Ingirid, I hope the new rug works for you. I really like it in the pic!

Didn't you say you were going back to the smaller 4 x 6 rug? I know you didn't like the colors of this one you tried today, but was it a 4 x 6? How did that size seem to work for you. I know you'll find one in colors you like and all the ones you select are the same color palette, but the smaller does worry me.

mimi, your rug is beautiful, and yes, I can see the similarity to mine in the center field. I hope you'll show it here as soon as you receive it. I'd be very interested to see it in place in your space.

Linelle and Holly-Kay, thanks for still rooting for me. If the reality is as good as the picture, it should be good. If not, it's going back and I'm looking for another rug company.

peaches, the rug is actually 5' x 6' 5" which is an odd size but I think I can rearrange the furniture slighty so that there is an equal space all the way around of about 7 inches. I tried one of my rugs from another room that is exactly 4 x 6 and that also looked fine, but this obviously covers a larger area and hopefully will look even better.

I cannot judge too well online (hence I am chicken to order anything ) but I have liked all of your selections. Hard to see colors but honestly this one looks like a winner to me. Here's hoping the reality matches the vision on the monitor!

Thanks so much, Sheila. I think you're right to be cautious about buying on-line because it's always a gamble. Other than groceries I buy virtually everything on-line because I loathe shopping. I used to be more "normal" but in the last few years most of my needs seem to be met on-line, and since I read on-line now even my weekly treks to the library are no more.

Ingrid I hope this one works for you. It has the vibrant red you hubby likes, but lots of blue to go with the other blues in your room. BTW I think it's lovely.

So very glad you like it, sas. I thought the blue would tone down the red, but also, at least to me, it gives the rug a vibrant and lively feel. I should say so far, since I've been wrong just a few times...

I like it a lot; I have six of those Pak-Kazak style rugs from rug stores and ebay. Had them for 10+ years, they wear extremely well.

Casey

Sombreuil, judging by your name, are you an antique rose lover? Unless of course your name has to do with the original Mme. de Sombreuil, a figure of the French Revolution.

I'm glad you like the rug and feel that they wear well. I tend to gravitate toward Kazaks, which to me have more of a modern feel than the traditional Persians, which seem to demand beautiful and more sedate interiors, although a lot also depends on the colors and patterns.

Hi Ingrid,

My old gardenweb name was Sombreuil_mongrel, fwiw, but that account did not survive the Houzz takeover, so my new handle is shortened. I wanted the name to juxtapose a beautiful image with something with a raw-er connotation.

I, too, like the tribal rugs so much more, I also bought Hamadans, Shirazes, etc. And every one is a unique piece of craftsmanship and design.

Casey

Sombreuil, I'd love it if you could post pictures of your rooms with the rugs in them. Seeing them in context in someone's home is really interesting to me. Also, are there certain places where you acquire your rugs, and any you can recommend?

So sorry to hear that the rug didn't work for you.

As far as number of knots, you also need to consider how fine/thick the yarn is. A very fine yarn needs more knots than many of the thicker tribal rugs that use coarser yarn and less detailed designs, for example, compare a Qum vs Heriz.

You make a very good point, and your photos illustrate that well. However, even given that, I had two Kazak rugs, and the earlier, larger one was of much better quality, with more knots per square inch and a much richer color than the later, smaller one that I dislike so much. I imagine there's always a range of quality depending on different factors, and I just happened to pick a very poor one.

When does the new rug come? I hope you like this one. I can see it must be hard to decide when looking on line.

For what it's worth, am having similar issues picking a bedspread. Think I know what I want or at least when I see it. Only what I want and what I need are different. And once I find and buy the "perfect" one I decide after using it....it is not it . At least the last one is still in the packaging...for now

Thanks for understanding, Kippy. The new rug arrived today and here it is. With this camera if you click on the picture the image becomes very large.

Ingrid, it looks wonderful! I really like the smaller size.

I think it's perfect. Warms up the room tremendously.

But the important question is "Do YOU like it"? You didn't say.

I really like it too. Definitely warms up the space. But yeah, we need to know if you like it! :-)

Yes, what do YOU think? I actually really liked the first rug....but this works very well with your cushions.

What does it look like in daylight without lamps on?

