You already have the color, design and placement in mind. But how much does a nice wool rug cost? A luxurious rug? Can you afford one? Simply put, yes. Just be willing to spend a little more than you might have thought. An area rug is an investment in your home. Where people gather, and where your family sees and feels the rug every day. You want to be GLAD you got the rug you own; not WISH you had gotten the one wanted (but it was just a little more…).
But, WHAT WILL this nice wool rug COST?
Well, it depends. Think about what your budget and if you have a number already in mind. If not, I think you are crazy. JK, seriously, JK. Be ready to invest $750 at a minimum. There are different color schemes, pictures or no pictures, designs, KPSI (i will tell you more about this!), and material install methods. You can buy an amazing wool rug for $1,500, flat out stunning rugs in this price range. If your budget is more friendly, then certainly splurge and find that envy-invoking area rug that your friends WILL ask you about.
What drives the cost of a wool rug and what makes it “nice”?
-Machine or Hand Made?
-Antique or New?
-KPSI (i will tell you more about this, don’t worry)
Cost of Machine Made vs. Hand Made Wool Rugs
Wool rugs are commonly woven by machine and there are some luxury rugs made this way. As long as the wool quality and KPSI (i will explain) are high, that’s a good baseline to assume a luxury rug is at hand. Find a supplier you trust and do a little digging on the “specs” or specifications. If possible, find the “spec sheet” or “cut sheet” usually located on the same webpage of the rug you are researching to get the pertinent deets. Once you know what the details are you will feel better about what you are looking at. Look for hand knotted or woven wool rugs.
Hand knotted wool rugs are legit! This is where you WANT to be if you can. This method of installing the knots ensures the material stays put. Again, find a respected supplier and shoot for high quality wool and high KPSI (almost there). FYI, hand tufted does not mean hand woven/knotted.
Antique Rugs vs. Brand New Rugs
Personally, I prefer a brand new rug to an antique rug, but different strokes, ya know? I just don’t like the idea of other peoples mojo infused in them. There is not a lot that needs to be said here, I just wanted you to be aware that antique is an option. High quality wool area rugs can and do increase in value with time if taken care of. Remember? This is an investment.
Knots Per Square Inch – KPSI
What is a good KPSI, or knots per square inch, for a luxury wool area rug? Typically the KPSI will fall between 100 and 200. This literally means there are 100-200 knots for every square inch of area rug. Do not consider anything that is less than 100, though there is some nuance here and I will write more about this in an upcoming post. I see many luxury wool rugs with cotton foundations at around 140 KPSI, you can not go wrong with that!
Consider the Traffic and Expected “Accidents”
Is your area rug going to encounter shoes, pets, children, house parties (i.e. Wine), daily foot traffic etc? Wool rugs are about as good as it gets for high traffic areas. You can clean it and it is durable. I am not going to get into colors much, but obviously darker colors will hide dirt and stains easier, so that is something to consider when designing your space and how your area rug will fit that.
Now you have a better idea of how much a nice wool rug will cost. If you are not familiar with shopping on Amazon, I wrote an article on the steps to do this seamlessly. Click this link and happy shopping! How to Buy a Rug on Amazon – Luxury Floor Coverings
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