Month: December 2016

What’s Hot in Home Decor for 2017

Social media has changed the way we decide on what’s hot and what’s not. Ten years ago, fashion was what the industry told you it was. Today, fashion is what we, as a community, make it. In 2017 what’s trending is anything eclectic and rustic.

If there are “Looks” that can be called the forerunners of 2017, they would be Industrial Farmhouse, Rustic Americana, and once again Boho Chic. Each of these styles brings a unique mix of traditional, contemporary, and personal styles.

Boho Chic epitomizes personal style and choice. Rich with color, bold, and full of unique character, Boho Chic was the go-to fashion pick of 2016 and will remain big in 2017. Decor in a Boho Chic home springs up from a single focal design point, like a colorful rug, a bright and beautiful wall hanging or tapestry, or even a unique statuette. From there, the sky’s the limit. Bright and bold, jewel tones, flowing fabrics, and disparate design elements are at the heart of Boho Chic. If you love it, it works, that’s the bottom line. Fill your space with color and kitsch and you have achieved that Boho chic look.

Similar, but with it own distinct twist, is Rustic Americana. A more aged and classic look, Rustic Americana opts for a slightly more conservative and muted design approach. Painted wood furniture, rescued looks, and warm earth and wood tones form the basis of Rustic Americana. Think old and American. Don’t be afraid to let your inner patriot out a little when decorating with this theme. American flags can be hand painted onto nearly anything from dilapidated wooden furniture to old metal toolboxes. Quilted fabrics, aged wood colors and textures, hooked and braided rugs, and (of course) the stars and stripes really pull the look together. Much like with Boho Chic, a space can be brimming with unique and stylized pieces.

Then lastly is my personal favorite, Industrial Farmhouse. Much like Rustic Americana, this look combines aesthetic of reused items and the warm feel of wood and earth tones. However, it has an overall much cleaner look incorporating a lot of metal, white, and grey tones. As the name implies, this look uses a considerable amount of metal. The look uses mixes of metal and wood showing up in furniture, accent items and accessories, and even in unique spots, with items like paper towel and key holders. Brass, copper, and steel tones all work together to create a very distinct and clean, yet cozy feel. Stark white counter tops and couches are used alongside colorful accents. Simple and elegant rugs such as the Magnolia Home line from Joanna Gaines are used along side rich blue and rust pillows or throws with simple geometric patterns create depth and color.

With both Boho Chic and Rustic Americana, the look can be almost cluttered. Think of it as organized chaos. There is tremendous space to create and develop one’s own personal style. With Industrial Farmhouse, the look is more structured, but clean and inviting. The space can feel very relaxed and open while at the same time cozy. While the first two invite you to get lost in the eccentricities of the decor, the latter invites you into the room to kick up your feet, take a deep breath, and just relax.

In 2017, there’s a “hot” look for your home, whatever your personal aesthetic is. From eclectic and kitschy, to clean and comfortable, 2017 is going to be a great year for making your space beautiful, fun, and most importantly: you. Happy New Year!

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By: Matt Gabel

Matt Gabel is the Retail Manager at Serafian’s Oriental Rugs. He has been working closely with rugs for over 25 years.  Serafian’s offers free pick up and delivery in the Albuquerque metro area. For more information, call (505) 504-RUGS or go to serafians.com

How to Identify a Rug’s Construction – What Makes a Good Rug?

The rug industry had long been known for fast talking, hard driving salesman with a reputation for being less than completely honest with their customers. It’s where the term “carpet bagger” came from. Some basic tips will protect you as you begin your rug buying process.

There are three main types of rug construction – Hand Knotted, Machine Woven, and Tufted.

Hand knotted rugs are generally considered to be the best. They are woven one knot at a time on a loom. First, the weaver will take a strong cotton, wool, or silk and create the warp loom. These threads run from the top to the bottom of the rug. Taking a strand of colored wool and knotting it around two warp threads in the foundation creates each knot. Starting at one end of the rug, the weaver takes different colors of wool and, like pixels on a computer screen, and creates the design.

Once a full row of knots is woven, the weaver will weave in a weft thread. The weft thread runs perpendicular to the warp threads and literally weaves back and forth between them. This creates a tremendous amount of strength in the rug and also holds the knots in place.

While incredibly strong, the hand-knotting process is painstaking and time consuming. A room-sized rug can easily take well over a year to weave. Hand woven rugs will generally wear better than any other rug in the market and not surprisingly, cost more than their counterparts. A good hand knotted rug can easily last 50 to 100 years with proper maintenance.

