If you don't have aplace for it, will you see the colors and pattern in your garage? Are you likely to have a place for it soon? Will something change? If not, there is no reason to be buying a rug. If you have a place for it and would have something sitting over a corner (all my rugs do) then I'd get it.

Why would you buy something you don't have no need/place/use for?

I think the repair is a really fun detail - it gives the rug history and makes it interesting. Perfect is boring!

All of you express what I feel to some degree or other. I am drawn to it for sure and see it just as a gorgeous piece with such beautiful colors. But I'm trying to be better about buying things that I don't have a place for. I used to buy that way all the time, but that was when I had a house to fill up and part of the fun was figuring out how it would all work together. So I know the practical answer for me is to pass on it. I don't really know where I would put it, so don't know for sure if the patched spot would show. But typically the corner or a rug is often where a chair would be; at least that's how it is in my home.

If we downsize this would be a perfect rug for a smaller LR, or perhaps a seating area in a BR. That's my main rationalization at this point. Have any of you done something similar? How did it work out?? I'm still wondering if I've lost my mind for even looking at it.....I really must be bored this week!! Thanks.

I agree with the PPs. If you were rug shopping it is very pretty and a good deal. You wouldn't see that mark if covered by furniture.

If you don't know where to put it, then maybe leave it for some other happy home :)

If you have a place to store it, and really feel drawn to it, I'd get it. It's not like something in the store, that might be available later. Of course you'd need to see it first, but it's a very pretty rug, and a great price (again depending on seeing it in person). I have passed up unique and good deals, and regretted it later. You may get it home, and find a place for it now .... or if you decide you don't need it later, just resell or donate.

If you don't need it, don't buy it!!

If you don't need it, let it go someplace where it will be used.

I must be blind b/c I don't see repair. I see a pinkish spot like the urine stain my doggie left on my precious rug. It went unnoticed for too long so not fixable so I turned rug around so stain would be hidden underneath furniture. Pooch got no treats for a week...

looks like a deal, you could justify it by taking out another rug in Your house that is lesser quality and replacing with this one.

go to a big oriental rug website, send them 1-2 good pics of rug and they should be able to give u good ideas of its provenance

here is the patch, you can see the break in the pattern/slightly diff color

thanks butternut! I'm going to have to learn how to do things like what you just did.

Well, I offered $175 cash and the seller agreed. She might have even taken less but she looks like a kind soul and I think the price is fair. So I did it. I also have a plan for the rug that has a decent chance of success in my LR. But it will have to go into a quiet corner of my attic for the moment; it would take some heavy lifting and furniture moving to get it in place.

When I get it home I will at least try it in the LR (laying on top of my current rug) and send photos.

And yes, I'm a little nuts. But this rug really tugged at me! Hope my hunch is right that it will find a happy home with me :)

I must have missed where you said that you didn't really have a place for it (was up too late reading posts!), but I'm glad you felt the "tug" to go ahead and get the rug. I've bought things before when I just felt extremely drawn to them, without knowing where or when I would use them. I always eventually found a place (and usually sooner rather than later). I'm happy for your "score." It's a beautiful rug, and a real bargain.

What is the fiber content of the rug~I don't think I read that in any of the posts. There's probably a tag on the back that will list it, but with the age of the rug it may have worn off.

Thanks for pic of patch. I'm

making mental note of it and filing in carpet repair file in my mental file cabinet

No tag at all which only adds to the mystery of course. The owner says she bought it at an auction so she doesn't know the history of it. Definitely feels like wool, and the colors are the type you generally see with a wool rug.

The repair was definitely a creative solution to what must have been a serious bit of damage, and very well done. As Auntjen pointed out, that tells me that someone cared a lot about this rug to go to that kind of trouble, and must have felt it was worthy of the effort.

I mapped out a spot in my LR for it and took some photos but for some reason my mac is not making the photo uploadable. I'm beginning to think it could be the perfect spot for it, even though that thought never crossed my mind until this morning. I'm picking it up later today and can't wait!

That rug is gorgeous. Lucky you.

If it doesn't work out for you......I seem to collect those kinds of rugs. My next available spot is on the wall!

I am so glad you got it since it spoke to you so much! May you enjoy it and it's little "birthmark" for years to come!

Imhappy, I never thought about the wall.....if I ever do this again that will have to be where the next rug will live!

.....and Butternut, thanks for the tip...I'll call it a birthmark from now on!!!!

I picked it up this afternoon but it is still rolled up and stashed in the garage. But I was very pleased when I saw it again. The colors are just beautiful. I was surprised by its weight. It is a very heavy rug for its size, so I'll need some help getting it in place. I have a few Karastan rugs that are larger than this one and they are lighter. I'm guessing this one must have a more dense weave, and I hope that's a good thing.

"Have any of you done something similar? How did it work out??"

Yep. Got a rug on the living room floor right now that I brought a few weeks ago that is too dark for the room, not the style I was going for but for some reason I love it.

spam reported

thanks olychick for reporting the spam! That came out of nowhere and I see it has been removed.

Well, I brought the rug home and now it's laid out in my LR.....

