If you are planning to buy a rug for your home and are intimidated by the prices you saw, this article is going to help you understand the reason behind it. Rugs are an investment and an important element of home decor that can add a modish touch to your place however, they also come at affordable prices. But with low prices, you might sacrifice the quality of the rug and this may also lead to frequent replacements. Hence, it is advisable to only go for high-ticket value rugs because they pay off in the longer run.
If you want a good quality rug and don’t want to give up on style, have a look at why they come at a high price tag:
The Material used
One of the major reasons why rugs are marked at a high price is the material that is used to make the rug. Have you ever noticed that pure cotton and silk shirts are a bit pricey as compared to polyester or elastane ones? This is because the former is more comfortable, durable, and is harder to source than the latter. Similarly, in the carpet industry, traditionally, rugs are made of natural fibres like wool, silk, and cotton and hence, they are expensive. These rugs are highly durable and have a luscious texture and feel to them. One can easily identify whether a rug is of good quality just by the soft touch of it.
The Method of Making Rug
Another extremely important aspect that contributes to the expensive nature of a rug is the method by which a rug is made. Did you know that the most expensive rug ever sold in the world that costs thirty-three million dollars is handmade? Now you know how expensive handmade rugs can be but fret not as you don’t need to spend this much on a handmade rug. Moreover, there are different kinds of handmade carpets such as hand-knotted, hand-tufted, and hand-loomed based on which each rug’s price is determined. Out of all, hand-knotted rugs are the most expensive as they take the longest time, months, sometimes years, to be woven.
The Number of Knots
The number of knots in the hand-knotted rugs is also another factor that drives up the costs of rugs. Hand-knotted rugs are the most laborious to make; they are made by the technique of weaving each knot individually by hand. It can take up to three men each day to bring one new inch of knot to life and the least amount of knots per square inch in one rug is about 300. Now imagine the time taken to weave one rug that has 324 or 576 knots per square inch. Hence, the higher is the knots in a rug, the higher is the time taken, and the higher is the price. It's justified.
The Design Pattern
The last attribute behind the high costs of rugs is the design pattern of a rug. It is a well-known fact that rare things are often expensive and this applies to the rare designs and patterns of rugs as well. A rug is not just a piece of fabric but a piece of art if it has intricate design patterns such as Kashan, Ardabil, etc. and each rug involves fine, intricate craftsmanship and is One of a Kind which makes it even more exclusive.
The point is that not all rugs are expensive, it's just high-quality rugs that come at a high price tag. Know that you are not just paying for the rug, but also for all the hard work done by the skilled artisans and weavers over months and years to make a piece of art.