugs became a much more universal addition to the home, technology stepped in to fill the void. New fabrics were invented and machines were designed that could weave a rug in a fraction of the time it takes an artisan to hand-knot a masterpiece. To a less discrimination customer, these new synthetic, machine-made rugs looked every bit as good as the much-more-expensive imports. And that was the key - the cost. Instead of investing the equivalent of three-months' salary in a floor covering, a homeowner could now buy one for a few hundred dollars.

Today rugs are available just about everywhere. There have never been so many different styles, colors, sizes, patterns and fibers available. At Rugs Direct you can find some 70,000 different rugs, many at prices a 1950's family would think far too good to be true! It's easy - and affordable - to decorate every room in one's home today with area rugs, and many people now change the rugs with the season. Why not?

For more tips on decorating with area rugs, check these resources on the Rugs Direct website.

• Traditional Rugs
• Contemporary Rugs
• Braided Rugs
• Outdoor Rugs
• Southwestern Rugs

One-of-a-Kind Rugs Define Unique

Samples of the hundreds one-of-a-kind area rugs now available at Rugs Direct

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One of the reasons area rugs are so popular today is the tremendous variety of styles, colors, sizes, shapes and materials available. In addition, redecorating a room with a new area rug is far easier and more economical than painting, re-wallpapering, buying new furniture or even replacing the window treatments.

But some people want to go even further in their quest to put their own personal stamp on their homes. It is for these people that the world of "one-of-a-kind" area rugs exists!

For economic reasons - and a few practical ones as well - most large retailers can't offer their customers a product of which only one exists in the entire world. A big-box retailer or chain functions in the realm of mass merchandising. They buy vast quantities of items, which are then mass produced, and sell them at the lowest margin possible. Profits are only possible when selling in volume. This is as true for area rugs at these stores as it is for toothpaste, nails, canned corn and kitty litter. But shouldn't an item like an area rug that is used to personalize a living space and coordinate home-design elements exist in a slightly different, more "artistic" retail world?

Randy Kremer, the president of online retailer, Rugs Direct, thinks so. "Rugs ARE art," he says. "Everyone wants to place the best-quality, most beautiful rug she can find on her living room floor. It's only natural, just as it's natural to want to be unique. Because of the wide variety in personal tastes, and the huge number of rug collections available, it's highly unlikely you are going to see the rug you purchase on someone else's floor. But it DOES happen," he cautions.

The solution, of course, is to buy a "one-of-a-kind" rug. This means exactly what it says - a hand-made rug, designed and woven by an artist who is applying a particular design and color scheme to this one rug - and ONLY this rug! The true definition of unique!

But super expensive, right? Like millions and millions - OK, like tens of thousands of dollars?

"Sure, you can spend a lot of money on a top-quality, one-of-a-kind rug," says David Craig, CEO of Rugs Direct. "Some of these rugs take years to make and will last several lifetimes. In many ways they represent more of an investment than a practical design solution - especially if you have kids or pets! But a one-of-a-kind rug isn't automatically priced beyond most people's budgets. In fact, if you visit our online store, you'll see there are many, many machine-made rugs that cost more than some of our new one-of-a-kinds. There are many factors that influence the cost of a beautiful rug. Exclusivity doesn't always translate to expensive," says Craig.

 One-of-a-kind rugs are almost all made of 100% wool. This is the traditional material that has been used for thousands of years to create the best-quality, most durable rugs, and it remains the fiber greatly preferred by modern craftsmen. Once in a while you'll see a little silk woven in for contrast or to add a sheen, but this usually represents no more than about 3-5% of the rug's fiber content.

A wide variety of knots and techniques for tying them are used, often based upon the country in which the rug is being woven. These highly perfected skills have been handed down generation after generation, along with much of the equipment that is still in use today.

Iran, Pakistan, China, India and Afghanistan are where most of the modern rug-makers work, often employing a great many family members and neighbors when producing a large rug or long runner. As would be expected, the majority of the rugs they create would be classified as "traditional" or perhaps "Oriental," although to some true rug aficionados the latter term has a somewhat different meaning. Colors tend to be in the red-burgundy-beige families, with brighter colors used for emphasis rather than as an overall motif.

