Do you have a picture of the rug?

I am not justifying a $5000 rug necessarily, but:

Are you willing to give up things for it? Vacations?

Is it something you would keep forever? Is it something that will last forever? If you have it for 50 years, it will cost you about 30 cents a day.

Do they ever go on sale? Do you know if that is a real price or an MSRP? I don't understand rug pricing at all...when a large department store here went out of business I got a really good rug for 80% off original price and somehow I think they still made money on it.

Donegal weaving is simply not all it's cracked up to be. The colors always look misleading on your monitor. They use child labor. It's bound to completely fall apart in 50 or 100 years. Anyone who ships Donegal rugs is surely inept and overcharges. And includes rug-eating moths in the shipment. Happens all the time.

The same, of course, goes for MWB wallpaper. Double.

Did that help?

(& just in case anyone questions this post...you should! Bad humour. bad, bad humour, sorry)

It's just because I'm feeling your pain right now, after falling head over heels in love with a few Heywood Wakefield pieces.

*sigh*

:-) :-) Slap Slap! I hear ya!
You can't help that you have excellent taste. My tastes always amaze my pocketbook, but I have always found a way to work around it. Having a good eye allows you to find all sorts of other items that'll work just as well. Having a budget forces you to always be looking for items that'll work. I'm sure you know it already but Craigslist, ebay, lawnsales, and thrift stores really do provide some beautiful bones to build your home around. I've scored some very much sought after pieces by knowing what I want for what spot and waiting patiently for them to appear. This summer I scored a very beautiful Karastan rug at an auction for $55! I didn't know it was Karastan when I was bidding on it (as it was covered with furniture)but I knew it was quality and in good shape and a color that would work. Some beautiful Thibaut wallpaper off ebay for $1 etc.

Use your wallpaper as a launching point, you love it...your husband loves it...maybe think along the lines "the look for less"? One thing I've found out about teachers is they are very creative, determined and able to follow through and get things done. I can't wait to follow your progress.

Never_ending (Elementary Librarian) :-)

If you have it for 50 years, it will cost you about 30 cents a day.

This is the logic I use! Along with "it's (money) only paper." ;D

Can we see a picture of the perfect rug? I might not be able to slap you though. I bought a new rug for our great room, but then found the perfect rug six months later. First rug is now in DS guest room, so at least it found another home with us.

I can't slap you because I'm in love with rugs and of course, the hand-knotted ones.

I've had to learn to be patient, shop around and wait for sales. Of course, that means that I never get my 'perfect' rug and if all you need is one, maybe you can find some way to swing it.

It depends how long you've been looking. There are a lot of beutiful rugs out there at a lesser price point.

I just googled Donegal rugs. I could have gone the rest of my life w/o knowing about Donegal rugs. The Arts & Crafts series. Oh. Oh my. dammmmmmm they're beautiful!

Come a little closer, and I'll be happy to slap ya!

How much does the shipping add to the cost?

Not a small consideration on a 9x12 rug.

I'm not sure it's a good idea to order an expensive rug without seeing it in person. Post a photo and we'll find something comparable that's cheaper!

It is only $50 a square foot if that helps! : P

Here I'll try to post a picture. I'm trying to use a craftsman green as a base color with accents of gold, blue and red. So this rug pretty much sums it up. Perfect isn't it?
http://www.missionmotif.com/images/upload/fullsize/GuildCraft_Tulip_&_Lily_-_Fall.jpg

It's easy to have expensive taste -- heck we all do it. But since I recently got two rugs at $50/apiece off CL, I would be every so happy to slap you.

If you pay a small fortune for your rug, think of all the times you're going to have to "mother hen" over it and have little heart attacks at every footprint, every spill, every pet accident.

Now pretend you're nearing retirement age. If you've saved $$ you can retire early and enjoy it. If you haven't, you'll either get to work until they find you face down in your keyboard, or you'll get to eat dog food, or which ever comes first, or maybe both.

So I recommend that you enjoy your friends and pets, and retire early. :)

How's that for a slap?

I am going to play devil's advocate about 'mother hen'ing an expensive rug. Inside my parents' front door / garage entrance sat a Russian hand knotted rug.

We live in the snow belt, there were three kids and a dog. My parents, who were forced to go barefoot during the Depression, made us keep our shoes on. Our dog preferred to vomit on this rug more than anyplace else. We wiped our feet on it. When the color scheme changed, the rug moved to my father's office inside a lab. He rolled his desk chair around on it for a few years. I have this rug forty years later and it still looks great. I have two others from a great aunt's house that she bought upon her marriage in 1922. I had them in my Dorm room in college. I may have vacuumed them, I am not sure. They are worn but probably look better for it.

