Curious about the beauty of Berber carpets? In Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia, Berber carpets and rugs have decorated the floors of oases and homes ever since the Paleolithic era. Here, we?ve compiled everything you need to know about this carpeting, named after its original users?the Berber tribe of North Africa?s Barbary Coast whose members spun cloth and rugs from various natural fibers.

First of all, it?s crucial to understand that Berber refers to a type of carpet weave, rather than a type of carpet itself. In fact, Berber carpeting comes in many different carpet fiber types: nylon, wool, polyester, polyprophylene (Olefin), and more. Atrademark loop construction creates theclassic, woven and knotted look distinct to traditionally woven Berber carpets. As a customer, you have plenty of options when it comes to the size and arrangement of those loops?Berber carpeting comes in a wide variety. Berber rugs typically contain small flecks of dark hues against lighter background colors, which results in a natural and traditional look. Check out some great styles on Houzz.

These days, Berber rugs come in a wide array of color mixes, and are relatively cheap and durable. This makes them a popular choice for areas with significant traffic and wear, such as offices. Besides their resiliency and relatively low cost, Berber carpets arefairly easy to clean. Why is this? Because of its looped construction, spills tend to sit on top of the carpet pile. Which means that as long as you clean up right away, you?ll be able to prevent spills from sinking deep into the fibers. And, in the event that you get to it late, Berber?s traditional flecked and multicolored look is ideal for hiding soil and spills!

While ?Berber? has become synonymous with loops, not all Berber carpets have loops. ?Cut Berber,? also known as ?California Berber,? is indeed loop-less. Some varieties of Berber rugs are made with loops as well as cut-loops. They?re thus known as ?Cut and Loop? Berber rugs. Those styles featuring a repeating pattern are known as ?Patterned Cut and Loop? Berber carpeting. Such options tend to be costly, but quite elegant and beautiful.

Typically, Berber is priced byknots per square meter. Tunisian Berber is known as one of the best?and knottiest?varieties of Berber carpet on the market. These stunningly detailed rugs are made from wool, camel hair, silk, and more. (In fact, highest-quality silk berber carpets boast up to 250,000 knots per square meter!)

One disadvantage of Berber carpet is its susceptibility to snagging and/or running. Because of its loop construction, you?ll want to avoid dragging furniture or, say, letting a toddler drive a Big Wheels across Berber carpeting. You may also want to consider how Berber carpet and your pet?s claws will interact. You?ll want to clip Kitty?s and Fido?s nails (and make sure Kitty has other places to scratch, too). Another drawback is that, depending on its fibers, Berber isn?t quite as soft underfoot as a cut pile carpet.

The Pros and Cons of Shag Rugs

In the United States, wewent through a shag craze in the 1970?s, when the hot home design trend was wall-to-wall shag carpet in colors like maroon, harvest gold, and avocado. While the shag carpets of the disco decade fell out of style, modern shag carpets and shag rugs continue tofeature prominently in many professional interior designs. These rugs weren?t invented in the 70?s either? shag rugs have been around for hundreds of years in various cultures, from Greek flokati rugs, to Scandanavian rya rugsthat originated in the 15th century.

Shag rugs are stylish, adding a touch of flair to a room. You can incorporate these soft, textured rugs into just about any room design, from bedrooms to living rooms to home offices. They also have insulating properties and are a great winter accent, providing a warm, cozy respite from cold tile and hardwood floors when the temperatures drop here in Wilmington, NC.

While shag rugs are extremely comfortable due to their soft wool fibers, they are hard to clean for the same reason. Here are some things to consider before adding a shag rug to your home.