However, when it comes to medallions, patterns and borders, the sky's the limit. Some have fringe, some do not. And in some cases, even symmetry is optional. Remember, this is the work of a skilled artist who is attempting to express himself using a very specialized type of canvas and medium. What he sees in his mind is what translates to the loom, and often it is only the weaver himself who has a vision of the finished project.

On a bit of a technical note, one of the difficulties that online retailers have in selling any sort of one-of-a-kind product, is that once the item is sold, it has to quickly be taken offline so later customers won't be disappointed. In a traditional store, this is relatively easy. Either the product physically leaves the premises, or you can put a big "SOLD" sign on it. You will see some websites that do a version of this by putting text over the sold item, but this is generally not considered to be a good merchandising practice. Why show people what they CAN'T buy? The good news is, Rugs Direct has come up with a way to accomplish this through some rather sophisticated computer programming. Once one of the company's one-of-a-kind rugs is sold, it is immediately removed from the online display and the gap is filled with other product that remains available for sale.

"The last thing we ever want to do is disappoint a customer," says Kremer. "Especially when he or she is taking the time and effort to carefully select a one-of-a-kind rug from us," he concludes.

To explore the new one-of-a-kind rugs now available at Rugs Direct, click here.

Beginner's Guide to Decorating with Area Rugs

 

Back to Basics: A Beginner's Guide to Decorating with Area Rugs

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There is no easier way to re-decorate any room in your home than by placing (or replacing) the area rug on the floor. It's a quick, simple and relatively inexpensive way to make a desired change. Certainly much easier than painting, wallpapering or hanging new window treatments - and incredibly less expensive than buying new furniture, light fixtures or artwork.

If you're lucky enough to have wood floors in the room you want to energize, all the better. Area rugs and wood floors were made for each other. But even if you have wall-to-wall carpeting, a new area rug can overcome a lot of deficiencies in the way the carpet affects the ambiance of the room.

Don't limit yourself to placing one large area rug in the center of the room. While this is a great way to warm up a large area, it can also make the room seem somewhat ordinary. Instead, consider creating focal points - places within the room that draw attention. A rug with some boldly contrasting colors to the room's main scheme can work wonders. Smaller rugs placed strategically near or underneath furniture can break the room's space into more inviting units. And remember - as easy as it is to pull up and replace area rugs - consider seasonal changes to the room to make it unique and inviting all year round.

OK. You've decided you want to decorate with area rugs. Of course your best source for ideas is going to be a website like Rugs Direct. But what should you consider as you start shopping?

First, determine the main purpose of the rug. Are you going to take our recommendation and use it to define a focal point in the room? Does the room need to be brightened? Softened? Warmed up? Or is the main goal to protect your valuable hardwood floors?

Is one rug going to do what you want to do, or should you consider several smaller ones? If there a place for a long runner? How would a round or octagonal rug look in this room?

Is this room particularly noisy? Are you hoping the rug will cut down on the sound of footsteps or other annoying echos in the room?

How much sunlight does the room get? You need to consider the material - or fibers - used to create the rug. Although wool is by far the most popular fabric for area rugs, a synthetic such as polypropylene (olifin) or acrylic can be more durable, more resistant to stains and easier to clean.

How much traffic does the room get? Again, wool is popular because it is durable and soft. But it is not a good idea to get it wet. There are many other more suitable fabrics for that situation, so you need to consider whether muddy, wet feet are going to come into contact with your rug.

Lastly, don't cheap-out and think you can get away with not putting a rug pad underneath your rug. This is critical on hardwood floors, but important for rug-on-carpet applications as well. Apart from the safety issue of not wanting your rug to slide underfoot, a pad will make the rug lie flat, extend its life tremendously and make it much easier to regularly vacuum.