Gorgeous rug. I'll have to agree with Pal on this one too. We've always had nice rugs. 3 kids. Inside dogs. Cats that puked more than I would have like them to. New rug - that I love so much I never want to remove it from the house - then we got a puppy. She's not tinkled on it once. You can have your cake and eat it too.

If you can afford the rug and not have to eat Romaine noodles, buy the rug. If you can only afford the rug but nothing else to go with it, you won't be happy for very long.

FYI, I wanted an expensive rug for my family room when we moved here 18 mos ago. I found it at a local dealer, then scoured the internet. Found a much better price, no shipping and asked the local guy to match the price, plus a little since I had to pay tax on the local rug. He gladly did it because he also cleans rugs and knew I'd be back for that for a long time. In fact, I had to clean it sooner rather than later because of an unfortunate, formerly (and presently) banned orange soda incident...which would not come out...boohoo. So, the morals to my story: 1: find it cheaper and ask a local dealer to match, and 2. make sure you ban all orange soda, cherry kool aid, etc. forevermore.
Judy

Some of you aren't very good slappers. ;)

In re the heart attack rug, I have a neighbor like that. Her rug cost something absurd like $23K (though her hubby got a deal on it). She spends her whole life fretting over that stupid rug. So... I guess it depends on the owner more than on the rug? Can an easy going woman own and live with a very expensive rug? Or an uptight woman live with a very inexpensive rug? Yes. Point made.

Of course, we each have our own incomes/budgets. $5K doesn't mean the exact same to everyone reading here. For me, a big joy is making it look like a million dollars on a teensy budget.

No slapping from me....I don't believe in corporal punishment! :)

It is a beautiful rug....and I agree with others, good quality rugs can last forever. I've been fortunate to have some and they are still doing quite well no matter how much my cats are trying to destroy them with their claws (they sometimes forget what scratching posts are for) and their "returning" their meals.

But even justifying how beautiful the rug is and how durable it is and how you will have it for a lifetime, if it's a financial burden, especially in these times....I'd really reconsider the purchase. Something else will come along that you will equally love. Besides...sometimes when you bring a rug home, it looks totally different. I know I recently went through at least six rugs in my house before I picked out the right one.

OT thank you and your husband for being teachers!

You may be able to find something that you like for a fraction of the price, and that would make it all the more special. I love the pair of ugly lamps I have, found separately, for $65, and $199 (I think)--especially when I have seen pairs on 1stdibs for $5000.

However, you may not find anything that speaks to you like that one, in which case an imposter might never be right. And in that case, it might be better to go with something else entirely rather than a pale imitation.

My particular out of the ballpark 'want' is either deGournay or Paul Montgomery Studio scenic wallpaper (or Zuber, even)--just google them. The starting price for 10 foot ceilings is $500 a panel. And it has to be installed by a trained hanger, on muslin and liner paper,--triple labor. Oh well.

Ncamy, set the photo of the rug as your desktop (right click, "Set as background")

THEN, right click on your desktop, "Properties", tab "Desktop", click on "position" box and select: stretch.

Live with that for a few weeks and see how you feel. I once fell in love with a console table, but after a few hours of it staring me in the face, I realized that it was just a fleeting lust.

whap! whap! whap! (: Supportively, of course!

I'm with paint_chips: the rug probably isn't going anywhere. Put it aside; keep on scouring less expensive sources for a month at least. You'll either find something just as nice for less money, or you'll realize you're hopelessly in love with this rug and there's just nothing to be done about it. (though oceanna's sage advice above would make me think twice, or three times, or more than that...)

I'll play Suzie Orman...IF you owe $0 on credit cards, IF your 401K is fully funded and flying high, IF you own your own home, IF your kids have college funds, IF you have an emergency fund equal to 8 months salary...then yes, you can buy it. Otherwise, you are denied. :)

Personally, for me, this would be (is) an inspiration rug. For my girlfriend, it would be her rug. That said, she isn't very good with money. A 10 day vacation in Greece only three months before she began to consider if she can make her house payment any longer. Her mom lives on a reverse mortgage, loves to shop and lives month to month. She doesn't know the save the money before you buy concept. Personally, I couldn't sleep at night with that kind of lifestyle. I owe $800. to Sears on my LG washer/dryer combo and I feel the weight of that! I hate debt and have a very low tolerance for the pressure of it.

If you and DH have lived under your means and actually have the money to splurge, I say do it! If it is going on a credit card, I vote for you to find something similar. It's all about priorities and your lifestyle. Only you know.

There's a millions of rugs out there. Keep searching and eventually you'll find one that you both love and can afford. These are tough times, so put your big girl panties on and walk away.

If you truly love the AC style and are in the neighborhood...try shopping the Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference & Show February 20-22 in Asheville, NC. There, you will see many examples of the rug that you are in love with and the furniture, lighting, pottery, iron, textiles that go along with the rug. The hotel was built in the AC style with original Roycroft, Stickley & others and is absolutely fantastic to see. It is truly an experience and Asheville is a wonderful city to visit. You may find something else that is not as expensive, but, just as nice.