I don't know any more......It's not 100%, I think the beige border bothers me.....

nsm, I can no longer remember which the first rug was. It's very overcast today and I couldn't take a picture without the lights on.

How is the red IRL? What color would you prefer other than a beige border? I think the border goes beautifully with your sofa, but colors on a computer can be deceiving. What I'm seeing may not be at all what you are seeing.

I think the colors are quite accurate; I just have a stupid aversion to beige borders that I can't explain. I'll just have to live with it for a while I suppose.

I think the beige boarder really ties in with the sofa. Personally, I would want a bigger rug, but mine is on hardwood and would not have the issues of bunching like yours does over the carpet and the last thing you want is a trip hazard

(and the last bedspread I got IS an winner....lol)

I decided to do something about the border. It took a while to get
up my courage but I finally got out some acrylic paints. This is the
result. I know from painting two other rugs that the colors, especially
the blue, which looks so prominent now, will fade. I like it better
this way. You might say I've "customized" it and made it mine.

I'm glad your bedspread is a winner, Kippy. I hope in a few days this carpet will be too. To me an area rug that's on a carpet does not have to be as big as one on a hard floor. This rug bunches but at least it's easier to fix because there's nothing holding it down.

One more picture..

You painted the rug? Or did you paint a picture of the rug?

I have been scrolling back and forth to try to understand what you painted. For the less observant among us - what is different? Please clue me in.

Ingrid painted bright blue around some of the medallions that are in the center of the beige border on all sides of the rug. If you click on the pictures they become larger. It's still a beige border, so I'm not sure how much this really changes the rug, but for sure it can't be returned now.

I believe there also are some blue painted medallions in the center red area of the rug also.

i like the size!

it wouldn't be the rug i would choose for your room, but i think it looks nice... (tho i liked it better before the paint...)

I did not paint the medallion in the middle but painted some areas in the border green (less obvious) and blue (too obvious at the moment but that will change) and we love the new version because the rug looks livelier and the border doesn't bother me any more. I know I couldn't have lived with it the way it was. After looking at countless rugs on-line I haven't found one I like more, especially from a company where it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to return it if necessary. I think the perfect rug does not exist, unless I wanted to spend more than several thousand dollars, and from my experience they never look the same on a screen as they do in your home. I may still look for another one and change them seasonally, no harm in having two to alter the look. In fact the more I think about it the more I like the idea. What would be your idea for the perfect rug, those of you who don't care are for this one?

i would find something with softer colors--- your furniture, carpeting, drapes, and other things are so light or muted that it looks stark to me...

i have bought a couple of rugs on line before after having gotten swatches of the rugs and i could buy online if i was starting a room from scratch and wasn't that particular of the specifics of the color, but i could never buy on line for a room that was basically done except for the rug... i would make how ever many trips was necessary to and from carpet/rug stores borrowing or buying and returning until i found what i really liked.

Sorry, I didn't mean you had painted the center medallion. I meant you had done some painting in the center area, that area being red.

No, there is not one rug that is perfect for everyone or even for one person for all time or in every room. But, yes, there can be a perfect rug for one person in one particular place. We found ours when we recently moved to FL, at a local rug dealer. We wanted something lighter, more muted and softer for our new environment rather than the primary colors I have used for years. Bought the rug, decorated the home around the cream and light blue-green colors in that rug and yes, it is 'perfect'

I like the size of your rug, but I also feel that the room lends itself to a rug with more muted colors rather than one with primary colors.

No, I haven't done any painting in the central red area. Good question about why I keep buying rugs with beige borders, but it's probably because almost every reddish Oriental rug seems to have beige borders. peaches, I would love to see your new, softer rug, Would it be a bother for you to post it here? Arlene, I will keep that in mind when I look for a second rug for this area. It doesn't even have to be Oriental since a completely different look might be nice, and I would want completely different colors.

busybee, we had talked about doing that, but the closest rug store is an hour away. Because of my fibromyalgia I get tired really quickly so getting out is a struggle. That's why all the on-line shopping for everything except groceries.

Someone had asked for a picture in daylight. It's still overcast but I did the best I could.