I just put the new one over the old for now. Just for comparison, here is the room with the current rug. It would move to the DR if the new one takes the LR spot.

There are a couple of other locations for the new rug but this one seemed the most logical to start with. Any thoughts/first impressions??

They are both nice, but I LOVE the new one in your room. It seems to go so well with your animal print chair and changes the feel of the room to something a bit more current.

thanks again olychick...it's funny you mention looking more current because at first I thought this rug screamed 80s; probably due to the color scheme.

It may not show up in this photo but here's a lot of orange in it and I recall that being popular in the late 70s/early 80s.

That's a great looking room.

gorgeous, lucky you!

Oh, the new rug just makes your LR spring to life! LOVE it!

thanks aj, I appreciate your encouraging words. It's a gloomy, overcast day here and I was thinking it might be bringing the room down. But your comments make me think maybe it's just the gray skies and dark shadows being cast into the room.

I'm glad you got it. I always envy folks on here who can "shop their house" when they want to change things up a bit. I'm seeing some pretty blues in the rug...am I correct? If I am right, you can have a "new look" with some blue and/or orange accessories, etc. you have the. Lue candles, blue trams forward vase, some blue in the art.

I love and it is perfect in your lovely room. Did you look at the back for marking to perhaps identify it?

No markings at all unfortunately. The damaged area was in a corner, so maybe that's where the label was. It does appear to be hand knotted, and the fringe is woven into the rug, not attached separately, so that's another indication that it's hand made. The seller first listed it as hand tufted, but there is no canvas attached to the back, so I think that's wrong. I wish I could find out a little more about it, but don't want to spend a lot of money on an appraisal; I don't think this is heirloom quality.

tuesday, thanks for noticing; the blues are definitely intriguing! I've been thinking it's time for some new pillows/accessories anyway. If the rug stays (DH hasn't seen it yet) I'll definitely be exploring blue/orange accents.

The rug looks gorgeous in your lovely room! May I ask who the artist is that did the painting? I love it!

The artist is Kay Hutchinson, an NC native. I just googled her and don't see anything about her lately. She was a very young girl when we bought that painting and we thought she was very talented....hope she's still at it somewhere.

And thanks for you comments about the rug. I was actually wondering if it was a bit busy with that painting!

Total score in your beautiful room!!!!

you have such classic and refined taste jjam!

Oh, the painting and the rug are made for each other. This room is a pleasure to walk into.

Ummmm....I guess it's a score. I brought the rug to a dealer today to have it cleaned. They told me it was probably 40-50 years old, a persian tabriz, taba tabai. These were made in Iran from the 1950s through the early 70s. The signature is desirable and helped them identify it, along with the colors, pattern, and weaving characteristics. If it didn't have the patch in place, worth 3K minimum. (!!!!!!) Bummer, of course, but on the other hand, I probably wouldn't have been able to acquire it without the "birthmark" so I'm glad it was there.

I asked if they could do any better on the repair and their advice was to leave it alone unless it was in a room where it could be seen clearly. They said this isn't all that uncommon with older rugs; there is often a bad spot that gets a table or chair placed in a strategic way to conceal it.

Their advice was to clean it and enjoy it. I will!

Nice! The rug brings a lot of pizzazz, in a good way, to your room. It's very pretty! Hopefully your DH will like it just as much as you do. : )

The quickest way to get rid of spam now that we're combined with Houzz is to press the little flag in the top right corner of a spammer's post. Houzz will take the post down immediately for review that way.

Awesome news about the rug being older and Persian! Even with the patch!

I like it better than the old rug in room. I think it actually brightens it up. Very nice living room by the way and congrats on the rug!

MUCH prefer the new rug, think it looks so much better. Congrats on a good find!

Thanks rockybird, and yes, I'm so excited! And of course thanks to all of you at GW who encouraged me to buy it!!! I won't get it back from the rug dealer for a couple of weeks and I miss it already.

The rug looks incredible in your space, and what a great story to it too. Definite score!! :) The artwork is stunning as well.

It looks great! It's perfect for that room. Why did you try to convince us you had no place for it? ;)

So weird, and this is absolutely the truth, I always thought the rug I had was going to stay in the LR forever. The morning when I first posted about this I was racking my brain for a place where the CL rug could live, and just started staring at the LR. Just for fun I got out the tape measure...and wondered what it would look like to have a rug going on the diagonal in the room, to parallel the furniture. I was so surprised to see the measurements worked perfectly. Duh, why didn't I ever try that before?

Who knows; maybe a subliminal part of my brain has had something like this in mind all along. Or maybe it's my mom (best shopper I know) nudging me along from heaven. All I know is, if something tugs at you and you can't stop thinking about it, there is usually a reason that will become apparent in due time. It's always worth a second look :)

Love it! You have such a warm elegant room!

SCORE!!

And I like the "old" one, too.

fantastic.

I must say that in addition to the beautiful rug, I like the painting as well. Do you think this is the same painter?

kay hutchison

No, don't think that's her. Definitely Hutchinson with an "n". We bought the painting and another done by her after seeing them displayed at a restaurant in Winston Salem NC several years ago.. We've enjoyed both pieces immensely and hope she is still actively painting.