Thank you all for the slaps back to reality and the advice! Actually I have awhile as this will be for our new build. It's just as we embark on this build I'm trying to have all my ducks in a row (the paint color, the furniture, the floor coverings, etc) and one thing seems to lead to another.

rsvlle: I most definitely will be "in the neighborhood" because I live in Asheville! I can't wait for the show. It will be my first time attending. We are building a craftsman bungalow on a small infill lot which has sparked this journey into the A & C world.

My personal rule of thumb for a non essential especially is, could I pay cash for it and then not be strapped, then I will consider it. It doesnt mean that I am not giving something else up, it depends on how much you have in the way of discretionary funds, discretion being a key word.

When my parents built a new house they decided to bite the bullet and furnish the whole thing right up front. However, even my college fund was already well under way (I was six) and my father took another job that went toward paying down the furniture debt only.

I am one of those people whose personal taste in home things probably outstrips the typical person at my income level. However, I havent been on a vacation other than a weekend getaway for ten years. It depends on what you want: I have a client who will drop $3000 on a trip, spends $200 every weekend at Target on consumables she never uses, and I had a hard time getting her to replace $7 plastic miniblinds with an relatively inexpensive wood look blind. It all depends on what you want.

I'm linking a rug to show you an alternative style if you can't find an Arts & Crafts in your budget range.

Tribal rugs can echo the feel of Craftsman a bit. They are being used in every decor from French to yours. Just make sure if you're spending big $$$ that you don't buy a tufted rug.

Stickley also makes some beautiful, albeit pricey, A&C rugs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tribal style rug

I searched for the perfect rug, found it in the form of $5K hand knotted beautiful piece!! Brought it home, loved it loved it loved it, but the colors weren't as perfect in my home as I had hoped.

I returned it without a problem. And, kinda did a mixed sigh of relief about the $$$$, and bummed about when I would ever find something decent.

A few weeks later, I stumbled upon a machine made one, slightly smaller, but much better colors for me, at Garden Ridge. And for $200!

It looks great! Not the one I "wanted" but certainly very nice and better for what I "needed!" (read here better color scheme, better for bank account 'just in case I need that $ elsewhere, and we have 2 kidlets--so I'm sure after the reality hit, I'd be freaked out about anyone walking on the expensive one or even touching it!) LOL

Your rug dilemma will resolve itself--deep breath and go with your gut!

I can't believe that you live in Asheville...what a great city. We were there for the show last year and had dinner in a wonderful Asian restaurant on the main street. You also have, next to Whole Foods, of course...one of the best grocery stores. Is it Fair Green?? You'll love the show...there are dealers of both new and old and I think that you'll get alot of ideas.

Not staying at the GPI, but, we will be there.

Part of having great tast and a small budget is being creative in how you manage the look without the expense----or at least as Big an expense. (We are both school teachers too)

I think rooms full of William Morris wallpaper can be overwhelming. I was lucky to see his Centennial exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and willow is still my favorite, but the exhibit as a whole was pretty suffocating. My eyes needed some resting places in all that gorgeous pattern.

I found the William Morris Willow poster on AllPosters. Maybe some framed posters of his images with a simple wall color - like the green?

Here is a link that might be useful: William Morris Print

Here's my rug tale...fifteen years ago we bought a very nice new rug from a local merchant we know and trust. When we sold our house and moved to the one we're in now, neither the colors nor the size worked well for us. We went back to see him, fell in love on the spot with a larger one in the right colors (yup - $5,000), asked him to deliver it on spec, which he did, and he bought back the first one for a hair more than we paid him for it...so we had 15 years of use rent free, and a chunk of the purchase price of the new one covered.
Value holds. Sometimes you are just exchanging one kind of asset (cash) for another (a fine rug), and you don't lose anything in the process.
Also keep in mind that in this economic moment, people are making deals like mad on things like that rug, which is purely discretionary.
Then, having thought about all this, don't do it if you can't afford it.

No way would I spend that much for a rug, unless I had a lot of disposable cash. I've seen too many nice rugs for less than $1000.00.

I had a rug from Menards in my kitchen for 11 years. It matched my wallpaper perfectly. I gave it away after 11 years, because I was tired of it and the wallpaper! But even though it wasn't of the highest quality, it was still not worn out.

I have to go with palimpsest on this one. I have always believed that one should buy the best that one can afford. However, the key word here is "afford" and only you know whether you can or not. If you charge it and one of you loses your job, would you be able to meet all your other bills and still be able to pay for that rug? If the answer is yes, then go for it. If not, make the responsible decision and either look for something cheaper or save up until you can pay cash.

