What is the largest rug size and where can I find it?

This article is written to explain why larger rugs are hard to find, it also gives advice on some of the alternate viable options available.

 You’ve possibly arrived here bewildered at your discovery that when shopping for a rug in the United Kingdom you are confronted with very little choice in size. The three popular sizes you are likely to find are 80cm x 150cm, 120cm x 170cm and 160cm x 230cm. Whilst there are some variations of up to 10cm length and width in these sizes, this is basically what you find in most stores and websites. If you’re looking for something larger, there are some rugs produced in sizes around 200cm x 290cm and there’s an odd few made around 240cm x 330cm sizes.

Popular rug sizes are governed by several factors, including the average size of rooms in the UK, to the size that a rug store can physically handle and display. There is also a reluctance in many UK households to sit furniture on top of rugs. So, a typical 160cm x 230cm rug in an average UK lounge with a 2-seater and 3-seater sofa usually sits nicely without going under the furniture legs. This is what we generally class as a large rug. If you’re looking for larger rugs you are without a doubt going to be hit by many restrictions. You probably thinking, there must be thousands of homes with larger rooms or even households with average rooms that want to sit the entire three-piece suite on the rug. And you’d be right! But, for every house with a large room, there are literally hundreds with average rooms.

The size of our homes.

In the UK the typical living room size for a pre-war semi-detached house with separate living and dining room is around 15ft x 12ft (4.57 x 3.66cm) which may also incorporate a chimney breast and a bay window. Houses built post war to around the 60s were often more compact and included a through lounge and dining room. In the late ’70s to the present day, the kitchen area became more relevant and we saw the design of homes including the dining area with the kitchen to make a kitchen/dining room.

Official figures show that an average UK living room size in the 1930s was around 16 square metres peaking at 25 square metres in the 1970s then reduced to a present-day 17 square metres. It’s fair to accept that semi-detached homes have been getting more compact over the decades. As there is no mention of dining rooms in the figures it’s likely that the style of new build homes no longer includes the dining area in the living room figures. Assuming this is the case then the living area in a standard semi-detached dwelling is still only around 16 to 17 square meters.

Flooring trends over the years.

Because of our historical use of fitted carpets in living areas, here in the UK, our demand for rugs over the years has been very different to our continental and transatlantic cousins.

While we are now seeing more and more hard flooring being used in the living areas, we look more towards rugs as décor for these spaces. We are still behind when it comes to using the rug to fill the floorspace correctly. Rugs were mainly handwoven until the introduction of broader Wilton and Axminster looms in the early 1900. These looms were capable of reproducing designs similar to Persian hand knotted rugs. In the 50s and 60s these broader looms were used to make large rugs to virtually cover the room, then they were adapted to cater for the latest trend, fitted carpets. Possibly because of the smaller room sizes and the added advantage of wall to wall insulation they offered, fitted carpet just became the norm in the UK.

Companies like BMK (Blackwood Morton and Sons of Kilmarnock) were still producing large patterned rugs in the sixties. By that time companies like Cyril Lord were entering the market place with plainer tufted carpets, which made fitted carpets even more affordable.

While the rest of the world moved to the plainer style tufted carpets, here in the UK the patterned Axminster carpet still dominated the market. Patterned rugs on a patterned carpet were a big no, so instead, we opted for smaller fireside and abstract tonal shaggy rugs.

In the 80s we were using more plain carpet in our homes but there was still a huge demand for traditional patterns. Technology had advanced and we were now printing designs on carpets while the Belgian rug weavers were developing faster face to face Wilton looms. In a repeat of the 50’s and 60s trends, these looms were also commissioned to make patterned fitted carpets for the United Kingdom.

The 90s saw a significant change in our demands for flooring, we were moving over to plainer styles of twist pile carpets while using more hard flooring in our living areas. This, in turn, increased our demand for rugs to decorate the plainer spaces, but our smaller average size rooms combined with our inability to imagine extra-large rugs in our homes means we still opt for smaller sizes.

In bygone days we did use larger rugs and were happy to sit our furniture on them. In many older houses, you can still see the remnants of paint on the floorboards at the edge of the room, there was often an unpainted square in the centre of the room where the large rugs would be seated. Are we ever likely to see an attitude change back to these older trends?

The problem is in many areas of retail sales, they don’t think of niche requirements. They only want products that sell fast. When it comes to products like rugs you have an additional problem, not only do larger sizes sell slower, they cost more to buy and are more awkward to handle and store. To be fair the problems of larger sizes don’t always stop with the retailers, couriers who deliver the rugs generally don’t want large parcels and parcels that are not in boxes. Many of the budget couriers won’t handle a parcel with any dimension larger than 120cm and when they do there is always a premium to pay to get this larger size delivered.

