I find it very difficult to find vintage rugs in good condition. If I do, odds are they're not going to be in the color or style I need, or I can't afford them, so I usually give in and buy new rugs in geometric patterns to use as focal points in rooms with solid colored chairs and sofas.
I've been looking at this rug for weeks. When I first found it, overstock.com had it for around $200. Then it dropped to $172 and stayed at that price for ages. A couple of weeks before Christmas, it dropped to $147, and I decided I'd better go ahead and buy it at that price.
For a long time, I was hesitant about buying wool rugs from Overstock, because where new items are concerned, I figure you get what you pay for, but one day I saw that they had a $2500 rug I had previously purchased at a deeply discounted price from a high-end local furniture store that was going out of business. I thought I had bought it at a steal, but Overstock had it for much less than I had paid (and much less than Select Rugs was asking too).
Later I saw they had a rug identical to one I'd had bought at Macy's...again for much less than what I'd paid, so I was a believer. Since then I have bought a couple of rugs from Overstock, and I haven't been disappointed.
Over the years, I've had several experiences with expensive wool rugs "pooling," which is the name for that inexplicable phenomenon of pile reversal that makes rugs look like they have a wet or stained area. Everything I've read says it's not caused by traffic on the rug and that most rug experts aren't really sure why it happens. I've also read that it happens to rugs in all price ranges, from the most expensive to the least expensive and that there's no way to predict whether or not it will happen, so I finally decided to quit paying a lot for rugs and simply replace them when I don't like the way they look anymore, whether it's because they've begun to pool or wear or I just want a new look.
Over the years, I've had several experiences with expensive wool rugs "pooling," which is the name for that inexplicable phenomenon of pile reversal that makes rugs look like they have a wet or stained area. Everything I've read says it's not caused by traffic on the rug and that most rug experts aren't really sure why it happens. I've also read that it happens to rugs in all price ranges, from the most expensive to the least expensive and that there's no way to predict whether or not it will happen, so I finally decided to quit paying a lot for rugs and simply replace them when I don't like the way they look anymore, whether it's because they've begun to pool or wear or I just want a new look.
I love the way my new cheap rug looks in front of my couch. :) The one I had there before looks good under my dining room table too. And at $147, I won't even get upset if the grandkids spill something on it or it pools.
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| My cheap wool rug from overstock.com |
Here are a few examples of rugs from the 1950s and 1960s, the likes of which I can't ever find...and couldn't afford if I did.
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| 1950s 1stdibs.com |
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| 1950s 1stdibs.com |
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| 1951 1stdibs.com |
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| 1950 1stdibs.com |
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| 1960 1stdibs.com |
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| 1960s 1stdibs.com |
Great deal! Love the style and colors.
ReplyDeleteI have a big, "vintage" 80's wool Deco rug bought for $5 at a thrift, put in my art Studio with all my other black Deco revival 80's furniture, but the cat hair stuck to it like glue, so I finally rolled it up. =/
@1950sarh: I have one dog who doesn't shed at all and another who sheds like crazy, so I feel your pain. The shedder is a new rescue...a little Italian greyhound/chihuahua mix. She's so hyper that she bounces on and off furniture like a tiny superball, and I found a place on my living room sofa where her nails had snagged the upholstery, so it's covered with a sheet now. Ah, pets...they can make you nuts, but you love 'em anyway. :/
ReplyDeleteI get it - my vintage rug hunts always end with me buying a new shag because like you, can't find them, too expensive or they're in horrible condition. I really like your Overstock rug!
ReplyDelete@Rhan Vintage: I just sold a beautiful wool shag area rug that I'd had for a couple of years...but I could never get it to stop shedding. And I mean SHEDDING. There were huge fuzz balls all over my house all the time. How do you get yours to stop? (Of course, part of the problem might have been that one of my dogs constantly "dug" in it to hollow out a bed for himself...LOL)
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