Machine woven rugs are manufactured quickly with large machines. While there are a few different types of machines that will construct a rug differently from one to the next, machines are not capable of creating the same structure as hand weaving. Rather than having wool knotted and tied onto the foundation, most machine woven rugs are made with a simple “half wrap” technique where the colored fibers are held in place with much less strength than in hand woven rugs. The benefit of machine woven rugs is that they are much less expensive and simpler to produce. The average lifespan of a machine woven rug is between 20 and 25 years.

The last style is tufted rugs, which straddle the line between machine woven and hand woven. They are made by hand using a tool known as a “tufting gun.” This is a simple tool that can be used to shoot a U-shaped tuft of wool into a cotton or jute grid. Because people use the tool, it’s often referred to as “Hand Woven.” However, this type of rug is not hand woven at all. The tool produces a look and feel much like the hand knotted rug; however, it is prone to wearing out much more quickly. To combat this, manufacturers will glue a canvas backing to the underside of the rug. This helps to hold the rug together, but in time the glues will degrade and the rug will begin to fall apart and may even produce a latex smell. Most tufted rugs are woven to last around five to 10 years before they begin to degrade.

So how can the consumer tell the difference between these types of rugs? The easiest to spot is the tufted rug – buy looking underneath and finding the canvas glued to the bottom. When it comes to the other two, take a section of the pile and squeeze it along the long end. In a hand-knotted rug you will see the wool wrapping around the warp threads. In a machine woven rug, the thread itself becomes exposed as no wool wraps around it.

Look at the illustrations to better understand basic rug construction.

knotting-styles

Please note that within each category there It are large varieties with differing quality as well as subtle differences that can help a rug to last longer or cause it to wear out more quickly.

However, by understanding the basics, you will be better armed to make the right buying decision.

Want to see a quick video on everything mentioned here in the article?

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By: Matt Gabel

Matt Gabel is the Retail Manager at Serafian’s Oriental Rugs. He has been working closely with rugs for over 25 years.  Serafian’s offers free pick up and delivery in the Albuquerque metro area. For more information, call (505) 504-RUGS or go to serafians.com

Why Professionally Clean Your Rugs?

It’s easy to tell the difference between a fine Oriental rug and wall-to-wall carpeting. One is an heirloom that will be handed down through the generations, and the other should be replaced after 10 to 15 years of wear and tear. One has designs and patterns stemming from centuries of cultural tradition and love, the other is typically monotone. It may seem obvious, but when it comes to cleaning, one needs careful care and attention, while the other can be quickly steam-cleaned.

When it comes to your fine Oriental rugs, steam cleaning is detrimental to the integrity of the rug. Wool contains lanolin, a sheep’s natural oil, which gives the rug its sheen and lustrous appearance. It is also a big part of what creates durability and longevity in the wool fibers. Unfortunately, the heat and detergents used in steam cleaning strips this lanolin out of wool. Very quickly, this will affect both the appearance and durability of your rug. Additionally, it is nearly impossible to completely rinse out the detergents from wool. Unlike nylon, which as a fiber is created to be smooth, wool has a naturally scaly structure. Detergents tend to get trapped in these scales. This compounds with time, as detergent residue attracts even more dirt, causing your fine Oriental rug to become grey and dirty even more quickly than it did before. Controlled, thorough and proper rinsing is the solution to this problem and unfortunately typical wall-to-wall cleaning methods (like the steam cleaners you can rent at the grocery store) just don’t cut it.

The only proven effective methods of cleaning Oriental rugs are cold water flood and immersion washing. Both these methods involve the use of cold water, large quantities of it, and carefully controlled methods to ensure dye stability. Additionally, rather than relying on harsh detergents, these methods use gentle shampoos to scrub the dirt from your rugs. The low temperatures help to keep the lanolin in your rug intact, preserving its long-term durability. The moisture penetrates deeper into the fiber helping to remove the deep and ground-in soil. Most importantly, the high volumes of water are the key to removing the excess shampoos ensuring the long-term beauty of your rug.

Serafian’s Oriental Rugs has the largest rug washing facility in the Southwest. To see a video on how Serafian’s does its washing, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hryLmj6_1-k

Wall-to-wall carpet is expected to be replaced every decade or so. Yet a good hand woven Oriental rug will last for generations. Where steam cleaning is a fast way to clean the carpet in your home, it’s a sure way to damage your favorite fine rug. Regular and proper cleaning is the most effective way to preserve the beauty and value of your rugs, and professional immersion and cold water washing methods are the only safe and effective way to have this done.

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By Matt Gabel

Matt Gabel is the Retail Manager at Serafian’s Oriental Rugs. He has been working closely with rugs for over 25 years.  Serafian’s offers free pick up and delivery in the Albuquerque metro area. For more information, call (505) 504-RUGS or go to serafians.com