At a distance the painted part looks okay. But I gotta wonder how it will wear. Acrylic paint? Isn't it kind of a plastic? How does it blend with the rug fibers? What if you spill something and have to rub it to get the spill out?

Linelle, once the paint is dry it doesn't rub off, not even if you soak the whole rug in water. It doesn't peel off because it bonds with the fibers. My husband is an artist and has worked with acrylics, and if I hadn't known about its properities I would have never dared to do this. I first painted a small, inexpensive rug and then a larger one and that stuff does not come off for anything once it's dry.

Arlene, that rug is lovely and I've actually earmarked similar rugs on overstock, except that the background is not blue, some more beige and some more silvery or pale green, but with the same idea of nothing standing out, unlike the rug I have now. I want a completely different look so that it will be a "refreshed" living room.

My work is done on this rug. I added two more colors and that's it. Not a professional job by any means but I'm much happier with it. If you blow the pictures up you'll see all my mistakes, but then no one will look at it like that in real life.

Ingrid, that's really interesting. At first I thought, Ingrid has lost her mind and has started painting brand new carpets.

What kind of acrylics did you use? Full strength or watered down?

It looks much better now, Ingrid! Much more finished. I like it.

The rug we bought which changed the decor throughout our whole home is very similar to the one k9arlene posted. (I don't know how to post photos.) . The center of ours is the pale blue-green of hers, though our design is not quite as busy. The design is cream/ivory with touches of a light caramel, the same as the color of our leather sofa. Our wide border is the reverse of hers- cream with pale b-g and caramel design. But all in all a very similar rug. Ingrid, I truly think if you had gone with something with these light colors or a muted blue like someone posted and suggested on your previous thread, with your carpet, furniture, and pillows you would have forgotten all about another red rug. Your space is so restful and to me the red is a little jarring . JMHO.

I think it's gorgeous! I like the blue you added--it really ties in the blue accents in your room. I've been tempted to "customize" a few things in my home this way--you have given me new inspiration!

Oh my gosh, I'm so surprised. Thank you. I really thought I'd be criticized for ravaging my brand new rug - so glad you like it. Linelle, I got these colors from e-bay and they come in small plastic bottles. For the most part I didn't water anything down, although I did water down the lighter green color a little bit. However, having used these same products in my last rug, some of them may have been watered down at the time and I've forgotten. I put down practice patches of paint on white paper and then decide whether the consistency and color are right. It's good if you can work on a small, not so precious project for practice before you go on to more costly items.

peaches, I understand why you would feel that way because our tastes are so different, and my husband generally doesn't like pale carpets. I'm happy with what I have now but still plan on purchasing another rug more along the lines of what you envision. In fact I saw one on overstock that was paler and we both liked, but I'm almost afraid of ordering from them because their description will say "brown and green" and all I can see is gray and beige. That makes it seem like a crap shoot and they really charge a lot when your return a rug. On erugsale their colors are very true to life on my laptop so it's not me. There's no hurry, but by summer I want to have the lighter-colored one in hand.

I agree that it looks much nicer now, Ingrid......and what an inspired idea! Being an arty type myself - I studied fashion design years ago - I love customising things, both clothing and in our home, but have never been so brave as to paint a rug :)

Hm, I like the really pale vintage rugs or even overdyed, but I know you want color, and blue is out. Beige, too?

raphaella, I'm glad you like what I did to the rug. With your fashion background, I must take your opinion seriously!

nsm, thanks for the picture of the rug. It's funny, but on my monitor I see no beige at all, but rather an ivory background with rust red decoration. The pictures I take of my rug and post here are true in color, but when I looked at overstock's rugs they were really off from the verbal description of the colors. At any rate, it's not exactly what I'm looking for. I have a few possibilities picked out from overstock, and I'm looking at a few other sites. If I find something I really like I'll post it here for your opinions.

Well, I thought I was done painting up the rug, but.....not quite.

I've tried to remove accidental acrylic paint from clothes before and it's very hard especially when it's dry. I have used it on canvas shoes and bags before and it holds up well if you have prewashed the fabric. I never thought of painting a rug before but I have used dye on smaller faded ones. I saw a fiber artist on hgtv using stencils and a airbrush to decorate rugs and the results were lovely. I'm sure she had years of practice though.