With all the obstacles from slow turnover to delivery costs, it’s not surprising that many retailers don’t offer extra-large sizes.

What are your options?

It depends upon the size and shape of the room but in some spaces, it is possible to use two or three rugs to good effect. The practice of using multiple rugs is commonly used in long narrow rooms where even extra-large conventional rug sizes refuse to fit.

The idea of using multiple rugs really comes from the Nomadic tribes who made and used rugs as furnishing for their tents. Because rugs are compact and portable, they were easy for the caravans to transport to the high mountain grazing pastures and in situ gave insulation from the colder higher ground. Layering rugs one on top of another not only gave additional comfort, but it also gave protection from the cold ground beneath.

If you can find a way to mix and match smaller rugs to fill your living space, this has got to be the easiest option. Making your own large rug by using broadloom carpet and cutting it to size, then edging it, is another option. This can be quite cost-effective, but you may have to buy extra and throw away the waste. Getting the edges bound can also work out expensive, especially with large sizes. The downside is you generally only have the option of plain colours and repetitive patterns, that just look like what they are, a carpet with a whipped edge. If you are on a really tight budget you can also upcycle your rugs from old carpet samples. It’s a lot of hard work and takes a degree of skill, but it can be done.

If you are wanting your extra-large rug to feel and look like a rug, you can always go for a bespoke option and have your rug custom made. Surprisingly it’s not as expensive as you may expect. At iwantarug.com you can pick your own size in widths up to 4 meters and lengths up to 6 meters. The software on the site will give you an instant delivered price, then you can choose from over 100 colour options. An extra-large rug is obviously going to be the main feature in your room, so it’s got to look a little special, hasn’t it? You can buy rugs made to your personal design or choose from the many design templates. If there’s nothing you can see online, simply send an email with your design ideas and iwantarug.com will take it from there.

With a bespoke rug, you are not confined to four square corners, many alternate shapes can be produced including circles, hexagons, octagons and parallelograms. Shapes can be weird and wonderful, designed to hug a curving wall or just whacky to suit your personality. Real designer rugs that are made specifically to your requirements start at iwantarug.com.

Where to buy, price and design custom made rugs online.

The word bespoke is synonymous with Savile Row tailors, famed for their made to measure suits. However, there are many more retail products available that can be produced to a customers requirements. Bespoke rugs, may not be the first product to spring to mind, but there are many situations in our homes where a made to size rug would fit perfectly.

While many of our homes have similar layouts, room sizes can be radically different, add to that the varied arrangement and size of our furniture, and the living space we have left can be very diverse. Yet we are often limited to around 4 rug sizes to fit those varying spaces. The right size and shape rug in the right environment can be a real asset to the living space. And let’s not forget colour and design, why should a range of rugs be limited to just a few colours?

Who sells made to measure rugs?

At iwantarug.com we have tried to tackle the problem head-on, by producing a bespoke service that places the customer in the driving seat. We’ve developed software that can reproduce size, design and colour, simply. Enabling the customer to better visualise the finished product. With over 90 up-to-the-minute colours covering the popular hues and tones, many are styled around highly fashionable paint colours from manufacturers such as Farrow and Ball. The customer should have ample choice, think about it, a two colour (two-tone) design with 90 colourways can potentially give over 8,000 different variations.

Visualising the finished rug on a computer screen is one thing, but we know our client’s really want to see the real texture and colours while getting a hand on what the finished quality of the rug will actually feel like. To this end we have had sample swatches in the quality and colours of the rug produced. We will post cuttings of the colours before the client makes the final choice. Once the design, colour and quality is approved we send the colour and design specifications to our partners in India. They will produce the design CAD images for the clients final approval, it’s from these images that the rug will be produced. From approval to delivery takes around six weeks.
Our rugs are currently only available in two quality variations, both are hand-tufted using a high-grade wool pile and are finished with a heavy hessian backing. We also offer a loop pile version of the same, the loop piles are usually produced in combination with a cut pile to give plain ground rugs texture and design.

Designing the rug using the software.

It can be daunting imagining design and colour, our software aims to subtly guide the client by using templates, many of which are pre-coloured and allowing the client to add an accent colour. There are also drag and drop design elements that can be added to the base colour, then re-coloured to give thousands of colour and design options. Adding borders and motifs in a creative way can fashion something really unique. The client may have a project in mind that they can draw, or it may be a corporate or club logo design. If it can be drawn in a few colours, we can reproduce it, just email us with the basic plan and we’ll take it from there. When doing a design from scratch the best way to approach it is imagine painting with numbers, each section represents a colour which is built into a design. Our tufters are highly skilled and can reproduce virtually anything that’s thrown at them.Shapes are another area where we can excel, circles, ovals, hexagon and octagon are popular choices, but we can also produce more abstract and random shapes such as a shoe sole shape or even a guitar.

