Antique Rugs and Oriental Rug Restoration

I recently came across a beautiful, very old rug for sale and bought it promptly. It was not perfect but if you're almost 100 years old, how perfect are you? Perfectly imperfect with experience, heart, understanding and a certain beauty of just being who you are.

For a rug, a beautiful antique patina and an essence of all the life that has passed before it illuminated by the glorious colors of dyes made the old fashioned way in a beautiful drawing. As you may have guessed, I have a passion for hand woven rugs.

My new acquisition was a 11 x 14 Persian tribal rug, know in the trade as a Bakhtiari. The Bakhtiari weavers are very respected and have their own colorways which I find pleasing. They are most famous for the garden design but many of their antique rugs have earlier renditions that one would not necessarily recognize and other medallion designs such as the one I purchased.

I will share some before and after photos and also a couple of videos.

The problems:

Two small tears in the body of the rug and one edge that needed securing.

The below photo depicts the selvage (edge of the rug) which was detached.
                                            Separated selvege:

                                         
Here is a video of my trusted restorations expert...doing what she does:

Video of the restoration, repairing the slits.

This rug is now fully repaired and good to go!

Here is a video of the rug after these minor restorations.

11 x 14 Persian Bakhtiari with Beautiful Jewel Tones. 

Hope you enjoyed!
This wonderful 11 x 14 Bakhtiari rug is available. Price on request, questions welcome.
Give us a call: 707-823-3355

Penny Krieger, owner
Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc.
Sebastopol, CA

Dogs and Oriental Rugs. How to Camouflage Your Dog Crate with Beautiful Tribal Rugs!

I am the owner of an Oriental Rug Gallery and also a very loving "dog mom". My lovely rescue, a purebred German Shepherd Dog by the name of Prince is the light of my life. We have been enjoying life together for 4 years now and once in a great while, I will bring him to my shop. Normally this only occurs when I know it will be a short day for me and he has been well exercised earlier. He mostly stays in the crate for a couple of hours or gets a brief walk outside and then back into the crate.

Having a dog crate in an Oriental rug store is a bit strange so a while back I decided to ensure it fit in with the theme of my shop! Step by step, this is how I evloved decorating the crate which basically camouflaged it. I then thought that if anyone had a crate in their home that really needed to be in a certain room and they would like to impove the look of it, I would share this. Obviously, this look is not for everyone BUT for people that collect rugs or textiles and find they have more than they can dispay, it may be of use. 

The crate, as you can see is black metal. It is large. My dog weights 93 lbs! It is tucked into a corner of the gallery but right by the front door when you are walking in. Keep in mind, whatever I chose had to work with all the rugs that were on the walls and in the front window display so this factor guided my choices. Also, what was floppy and the correct size? 

I started with an old Sofreh (flat woven eating cloth) and covered the top of the crate.

My next step was to drape and old Qashqai rug along the side that faces the door. I then grabbed a very colorful saddlebag that you can see on the left. The saddlebag is Kurdish from Iraq and has a very old design called the Memling Gul. On the right are two very pretty vintage tribal rugs, folded in a way that clearly shows their colors. 

Now if Prince were in the shop, I would leave the front open so he could watch all, as you see here. 

But for most of the time, when he would not be in the shop, I also wanted to cover the front door of the crate. Well, well, what did I find? I had recently purchased some very pretty Senna kilims (Persian flat woven rugs) so I chose one for the front and it was a perfect fit. I just tucked the kilim under the other rugs on the top of the crate and their weight easily held it in place. Here is my end result which I was pretty happy with and so took photos and decided to share:)  

 From another angle. And yes, every rug you see here is for sale. 

Please share this blog post on any social media or anywhere if you have enjoyed this article. Penny, the undercoverruglover!   Paradise Oriental Rugs, Sebastopol, CA

Looking for Information on Oriental Rugs? Tribal rugs? Persian Rugs?

What is the difference between an Oriental rug and a Persian rug?
What is the difference between a city rug and a tribal rug?
What is a workshop rug?

All answered here: How to Buy an Oriental Rug by Penny Krieger

What do tribal rugs look like?
Like this: Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc., GALLERY PAGES

What makes an Oriental rug valuable? May I offer an earlier blog post I did which some have found useful. Right here.