• Dirt, crumbs, lint, and just about everything else gets stuck between the fibers, and vacuuming a shag rug isn?t necessarily recommended (unless you follow this tip from Marta Stewart). Therefore, although a shag rug could work well in a living room or bedroom, it may not be the best choice for a dining room or a heavily trafficked area where food particles and dirt abound.
• Still, shag rugs are not impossible to clean. Washing them every 18 months to 24 months is the easiest cleaning method. But be sure to treatspills and stains on shag rugs almost immediately, otherwise they?ll become a permanent addition to your dcor ? especially if you opt for a white shag rug to create a vintage or mod look.
• Those long, soft, shaggy fibers also trap pesky allergens like dust and pet hair, too, which could reduce the air quality in your home or be a source of discomfortfor people with allergies.
• If you?d like to skip the hassle of cleaning your shag rugs yourself (shag rugs are heavy when wet, especially larger ones), you can get them professionally cleaned. Bear in mind, though, that carpet cleaning companies often charge more per square foot to clean shag rugs because it?s not easy for them either!
• Because shag rugs need regular cleaning and maintenance, they can become an expensive addition to your home over the course of their lifetime. But, for many a stylish homeowner, the stylish look and luxurious feel are well worth it!

Polyester gets a bad rap (thanks, 1973!), but rest assured: it looks a lot better on your floors than on your pants. In fact, one trend that?s here to stay is polyester carpet and polyester rugs. Read on for the pros and cons you need to know before committing to polyester in your home.

For starters, polyester rugs are known for being super resistant to bleaching, fading, and water-based stains. They also keep their color well, making them a great option for ?statement? rugs. They?ll fulfill your little girl?s pink, red, and purple decorating fantasies, as well as your little boy?s sporty ones. In fact, polyester will pack the perfect punch in any room where color matters.Check out Houzz for examples of the beautifulboldness of polyester.

Polyester rugs are also durable and quick-drying. Improvements in the manufacturing of polyester carpet?think better heat settings and finer yarns?mean they?re now way better at maintaining that full, fluffy, and luxurious velvety look. Indeed, installing polyester carpet is a sure way to get those heavy, lush, soft-textured floors that up the coziness factor in your boudoir or dressing room.

Fans of Mother Earth will be pleased to know that polyester carpet has become increasingly green over the years. Today, a percentageof your rug, not unlike your polyester fleece jackets, is often composed of recycled soft-drink bottles. Polyester is also highly reusable, meaning that, when you?re ready to change carpets, your used polyester can re-enter the circle of carpet life, rather than the local landfill.

Above all, polyester carpet allows you to stretch your decorating dollar. There are a variety of weaves and a broad spectrum of colors which can be purchased and installed for a fraction of the price of, say, nylon carpeting. It?s a great choice for those rooms with less foot traffic (think: studies, guest rooms, etc.). However, for those rooms with high foot traffic, you?ll probably want to stick with nylon or with another carpet of comparable quality. Despite advances, polyester yarns are still relatively less resilient, and more likely to show matting and wear-spots. It?s also difficult to remove oil-based stains from polyester?so definitely steer clear of polyester carpeting in your dining room and favorite snacking spots!

Drawing a blank when it comes to redecorating a room? An area rug can be the perfect way to spruce up a drab room, insulate your home, or just give a warm place for bare feet to stand. Additionally, area rugs can set the tone for a new room?s color palette or tie together existing color choices by complementing the tones in your artwork, throw pillows and other home accessories.

But area rug selection can go awry in one big way: size. No matter how great the color or print, an area rug that?s the wrong size can make your room look poorly decorated or unfinished. Here are some tips on how to select the perfect-sized area rug for your soon-to-be-perfect room.

Measure Your Space: Often, we select rugs that are too small out of fear they won?t fit in a room. Measure your space clearly so you know what you?re looking for when you head to the showroom. For example,ideally a 9?x11? room needs a rug that?s 8?x10?.

Visualize Your Rug: Move the room?s furniture and lay masking or painters? tape down to help get an idea of how things will look. This can also help soothe anynervousness that might lead you to buy a too-small rug for the space!

Move It Aside: If you?re looking for a hallway rug, push all of the hallway furniture up against the wall and measure the space between. You don?t want furniture half on and half off hallway rugs!