How much will a bespoke rug cost?

The big surprise with our bespoke rug service is the cost, we don’t hide our prices, they are calculated when you input the rug size. We’ve pitched our prices within the budget of a standard household. Our rugs have a similar square meter price to comparable qualities you’d find in John Lewis and Debenhams or brands such as Brink and Campman from independent retailers.
Please visit our site at iwantarug.com and see just what you can create, feel free to download your designs and share on social media, not forgetting to mention our website.

Do it with Contemporary Style Rugs

When considering furnishing a contemporary dwelling, it is important to consider the design elements that make up your home. Consider the colour scheme. Most contemporary dwellings have simple light colour schemes. When looking for floor coverings, make sure that the colour will work. The material is also worth consideration. A modern home with uncovered floors would benefit from deep pile carpets, where a carpeted property may require a flat-weave.

Rugs of all sizes and colours are available online, and can help to tie a room together, either with similar colours or a daring splash of bright colour. A large rug in the centre of a minimal sitting room can really help to bring focus to the living area. Angles and lines can also be well offset by a geometric design. There are many rugs with daring contemporary designs that work perfectly in juxtaposition with simple colour schemes. For those with more looking for more balance, but who still wish to bring a touch of movement to their home, there are many rugs available with linear design. Carved rugs have raised textures in patterns and colours to suit many contemporary spaces.

Rugs do not have to be plain or geometric. Large rugs bearing pictures of animals, iconic design such as the VW Camper Van and famous logos can be stylish, and also allow you to show your lighter side, and personal tastes. Iconic designs from the sixties are very popular, and online rug specialists have a wide range of these stylish floor coverings. Simple faunal designs such as bamboo or leaf designs bring nature into the modern home. Animal print rugs are a popular alternative to skins as they are ecologically more desirable. Many contemporary spaces make use of interesting shapes; circular staircases, curved baths and open plan kitchens. Crescent, oval and circular rugs can help to define the shape of a space.

Due to their modern machine production, modern rugs are more affordable than traditional examples. The materials are also durable and easy to clean. It is easy to buy rugs for every room in your house on a budget.

Rug Zone stocks a full range of rugs with stylish monochrome designs, modern patterns and colourful explosions. With free and fast delivery and great customer service, there are rugs to suit all contemporary spaces.

Ah love a bit of flat weave, me!

 

That’s flat woven rugs if you didn’t already know. These are rugs that have no pile to speak of the surface texture resembles a blanket rather than a carpet. Many of these are woven like heavy throws using wool, cotton or acrylic fabrics better known as Kilim rugs. You know the sort of thing you’d expect to see in a shop Laura Ashley.. The type of thing you won’t find on our website, simply because in my opinion they are not worth the money. They never stay in place, curl up and move on virtually any surface you put them on. It is literally like having a blanket on the floor.

See the full post at: https://encove.wordpress.com/2017/04/26/ah-love-a-bit-of-flat-weave-me/

Traditional Rug Styles

traditional products

Pure Wool Chinese Handcrafted Aubusson Rugs in Pink

Pure Wool Chinese Handcrafted Aubusson Rugs in Pink (clipped to polyvore.com)

Pure Wool Chinese Handcrafted Aubusson Rugs in Green

Pure Wool Chinese Handcrafted Aubusson Rugs in Green (clipped to polyvore.com)

A Good Reason to Choose a Shaggy Rug

When you think of shaggy rugs then you might hark back to the sixties or seventies and the heyday of flower power when they were very popular. Yes, they look great. But aren’t they difficult to maintain? I mean, all those long fibres, have to make the life span of a rug pretty short, don’t they?
Actually, whilst the key to keeping your rug in pristine condition is regular maintenance, it’s not that difficult to do. Let’s face it, if our Viking ancestors could keep them clean and well maintained, with all our modern appliances we should be able to do the same.

One problem people used to have with shaggy rugs was that they were often more expensive than other options. With all the new manufacturing techniques we have today, the good news is that suppliers have been able to bring the costs down and pass them onto the customer. These luxury long pile rugs are now no more expensive than other ranges and designs on the market.

The deep pile surface have a great texture. Whereas other carpets or rugs tend to just sit on your floor and depend on their design to engage the eye, shaggys have a life and a personality of their own. They may all be manufactured to the same design but once they get into your home they take on a unique persona. Colours change and deepen when they get pushed a certain way and even the way the light falls on them makes a difference.

There’s no doubt that these rugs were made for cold, winter evenings. Not only do they provide great insulation for the floor, they’re perfect for sitting on next to a hot fire. Whilst other carpets are hard to touch, you can happily stretch out in comfort while the winter rain, or snow, falls outside.
Shaggy carpets and rugs make a luxury statement, 100% of the time. You can get designs that show ripples in deep and exotic colours, and you can find rugs that just add fun to a room or a hallway. Yes, they take a little more maintenance than other carpets but it’s nothing too difficult – regular vacuuming and cleaning, perhaps a little brushing, to make sure that the long pile remains in good condition.