Most importantly, with all the thousands and thousands of rug styles, colors, shapes and materials available, don't get overwhelmed! Decorating with an area rug can - and should - be fun. Look at photos in magazines and imagine what would translate well to your space. Then visit an online store with enhanced search capabilities to help you quickly narrow down the possibilities to the ones that appeal to you. Again, we recommend the Rugs Directory at Rugs Direct.

Good luck!

Team Rugs for All Football Fans

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To many people autumn means much more than cooler weather, shorter days and the kids going back to school. No, it means one thing and one thing only - FOOTBALL!

The college and pro seasons are under way, and there is not better way to show which team you root for than by displaying a rug with the logo of your favorite team on it. Fortunately there is a great resource available to you where you are sure to find it - Rugs Direct.

In the NFL collection from Milliken there are 96 different rugs available. Each team comes in three different designs - a repeat logo, a centered logo on a football field and a large, centered logo.

These rugs are made in the USA of 100% nylon and feature Stainmaster protection for those inevitable, uh, "spills" that happen during the exciting moments in the 4th quarter. They come in multiple sizes, from a basic door-mat all the way up to one that will fill the entire rec room.

If college football is more to your liking, Rugs Direct has over 350 rugs available, featuring the logos of almost any school that participates in the sport. Again, multiple designs and numerous sizes are available, so you're sure to find a great way to display your school spirit for many years to come.

Good luck this season. We hope your team does well!

Rug Attributes Part Three - Pattern

Copyright © 2008 Rugs Direct^®

One of the most important features of an area rug is sometimes the most difficult to describe. It is the basic pattern woven into the rug. But articulating what you see on the face of that beautiful rug can be challenging. And when searching for that "just right" rug, people frequently don't know the terminology to use to narrow that search when they have a specific pattern in mind.

Pattern is closely related to style and theme but can be defined more broadly. Basically the rug's pattern is determined by the way lines and curves are used to generate shapes. The industry generally recognizes three main categories of patterns: geometric, curvilinear and pictorial.

As with most things related to area rugs, there is a tremendous amount of overlap between these categories. Still it is useful to understand them. One or the other will probably be more dominant in the rug's pattern than another. This then becomes the best way to describe the pattern of that particular rug.

Let's take a look at the three categories of rug patterns and examine a sample that fits into each group.

Geometric

A geometric rug is created with straight lines, often using a variety of shapes - triangles, squares, diagonal lines, etc. In a way it is somewhat more primitive than the other two patterns. Southwestern and Navaho rugs frequently make use of a geometric pattern, but it's not uncommon in older traditional designs as well.

Curvilinear

When a pattern makes use of a variety of smooth curved lines it is referred to as curvilinear. In fact, that's the definition of the word! It's a bit harder to weave rugs in this pattern and frequently the overall knot density of a curvilinear rug is higher than other, simpler patterns. With the advent of machine-made area rugs, it is much easier - and more economical - to weave a curvilinear pattern than when everything was done strictly by hand. Curvilinear rugs are common in just about all styles and themes of rugs from traditional to contemporary.

Pictorial

A rug with an image of people, animals, flowers or nature falls into the pictorial category. The first rugs created of this type depicted historical events, mythological creatures or famous people. They truly were art forms, often made to hang on a wall instead of placing them on a floor. Today you can find an image of just about anyone or anything on an area rug. Still, as in ancient times, they are not as common or popular as the other two patterns of area rugs. A room's decor has to be just right for a pictorial rug to fit in appropriately.

Rugs Direct carries well over 60,000 area rugs representing all of the above patterns. Our proprietary Rugs Directory search engine will help you find exactly what you are looking for in no time. Click here to visit the Rugs Direct online showroom to find the perfect area rug for your home.

Rug Attributes Part Two - Color

Copyright © 2008 Rugs Direct^®

For many people shopping for an area rug, about the only thing that matters is color. And why not? The rug might be the main focal point of the entire room, and if its color isn't right, then nothing else is going to matter. Plus, rightly so, many people consider area rugs not to be just pieces of fabric that you place on the floor, but true works of art. Few artists create their works without detailed considerations of color; the same is true of the great artisans who design and weave area rugs.