Leave Room to Breathe: The ideal size for your area rug is big enough to feel luxurious, but not crowded. To avoid a sense of crowding, the rule of thumb is to leave between 12 and 18 inches between the edges of your rug and the walls of the room.

Keep All Four on the Floor: If you?re choosing an area rug for a dining room, the rug must be, at a minimum, large enough for each chair to have all four feet on the rug when comfortably pulled away from the table. This is a good measurement to take at home, before heading to the showroom.

Interested in one of the oldest types of carpet pile used by man? Yes, wool rugs and wool carpets date back over two thousand years. Today, fleece shorn from the coats of sheep or lambs is still considered one of the finest yarns available for carpet fibers.

Wool is obviously a natural fiber. It?s a top choice among the environmentally-conscious, as it?s made from a sustainable (and willing) source. Itsproduction doesn?t require much energy, and its?s biodegradable and recyclable. Furthermore, unlike some synthetic carpets, it won?t take up much space in a landfill.

Wool carpeting behooves your indoor environment, too! Wool carpet fibers can absorb about thirty percent of their weight in moisture, without getting damp. This makes wool carpet a cheap and efficient natural dehumidifier. A bonus benefit here is that moisture causes wool?s fibers to swell, thus releasing dirt! Plus, wool rugs? natural fibers can absorb and retain chemicals such as formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide, thereby filtering out unwanted byproducts of heaters, fireplaces, and stoves.

Now let?s talk about wool?s fiber structure. It hasthe benefit of thousands of years of evolution (yes, sheep have roamed the Earth that long), meaning wool is naturally engineered to withstand quite a lot. For starters, wool fiber is naturally coiled (go look at a flock of sweet, curly sheep!), lending it built-in ?bounce-back,? or resiliency, that outlasts synthetic fiber carpets. Wool fiber?s outer, cutaneous structure is built to shield the inner part of the fiber, allowing it to naturallyrepel dirt and liquids, and holding spills near the surface of carpet, which makes everything a lot easier to clean. What?s more, wool?s layered cuticles render it able to withstand plenty of bending. And, because wool is naturally white, it readily accepts dyes, locking in color intensely and quickly. You can go as vibrant and statement-making as you like with wool?check out these examples ofbeautiful wool rugs over at Houzz.

Wool, quite strong and elastic, can withstand the heaviest of foot traffic (think hotel lobbies) and still look gorgeous. Also, wool is flame-retardant and won?t melt. Need something soft to cover the floor near your fireplace? Burning embers have nothing on wool?you?ll be able to simply brush off any charred wool fibers. Plus, thespiral structure of wool?s fibers makes them excellent insulators. Wool carpeting also has top-notchsoil-hiding capabilities. This is because it?s an opaque fiber (as opposed to synthetics, which are transparent), meaning it doesn?t refract or reflect light. The property makes soil much less apparent to the human eye.

Remember how we mentioned that wool absorbs dye so well? The flip side is that it stains easily. It?s also prone to distortion (think jet streaks), and sensitive to high-alkaline chemicals. This means exposure to substances such as chlorine bleach tends to make wool brittle, discolored and prone to dissolve. The take away here: be sure you use water-based cleaning solutions!

Other cons of wool? Like the animals it comes from, it?s rather prone to shedding and fuzzing?meaning you might be covered in fibers after a wrestling session with Fido. And if you?re a moth or a carpet beetle, then boy, are wool fibers delicious! This bears the question: do you want chemical substances (i.e., insecticides) on your carpeting? And of course, wool is typically the most expensive carpeting choice?processing, cleaning, and preparing this type of carpet pile runs manufacturers a pretty penny.

However, wool rugs made with quality dye tend to age beautifully, like healthy, shiny hair. And of course, the feeling of walking on wool in bare feet is unparalleled?its fibers are oh-so-soft. Tempted to join the flock of wool lovers? Our experts would love to tell you more. Give us a call today at (910) 685-7353.