LOL loved the Suze Orman advice. Thing is, each of us has to decide what we can and can't afford and it's best to be a bit on the conservative side with our money, but neither do we want to be the person who lives in abject poverty with millions stashed in the wall.

There is one other thing, and that's if you're sure you're going to spend your whole life regretting that you didn't get something, then get it, and make necessary sacrifices elsewhere. I think we all have a story of "the one that got away."

One question to ask ourselves when we're tempted is how unusual and rare is this thing I want? I wish I'd had the brains and cash to buy some Dale Chuhuly pieces when he used to blow his glass down in Pioneer Square and his work was almost affordable. :/ We used to stand around and watch him work.

I got a tribal rug (very neutral colors) from rugman.com, and was very very happy with the service and quality.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rugman

Have you looked at the Home Decorators Catalog? Just got one in yesterday and there are several look-alikes at a 5th the price....mostly around $1000 or less for 9x12. Look at the following rugs: Exhillaration, Enchantment, Chantilly and Brighton; most of them come in a blue version.....website is homedecorators.com Just might be something to hold you over until you can afford the Donegal.

Another online option is Esalerugs.com

I've never bought from them but they have an unbelievable inventory....practically every size, shape, color and style. Now you've got ME shopping for rugs! Slap slap!

Hello  I came across your blog and just had to respond. I have the rug in your picture and it is fantastic. The name of this carpet is Tulip and Lilly and we have it in the summer colors. This is a picture of it in my dining room.

In fact I have two more rugs that I bought from GuildCraft Carpets http://guildcraftcarpets.com/ . This is a Donegal Rug but it is made by GuildCraft Carpets. I looked high and low for arts and craft carpets and this company has the best products by a long shot. I am just a middle income person but I can tell you the rugs are worth every penny. I have kids and a dog and I have had the carpets for over 3 years. I can honestly say they look the same as the first day we put them on the floor. I am convinced these will last more than a life time. They are amazing.
We entertain frequently and get so many compliments on the rugsÂkids love to play on them and even sleep on them. The feel so luxurious!!! I have had rugs from other makers and I have never had any that wear as well as these do. The rugs are certified to not be made with child laborÂGuldCraft is part of the Rug Mark association which inspects factories to make sure no child labor is used to produce these rugs.
My family was in the rug and floor covering business for many years until my parents sold the company 10 years ago when they retired. They know rugs and they concur that these are very specialÂauthentic hand knotted rugs  made the way they have been made for centuries. I also researched the type of wool GuildCraft uses  it is top of the line New Zealand woolÂ
We didnÂt buy our rugs all at once. We spread out our purchases over several years. The quality and consistency has been perfect. Their rugs are worth itÂI hope this helps to clear up the confusion in the blog postsÂI own these rugs and can vouch for their authenticity and quality. DonÂt let anyone tell you otherwise.

It looks great!

Here is a link that might be useful: Guildcraft Rug

If you can afford it, I think there are a few pieces that are always worth investing in. Rugs are probably number one. You can change out other pieces, but a rug that fits a room well, and works with multiple tones, can last for years. And as samtheman mentions, you can feel the difference :o) If you can live with it, without worrying about it, than go for it :)

Oh and hows about I smack you on the rump instead? Just for fun :oP

OK I've been slapped and bopped and now I've actually SEEN THE RUG so I'm afraid there's no turning back. Oh woe is me. I really do love this rug. I had a blast at the arts and crafts conference at Grove Park Inn today...saw lots of things I wanted and can't afford! ha ha. But the rug actually is a little cheaper than the suggested retail so we probably can swing it. Interestingly though I think I'm going to go with the lighter "summer" colors. The Guildcraft folks seemed real nice to work with and they will send me a couple of the 2 x 3 sample size rugs so that I can see which color works best. I'm afraid I'm hooked or should I say hand knotted?

Great!

A rug, you love, will ground your room and be with you for many, many years.

In for a penny, in for a pound... the main thing is that you really be happy with the room!

my family has always said that I have champagne taste on a pb income ..but you know,you buy the best, you have the best, you buy junk, you have junk

You do realize that now you can never own a cat.

Great choice (and this is coming from another couple of teachers- who really want a $3000 sofa :-)

Just for the record, there are some fairly decent Morris knock-offs out in the rug world. I got one from this seller on eBay and it's very nice quality, all wool, etc:

But I agree, yours is the ultimate and this teacher really really wants one, too. :)

A friend of mine finally splurged on a very expensive hand knotted rug. She awoke one morning to find that their dog ate a 5 inch hole in the middle of the rug. She was sick. It has also had accidents on the rug. Think carefully if you have pets or kids spilling stuff on the rug. For some really strange reason, pets always seem to aim for the rug.

Oh, wow, that's a gorgeous rug. I hope it works out for you!