Area rugs can make such a beautiful contribution to any room and they are often the first thing that catches the eye as as you walk into the room. In view of that, doesn't it make sense to select and choose the right area rug for each room of your home?

Of course, area rugs come in almost every size, shape and color combination imaginable, but a lot will depend on what the intended use is for the rug and the budget that you have to work with. In times past, only hand made rugs were considered to be of high quality and able to stand up to constant use and heavy wear, but thankfully advances have been in rug manufacturing and today's machine made area rugs can offer a lot for the money as well.

In fact, for most people machine made rugs can be the best solution all around as they offer solid and durable construction and an incredibly wide choice of styles and patterns at very affordable prices that can range from fifty dollars up to a couple thousand dollars. If the rug will be used in a room that is not dedcorated with fine furniture and accessories, why spend the money for the most expensive rug to put on the floor? On the other hand, if your room is filled with very high quality furnishings, why would you want to to put down an area rug that does not fit with it's surroundings?

Hand made area rugs are still considered the best available area rug product and they possess a look and feel that is superior to most machine made rugs. You will find that most handmade rugs use high quality wool for construction simply because wool seems to last much longer and stand up to heavier amounts of traffic than most other fibers. So pay attention to the material used to make the rug.

The weaving process of a hand made rug can be important too as the more densely the knots are placed together the higher quality of the rug. This is referred to as knots per square inch and hand made carpets can boaast a weave density of anywhere from 300 - 750 knots per square inch.

Of course, such high quality hand made area rugs can be very expensive, but if used in the correct surroundings and treated as a piece of fine furniture that is cared for properly, they will last for many years and look incredibly beautiful while doing so.

So when you choose an area rug, first determine where it will go and try to match the decor of that room as much as possible, then choose the level of quality that will match your budget, and you will be able to make a wise choice.