Splurge or Save – Rugs

I love to work on my house, but I don’t like to spend a lot of money when I do it. Tastes change over time and I don’t want to feel like I can’t change something because I spent too much money on it. There are some cases where I make exceptions.

Are rugs something where it’s worth it to splurge or should you save (or even steal)?

I can’t say that without exception that I choose to spend vs. save on rugs. It depends on what room it’s for.

Places to Splurge on Rugs

Rugs can be a a huge design decision in a room. Often a rug can be your inspiration piece, as designers like to say. It can be the main item that determines the style and color in your room. If you love a rug, and it inspires the room’s look, I say splurge. Splurge if it’s high quality. See my guide to rug buying. Here are the specific cases where I splurged.

1.) Colorful Rug In Master bedroom. Master bedrooms tend to get less traffic than other rooms and that’s why I like to get a wool rug that feels luxurious. Wool rugs are a splurge item, especially if you buy one that is large enough to fit on both sides of the bed.

I don’t regret this blue beauty in my bedroom, but it was $1200 for a 9×12. That’s a hard decision for me to make. You should really love a rug if you spend that much, and I love it.

blue wool rug in bedroom

2.) Colorful Rug in Living Room. If you have a lot of neutral furniture it’s nice to add in color with a rug. Since living rooms are higher traffic, wool rugs stand up to traffic and dirt.

I splurged on this 8×10 wool hand knotted rug for my living room. Truth be told, it could have been bigger (if I had more cash).

3.) Rug Pad – This may sound crazy, but a really good rug pad can make an inexpensive rug feel more expensive. The felted reversible non stick rug pad is is worth a splurge for me. I love the ones at Overstock (not a sponsored post). They make the rug feel so much softer underfoot.

There are inexpensive neutral rugs that work in both living rooms and bedrooms. That’s why I limited my splurge to colorful rugs. For example, there are natural fiber rugs that like sisal and sea grass. These rugs aren’t always the softest, but natural fiber rugs are inexpensive and they last.

Places to Save or Steal on Rugs

1.) Kitchen – If you put a rug in front of your sink, this can be a good place to save. Who knows what will get spilled on your kitchen rug. Put a rug in front of the kitchen sink that can be replaced easily (or washed).

kitchen rug

2.) Dining room – Just like in the kitchen, you don’t want guests to feel too bad if they spill something in your dining room. I have a seagrass rug in my dining room. I’ve had it for over 10 years and it still looks as good as the day I bought it. For some reason, my cats love it too and you can’t tell when they sharpen claws on it.

3.) Kids rooms – I am not sure about your home, but I’ve had blue Gatorade and sharpie on my rugs. These are pretty difficult to hide. I suggest if you have kids under eight, don’t buy an expensive rug. When they get old enough to know better you can swap it out for something nicer.

4.) Bathroom – Bathrooms are usually small enough where a rug is not a large splurge, even if it’s a wool rug. If you have people (I’m not trying to single out anyone) who tend to get “stuff” on the rug, cotton rugs and indoor/outdoor rugs are the best choices. These can be tossed in the wash or hosed off once in a while. Both cotton and indoor/outdoor rugs are inexpensive.

5.) Porch/Balcony – Indoor/outdoor rugs that are made for the outdoors are made of polypropylene and tend to be very inexpensive. They also don’t last forever but the can be easily purchased for under $200.

Where to Buy Rugs

My favorite place to purchase a splurge rug is a local place in Dallas called Rugland. I like to see larger rugs in person before I buy them and the guys there know rugs. If they don’t have the right size in a rug, they can get it if I’m willing to wait.

If you don’t live in a place that has a rug shop, I also really like a few dealers on Etsy and Ebay. I’ve purchased a rug from Lala Land Rugs on Etsy, and not just because I like the name. The rug came fast and looked exactly like the photo. Only buy from sellers who have lots of good reviews.

My favorite place to save on rugs is Overstock. Overstock has excellent customer service and they have great selection.

Do you like to splurge on rugs? I think I’ve spent more on rugs than any other thing in my house.

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