They’re great in the bedroom, especially if you have a hard wood floor. You don’t want to step out of bed onto a cold floor, much better to settle your feet into the deep pile of a carpet that feels great under foot and keeps you warm as you wake up to the day.
It seems that people often put obstacles in the way of getting a shaggy rug. They have kids who jump around the place. There are animals too, rolling about in the deep pile. Maybe if you don’t trust the rest of the household to look after it properly, you can simply have it in your bedroom where you can make sure it is taken care of.

If you want a carpet that has a sense of luxury and looks and feels great underfoot, then a high pile rug could be just the thing you are looking for.

When to use Traditional Rugs with a Modern Decor

Transitional Nain Style in a modern silver colouration 

Many people who opt for a modern style of decor worry that a traditional rug won’t fit in too well, but this is far from the case. Traditional rugs don’t have to be pale and flowery – in fact, some of the strongest and most vibrant designs come from our traditional range, in particular the Navajo and Gabbeh rugs, which have strong geometric lines and very definite colour schemes. Traditional wool rugs of this type are good choices if you have gone for the modern style, because they ground the look with something that has stood the test of time and is considered a design classic. Sometimes, going too modern can make the whole decor a little hard to handle.

Modern rugs can be lovely, of course, and they use different fibres and colours to give a thoroughly fresh and innovative feel to a room. But sometimes in a minimalist and modern setting there is a need for something which is not quite so cutting edge but could be considered to be a little more classic. This can ‘bring down’ the look from the quirky to the more comfortably modern and also it gives you the choice to become more traditional later on, if your tastes change.

Our range of traditional rugs is phenomenal and well worth a look, even if you have decided to go all modern. The Navajo rugs in particular are very friendly to any environment, being usually in natural shades with sometimes a hint of red or green. Bokhara rugs are also a great way to span the gap between traditional and modern, with their crisp designs. Both styles come in larger sizes, so using a traditional rug as a centre point in a room would look excellent as well as being a cost effective way of making a statement.

Everyone has been in rooms where too much is going on as far as the decor goes. When a modern interior is taken to extremes it can leave you with very jangled nerves as every new element takes you by surprise. A nice calming Navajo rug is a great centrepiece and at Rug Zone prices will leave a nice bit over for a nice abstract print, to give the whole look some well-deserved class.

Which Rugs Are Best For Hard Floors?

With many homeowners opting for hardwood floors nowadays, you might be forgiven for thinking that carpets and rugs have had their day. The truth is that adding a stylish rug to your hardwood floor can make all the difference, providing something elegant and decorative that feels great underfoot.

Three of the main places that we tend to put hardwood flooring is in the hallway, on the landing and in the kitchen. These are generally well used spaces and you want them to be easy to clean. The problem is that they can often be a little ‘cold’ and introducing a couple of nice carpet runners here and there can make all the difference.

What are Runners?

Runners are long rugs that don’t require any professional fitting and can be found in a number of different designs to suit the décor of your home. You can opt for traditional styles or go for something more modern in a variety of fabrics. The great thing about runners is they can be purchased in different shapes and sizes to suit almost any space from your hallway to your kitchen.
Used on hard floors they not only add a layer of protection but also reduce noise and provide comfort underfoot. Runners can either be laid loosely on the floor or if you want a more permanent fitting then you can use something like rug control spray to make sure that it stays put without damaging the hardwood underneath.

Runners for the Hallway

One of the best places for a runner is in the hallway where it can be an attractive decoration for those entering the house. With so much traffic going through you may not want to invest in a full carpet for your hall but still would like some colour and definition. With a great many designs to choose from at very competitive prices, putting down a runner can give you the best of both worlds.

Runners for the Kitchen

You may not think that a runner in the kitchen is a good idea, particularly where food is being prepared. But it can add another design dimension to this area of the house and is pretty easy to clean and maintain. Again it can also help protect the floor beneath in one of the busiest rooms in any home.

Other Options for Hard Floors

Runners are ideal for any elongated space and you can put them almost anywhere. If you have a hard wood floor in the bedroom then you might want to run one alongside the bed so that you keep your feet nice and warm in the winter. The landing is another prime location for a good runner, helping to muffle the sound of footsteps when people get up in the night. With so many different sizes available, you can probably find a runner for any part of your home.

Easy to lay down and available in a wide variety of patterns, designs and materials, a strategically placed carpet runner can add comfort and style to your home for little cost. Whilst it looks great on a hardwood floor, you can also use it for carpeted areas where you want to add a little extra protection.