In esoteric circles where they discuss such things, there are some area-rug experts who argue that color is even more important than the overall design of the rug. Their position is that even an outstanding, intricate and appealing design can be ruined with the wrong combination of colors. However, a weak design can be made appealing through the application of a unique color scheme. Plus there are many people who find a solid color area rug useful and attractive in certain situations. This is an example of a rug with NO design, but only color. I think those experts might have a valid point.

In simplest terms, area rugs have a background color and a border color. As noted above, sometimes a rug is made of only a background color. But the vast majority have more than one.

Probably a better term for background color would be dominant color. If you were asked to describe the color of a rug and could only use one word, this would be the color name you choose. Although you can find area rugs with just about any background color imaginable, the most popular are red, blue, yellow and tones of brown or beige. Burgundy, which is a hue of these colors, is probably the single most popular background color used in area rugs - especially traditional, Oriental and Persian ones.

Border colors are often not as easy to identify as the background color. The design and pattern of the rug might be so intricate that you really can't isolate the colors used to create it very well. That's OK, because the goal is to create an impression with color rather than display unique shades. Often a tint or hue in the border of a rug serves as inspiration for the other colors used in a room. Painting your walls the same color as part of the rug's border can create an extremely attractive, coordinated look to the room where everything simply "comes together" in the way professional designers work.

So where do the colors in area rugs come from?

Some rugs are made of natural fibers and often that's were the color originates. Typically these aren't the most vibrant colors and the design possibilities are somewhat limited. So to take wool and infuse it with a rainbow of colors, rug-makers use a variety of dyes.

For the first several thousand years of rug-making only natural dyes were available to color the fibers woven into rugs. The sources for these were a wide variety of plants, animals and minerals. Mixing and blending these components to create just the right color was an impressive skill in and of itself. Often the artisans would work hard to create a collection of primary colors, and then combine these in various ways to come up with just about every perceptible color. It worked a lot like the way we mix paint using a neutral base today.

In the middle of the 1800s, as rugs started to become more and more popular, European rug-makers worked on ways to come up with cheaper and easier-to-manufacturer dyes. The result was synthetic dyes made from coal tar. There were some problems. They were easy to use, but they faded rapidly when exposed to light or water and had a rather unpleasant order. Nobody realized it at the time, but the fumes are also highly toxic. Nevertheless, these dyes were imported in great quantities by Persia (Iran), Anatolia (Turkey) and other rug-making centers throughout the Middle East. The difficulties in using them came to a head in 1903 when the King of Persia officially banned their use in his country!

Fortunately a new type of synthetic dye, chrome dyes, were developed in the early years of the 20th century. Chrome dyes hold their colors perfectly in most all situations and have absolutely no limitations when it comes to blending a specific color or shade.

Rugs Direct carries over 60,000 area rugs in every combination of color and hue you can imagine. You may easily shop by color using our proprietary area-rug search tool, the Rugs Directory. Click here to visit on online showroom.

Outdoor Rugs are IN

Copyright © 2008  Rugs Direct^®

Spring has finally arrived! Now is the perfect time to transform your patio, porch, deck or gazebo into an attractive space for entertaining or relaxing. And the best way to do this is with a durable, easy-care outdoor area rug.

Here are some tips and suggestions to help make the process of finding the ideal outdoor rug a little easier:

First of all, don’t be confused by the difference between an outdoor area rug and a door mat. The latter is designed primarily as a place for people to wipe their dirty feet before entering the house. A typical door mat sacrifices style for function. It may have the world “Welcome” embedded (or printed) on the front – or perhaps the name of your favorite sports team – but “attractive” is not a word many people would use to describe door mats. They are also typically rather small – on the order of 3’ x 2’ – because they are designed to sit in front of a door and nothing more.

Also, many people still think of outdoor “carpeting” when they think about outdoor rugs. Remember AstroTurf? Fake grass? It’s no longer popular because, quite frankly, it’s awfully ugly. Whatever you do, don’t cover your patio with bright green artificial grass!

