Probably the most commonly used decor for the home is the rug. Rugs make a versatile floor covering; they are attractive and also serve a functional purpose. The use of rugs are centuries old and tapestries could be found on the walls as well as the floor in Medieval Times. The woven tapestries of the coat of arms would surely brighten up the dull dreary walls of a castle. Of course, their purpose was not to be decorative but to announce the name or ruler of the land and castle.
Rugs this day in age have surely changed a little in textiles but not too much in techniques. Woven rugs are still being made with wooden loom frames, but some type looms have since been advanced somewhat from the frame. Wool can still be found spun the old fashion way on a spinning wheel. Of course, wool is still the common favorite textile in making a rug, whether it is an oriental area rug or wall to wall carpeting.
There is a minor difference between a rug and carpet. A rug is a piece of textile, mostly fabric, combined to use as a floor covering or a mat of an animal pelt. While a carpet is a heavy tufted textile, mostly fabric, used as a floor covering. Generally, though a rug is considered smaller than a carpet.
Of course, with rugs there can be some other commonly used terms that can be confused with. Area rugs and throw rugs, is there a difference in the two types of rugs? Yes, there is some difference but the same rug can also be considered both terms. An area rug is a rug that occupies a certain amount of space in a room. Think about how to get an area of a rectangle, the large 6 X 8 foot rectangle part of the room covered by the rug. The rug covers 48 square feet of the room. This is how the area rug came to be known, as you would need the square feet to have a rug made for a room, which is the area of the rug. Throw rugs mean exactly that they can be thrown anywhere; they can be small or a little larger. Larger rugs would be called an area rug as you can not just throw them anywhere. Throw rugs have been known as scatter rugs as scatter tends to be thrown around.
Whether you purchase a rug for the attractiveness it can bring to a room or functional reasons, you should research to find out the best type for your budget. There are many handmade rug dealers that can make beautiful wool rugs, but if you have a small budget in mind then a machine made synthetic rug would be the best for you. Also, keep in mind that the handmade wool rugs can last longer and is more durable than the machine made synthetic ones.
© Stacey Pettibone June 2005