How can one tell if a rug is woven with vegetable dyes?
Great article by Steven Price on this exact subject. 

Define: Gabbeh Rug
Here is my article on Gabbeh rugs: What is a Gabbeh? 

What are some of the basic rug definitions?
I have tried to keep this small rug dictionary as simple as possible:
Understandable Oriental Rug Dictionary 

What are the basics in decorating with Oriental rugs?
This article, I wrote a number of years ago has been well received:
How to Decorate with Oriental Rugs

If I missed anything, here is my articles page with additional information on Oriental rugs.

The reason I am providing all these links is we recently did a site rebuild and moved to a new host and for a few days, I was lost in space (or at least my web site was). Great pun here as my name is Penny! So, all are here for easy reference.

Here is my new home page: Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc. 

Here is my new testimonials page with many gorgeous tribal rugs depicted.

Here are the gallery pages of my site with many rugs available at my shop. 

And if you are a genuine dyed in the wool RUG ADDICT I do have an article for you.
For a bit of levity please have a look at: How to Deal with an Oriental Rug Addiction, by Penny Krieger

Hopefully you found some information you were seeking. We are always available for questions and believe it or not, my cell number in on the outgoing message at my shop when we are not open. Suffice it to say, I love my work and I really love rugs. No kidding:)

The UnderCoverRugLover

Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc;
137 North Main St.
Sebastopol
CA 95472         707-823-3355

Hint:) We do ship all over the US and on "an approval" basis.

Yikes, This Rug is Heavy! Fantastic Very Large Persian Bijar at Paradise Oriental Rugs.

Well, it arrived and it's pretty heavy! If I had to open and close this by myself, I don't think I could do  it or it least it might be a bit of a struggle BUT the good news is, the rug is BEAUTIFUL.

I did have a similar, smaller piece a couple years ago which sold a while back. This piece just arrived at my gallery yesterday. The exact size is 11' 2" x 15' 4". This rug is filled with life. Nuanced colors mixed with deeply saturated jewel tones so although the rug has great depth of color, it is not too dark which it a plus for a rug of this size. Gorgeous drawing, clean, fine weaving and all things good. Pretty obvious I am from California, isn't it? :)

I just put together a quick video of the rug for anyone that would like to see it.
Video of large Persian Bijar

The rug is tightly woven, thick, slightly floppy (not stiff at all) and the vegetable dyed wool is of excellent quality, so there you are.

To see some some additional photos click here. There is a page 2 on gallery one which you can find but clicking on the little number 2 at the top and bottom of the page.

Please call for the price if you have some interest.
The number of our gallery, Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc. is: 707-823-3355
Questions always welcome. 

What Makes a Rug Beautiful?

Well, have a look and you tell me. It's the magic. One can say, the colors or the drawing but all working together create an emotional response from the person viewing.

When a rug is captivating, charismatic, heavenly, all things good...it is obvious.
It is not a foreign language and it does not take a mind reader to see it. The rug speaks for itself and communicates to "almost" anyone that sees it. This piece arrived at my shop today and I was thrilled when I opened it. Better than expected and just right. It is so much fun buying rugs. Honestly, I am a kid in a candy store. Just thought I'd share. My Gallery!

We're Talking Bijars!

Not all Bijar are the same, this we know. As we have now passed the 4th year of the current Persian rug embargo ( Sept. 29, 2010, beginning date) there are very few of the best quality, newly woven tribal rugs from Iran available. One of my very esteemed suppliers brought in a number of amazing pieces, actually a container full, to the US right before the embargo went into effect and has made these available on a step by step basis for the last couple of years.

Vegetable dyes, hand-spun wool, antique designs, new rugs. These, I believe are the most valuable rugs being offered in the current market. Just my opinion but I have a few and after a number of years, they are showing no wear and look like the day I purchased them.

Recently I was able to purchase a few more for my gallery and they are all gorgeous! Have a look-see. All are currently available. Each piece was woven in the small towns surrounding Bijar by skilled Kurdish weavers. Beautiful colors, articulate drawings, tightly woven, heavy body and virtually indestructible. These plant based dyes are very unlikely to fade.

So, here we go.  All of these are in the 8 x 10, 8 x 11 size. Antique designs, based on

traditional Persian motifs.  This first piece is a tribal rendition of the Shah Abbas design.

