Question:
“What should I know about the manufacturers of area rugs? In the purchasing mode, I would like to find out who are the ones I should be looking at because of their quality and reputation. For instance, what are the differences between Karastan and KAS?”
Answer:
How long a company has been in business is often a good indicator of the quality of their product, and reputation for customer service before and after the sale. Most vendors offer a range of price points, but please do not confuse price with value. Natural fibers like wool and cotton, and the labor intensive processes of hand dying and hand knotting are time consuming, and therefore more expensive than many of the synthetic products and automated processes. The adage “You get what you pay for” still holds true and an accurate indication of value requires and apple-to-apple comparison.
I wanted the opinion of someone in the rug business for this question and I trust the opinion of rugsale.com to answer the question because: they are a division of Kaoud Oriental Rugs which has been in business for over 54 years and have found the following vendors to be there; Nourison, Momeni, Dalyn, Kas, Shaw, 828 International, Couristan, and Chandra. The broad range of styles these vendors offer have gotten many favorable comments from their customers.
No Responses to “Reader Question – Area Rugs”
January 7th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I think rug is just a rug, no matter what you buy it from, just have to choose the right quality. I agree that there are top brands out there but it all depends on how it’s made and with what material. If you want explanation of different weave and different kind of rugs, check out http://www.jbbdecor.com/buying_guide.php
September 13th, 2008 at 1:16 am
As someone who has been in this business for a long time, I can say manufacturer’s reputation is important up to a point. I personally like and recommend Karastan, Momeni and Oriental Weavers but in this world of global market all these manufacturers have collections that are totally different from each other. The material and workmanship of each collection can be very different. For example Karastan has high end rugs such as shapura or the Original Karastan collection and some lower end lines such as “Studio Eastwind” that are of lower quality and can’t take a decent traffic before falling apart. Regardless of manufacturer, you need to follow certain aspects of purchasing an area rug to ensure you are making an informed decision. Here are a few quick tips I think you should read:
10 Easy Tips to help you choose area rugs
Hope this helps. Good luck!