An outdoor area rug, on the other hand, is designed to add color and style to outdoor activity areas. As such, you need to pay attention to a number of factors including the colors, patterns and size. So as you begin shopping for an outdoor area rug, what are the major considerations?

Appearance
Size – start by determining if you want a large rug to cover most of your outdoor space, or several smaller ones to define seating or activity areas. Many people make the mistake of buying a rug that is too small and are disappointed when it doesn’t transform the space in the way they intended. Make a simple block diagram and try a number of different combinations until you find an arrangement you like.

Colors – of course this is a matter of personal taste, but keep in mind that an outdoor rug is subjected to dirt and weather in a way most indoor rugs will never experience. Bright colors may fade if exposed to harsh sunlight constantly and there is very little you can do about it. Dirt will show less on earth colors. So if browns, deep reds, oranges and greens fit with your décor, you might give them greater consideration.

Patterns – this is where you choice can truly add to the visual excitement of your outdoor space. Don’t lock yourself into buying a solid color outdoor rug! There are so many beautiful patterns and styles available that you owe it to yourself to explore them all.

Texture – this is closely tied to the fabric and material used to make the rug. Most outdoor rugs don’t have as thick a pile as many indoor-only rugs because this increases the maintenance necessary to keep them looking new. However, you still have many choices, including some fine braided rugs that, in addition to having prominent texture, are also reversible.

Durability
An outdoor rugs is subjected to just about every kind of abuse imaginable. Kids, pets, wind, rain – even wild animals. So it’s important to choose a fabric that is strong, durable and easy to clean. Most outdoor rugs are made of weather-resistant polypropylene, which is also known as olefin. Although this is a petroleum-derived plastic product, many manufacturers are now using 100% recycled materials to make their outdoor rugs. It is woven in the same way as typical indoor rugs and can have the same intricate patterns as the most expensive Oriental rugs. It makes good sense to try and buy an eco-friendly outdoor area rug if at all possible. Polypropylene extracted from discarded milk jugs makes this practical.

One American manufacturer, Colonial Mills (CMI), has begun making a line of braided outdoor rugs that are only available at Rugs Direct. Called the Championship™ collection, they are made from 100% polypropylene and are designed for use on outdoor porches and patios, as well as indoor casual settings. They are unaffected by water, moisture, or mildew and, because they are reversible, they offer twice the life of a single-sided rug.

CMI has developed what they call the C-Lock™ braid-joining system, which offers several features and advantages:

• Incredibly strong Sew Soft-Sew Klear™ stitching thread
• More than two inches per inch
• Extra-tight braids for long wear and joint strength
  
• More yarn ends for stronger bonds and increased durability
  
• Easy maintenance – vacuum regularly with hard-surface attachment
  
• Easy cleaning – spray with hose and hang to dry

One note: CMI strongly recommends the use of a pad underneath their outdoor area rugs to both minimize wear and prevent slippage. Rugs pads designed specifically for outdoor use are now available. Click here for more information.

Price
Compared to hand-knotted Oriental rugs, most outdoor area rugs are an incredible bargain. You can easily find a large, top-quality outdoor rug for well under $300. Most smaller, space-defining outdoor rugs are under $100. The best advice is to shop around and compare. A good place to start is Rugs Direct. Click here.

Gone are the days when you had almost infinite choices for decorating indoors with area rugs but only a few limited ones for outside. In fact, most of the rugs you now see described as “outdoor” are more accurately labeled “indoor/outdoor” because they are attractive enough to use in just about any casual room in the house. In fact, one designer of an outstanding collection of area rugs, Liora Manné, calls her new Spello Collection “EveryWear” rugs. It’s a perfect play on words that describes this new generation of outdoor area rugs perfectly!

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For more information…here are some of the top manufacturers of outdoor area rugs, with links to their collections on the Rugs Direct website:

Couristan – Recife
Colonial Mills – Championship
Trans Ocean – Terrace
Casual For Life – Four Seasons (exclusive to Rugs Direct)
Liora Manné – Spello and Patio
Sphinx – Lanai