                                       8 x 11 Bijar Carpet, new rug, antique Shah Abbas design. 

                                Classic Garrus design.

                           
                                 Close-up view.

                                Another rendition of the Shah Abbas design with an unusually
                                wide border and it works.

                            

To see more rugs, please take a look at my website! We are in Northern CA but ship all over the US. All rugs are shipped on an "approval" basis. Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc., Sebastopol, CA
Prices on request. See my contact page.  

Happy New Year!

The UnderCoverRugLover

Beautiful New Persian Rugs in Today!

Here you are: they will be up on my site by tomorrow. Most of these are smaller and medium sized rugs; 5 x 7, 4 x 6. All of these pieces are genuine Persian tribal rugs from Iran, brought into the US before the 2010 Embargo. Woven with hand spun wool and plant based dyes, each piece is unique and one-of-a-kind. The first two pieces have the Tree of Life design with an accent design based on the weeping willow. The third rug down is a Qashqai (classic and traditional Qashqai) and gorgeous! Love this one. The last rug is a Khamseh or Khamsehbaf. Khamseh is a tribal affiliation in Iran and baf means "woven by".

What Does Taking a Rug On Approval Mean? Oriental rugs, Persian rugs, Handmade rugs.

There are two things one must know in order to purchase a hand woven Oriental rug. The first is that when you look at the rug, you love it; the colors, the design (drawing) and the whole piece are beautiful and interesting to you. You want to continue to look at it. This is the sign of a potential keeper!

The second is this: will this rug work well in my home? Factors that may affect how well the rug works are: lighting, colors of your furniture, drapes and walls, size of the rug being appropriate for the space and the overall mood of the rug. Is is complimentary to the room it is being placed in? If the rug does not bring the space to life and enhance the total look of the room then that particular rug is not the correct one.  Of course there are other considerations such as price, trust of the merchant, etc., but these first two are paramount.

The first consideration can be ascertained at the gallery of your choice.  The second factor you will only discover when you take the rug home, put it down and look.  Unless you are on vacation in a foreign country and it is a decision that you must make forthwith, reputable rug stores here in the US will always allow you to take a rug, "on an approval" basis. This means that you are able to take it home and see if it looks as wonderful, in your home as you thought it might.

The most rugs I have ever allowed a client to take on approval at one time was 13. This sounds like a tremendous number of rugs but actually many of the pieces were very small.  Amazingly, when this client arrived back at my shop a couple of days later, he did, in fact keep 7 pieces. Again, I believe 3 or 4 were very small rugs but this was none-the-less a very good sale.

In shipping rugs out of state, each piece from my shop is shipped on an approval basis. I am proud to say I have never had a large piece sent back but seeing a video of the rug helps tremendously and often I will do a short video for a client of a rug of interest.

If you would like to see some of the rugs at my gallery, all of which are sold "on an approval" basis, here is a link to my gallery pages. Additionally, here is a link to the many Oriental Rug Videos on my You Tube Channel. 

Hopefully this information will be of use.

The UnderCoverRugLover:)







  

Looking for a Beautiful Oriental Rug? Currently running a Special Offer at my Gallery!

I will get right to the point. We are currently offering 15% off your 1st purchase!
Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc.  Here are a few pieces from our collection.

We are located in Sebastopol, CA (one hour north of San Francisco) but we do ship all over the US. Please give us a call with any questions. Prices are on request. The Persian rug embargo continues but I still have some beautiful one-of-kind, very special pieces from Iran and Afghanistan so do take a look.  Rug Gallery!

Here is our info:
Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc.
137 No. Main St.
Sebastopol, CA  95472

707-823-3355

New Oriental Rug Article! What I Have Learned About Oriental Rugs.

Here is a quick preview.

In 1990, I knew virtually nothing about Oriental rugs. Fast forward to 2014, I have been a retailer with a gallery for over 15 years. I started late but dove into this business with much enthusiasm. I own more books on Oriental rugs than anyone I have ever met and will continue to expand my library on the subject at every available opportunity.  Do I read them all cover to cover? No. I look up exactly what I need to know and move on. To read more, here is the rest of the article on what to look for when purchasing and Oriental rug.