gwendolynne -- Both Rugmark and Care & Fair are advocacy groups which address issues of child labor, particularly acute in Pakistan. If they certify a rug it is more than likely not made by child labor -- not 100% but probably not. I know this from someone who has traveled there and written about child labor issues. I've linked you to the C&F website below. Design and color aside, a tufted rug is held together by glue, as you know. As T2G says, not every rug smells as a result. But glue holds the nap in place. (This is explained in detail with pictures in an article on the link in the post above.) In hand knotted rugs, strands of yarn are hand-tied around the string grid (warp and weft). Those are much more durable. Tufted rugs will be less expensive than hand knotted as a rule, I expect for that reason. Production time is just so different. Good rugs are expensive, for sure. But there are also a lot of buys around -- both on the internet and in bricks and mortar stores. There are a ton of choices (one reason it's difficult to recommend specifics) but I believe a really good shopper, who nows what she likes, can make her own luck pricewise. Here is a link that might be useful: Care & Fair

The backs of handmade rugs can be quite sharp. Notice some of the wavy red lines on the back. Machine-made rugs will likely have much straighter lines. I once asked my cousin, who was stationed in Saudi Arabia and had bought some beautiful rugs while there, if a hand-made rug I was buying here was worth the asking price. I loved the rug. He replied that buying a rug was an emotional experience and only I could know. He was right. That was 25 years ago, and I still have a twinge of pleasure every time I look at the rug. Your koi rug is lovely.

O, good point about the pets. We'll be shopping for rugs in a few weeks, all in high traffic areas. We have two dogs and two cats. The cats I can train..knock knock knock, but it's the 14 year old dog who'll do her thing when I'm not looking. So I too need rug advice. I assume wool rugs are hard to spot clean? Oh! I noticed something interesting in the floor store when we were there. They had a very large area rug, not sure of the brand, but the main color was black. At a distance it looked awfully faded or dusty, and I know they vacuum because their floor is a showcase unto itself! The rug wasn't near a window either. I'm wondering if black background rugs look lighter than they should? It was enough for me to do a doubletake!

Jpmom, you home is gorgeous already! The 12" crown will look perfect with the already tall baseboards. Then add all the other woodwork in, the fireplace mantle, wainscoting, and pillars in the dining room. So pretty! My first reaction was to continue the white painted woodwork. It seems naturally connected to that bar wall from the the LR and DR with the baseboards and wainscoting. Oh and I also love that transom window above the other doorway too! My other thought was that I know from experience how the backsplash tile can completely change colors due to the lighting and what is directly next to it. I would want the two areas in the kitchen with the backsplash to look related. It may look completely different with one being next a window with white cabs and dark counters verses the other being in low natural light with black cabs and white Quartz. I'd definitely wait to decide on what to do with the bar area until the rest of the kitchen is painted white as Romy suggested. I do think it might look great either way, but I'm just one who needs to see it in real life before committing. I am sure either way it is gonna be stunning! ETA.... Could you possibly find a remnant of the Volga blue to fit the bar top if you went with white cabs on the bar? Or possibly just cut the granite and add a dark walnut type wood butcherblock section that reads dark above the wine fridge? Think romy's dark wood top next to the granite? Just a thought....:-)