Rugs have been a matter of interest for homemakers for a long, long time. People get rugs in order to beautify their living place, adding warmth to the room or simply as a status symbol. The other chief matter of interest in rugs by people is to use it as an investment or to pass it on as a valuable heirloom to the generations to come. Whatever is the intent in buying a rug, the intricacies of a rug is an intriguing process.

The most sought after Oriental or Persian rugs are generally classified into two broad types by the process of their manufacture - hand woven and machine made. The rugs produced on a mass scale by machinery are reasonably priced while the hand woven and knotted ones, classic examples of craftsmanship and quality, usually come with a high price tag attached. The individuality and true character of rugs tends to get lost in large scale production units and the quality is just not comparable.

There are dealers like Home Design which deal only in the finest hand made rugs. The hand weaving and knotting process of the rugs are done by trained weavers known for their craftsmanship in the art of rug making. The rug producing process requires a lot of hard work and concentration by the workers to produce a high quality rug that is as fine as it is unique.

The process of rug knitting determines whether the rug will be a flat-weave rug or a pile rug. The knot density or the number of knots per square foot is a crucial factor in determining the fineness of the rug. The intricacy of the design and pattern on the rugs depends on the knot density of the rug. The more the number of knots, the shorter you can cut the pile. So the highest quality rugs designed are the ones with the finest patterns and thin piles

Most rug dealers provide a wide range of rugs varying in their patterns, styling and designs. You also get customized and personalized rug orders like color choices or geometric and floral design architecture, adding to the aura of both formal and contemporary residences and workplaces. Authentic Persian rugs are made with the finest natural fibers such as wool, silk and cotton. Hand made rugs never compromise on quality and sometimes take months to complete, depending on how intricate the design is.

Compromising on the quality of rugs and choosing the machine made ones over the hand woven rugs can prove to be a sheer waste of money at times. The machine produced replicas of the finest hand woven rugs lack the longevity of the hand woven ones. The synthetic fiber used in machine made rugs is weak in quality over the natural fiber used in authentic rugs. To distinguish a hand made rug from a machine made duplicate, the fringe of the rug should be examined. If it's sewn on, it is machine made, if the fringe threads are the foundation of the rug then you can be sure it's handmade. The loops on the back of the rug are clearly seen too if it is a machine made replica.