Shopping for a carpet....

Persian style rugs at Ikea. Yes. Ikea.

My Mom has been searching for two carpets for her master bedroom for over a year. If anyone has tried to find the perfect rug for a home - you'll appreciate the frustration in trying to find one.  It took me three years to decide on one for our living room and even then, I ended up going custom.  Mom wasn't looking for broadloom, but instead a persian - It ties in with the rest of her decor and would give a beautiful warmth that the room was needing.

We went to Elte back in April, and although there were many gorgeous rugs- the prices were sad to say, way out of budget. Mom had already decorated her entire home, and is at a point where the bedroom she doesn't want to spend a great deal on it - but at the same time, the rug had to fit with the rest of the house and style. Rugs - especially persian rugs, are just right off the bat expensive. But I kid you not when some rugs are over ten thousand dollars. We found some online or at consignment stores but the trouble is we're pretty particular with colour - rugs can change depending on a room, lighting, and whether you're looking at it straight on, or lying down. I founds a few awesome ones on sites like Etsy* like the ones below - but it was pretty hard for Mom to commit if she couldn't return one...

For this room we stayed away from rugs that were final sale or online finds. Which kind of cuts out a lot of rugs. But I thought I'd point out the ones above because the prices are ridiculously good. I've debated purchasing a few ones that I've seen on Etsy, but we don't really have that disposable income to take chances with. (And I'm so picky with colour)

Fast forward to last week, and Kay posted a picture of a beautiful rug that looked like a Persian rug on Instagram and when I asked where she had gotten it she said Ikea. (That was the last place I expected her to say) Mom and I scooted over to Ikea to look at their rugs and found one that was pretty gorgeous. Priced at $1,000 it's not inexpensive (especially for Ikea!) but it's one of a kind, and - reasonable for the size. If you've ever searched for Persian rugs you'll know that the price actually was pretty fair. So, we wrapped it up and brought it home and Mom seemed happy enough with it. (You can see some of the Ikea pricing on their rugs on this page)

The trouble was, Mom needed a second rug to coordinate with the one from Ikea. In her bedroom you take a few steps down to a dressing room that is off her bathroom. (She is a lucky lady). So we needed two rugs that would work together as both are visible at the same time. They didn't need to match but they did need to work together. So the hunt was officially on for a second. A few days after the Ikea purchase, Mom randomly went to a little carpet store at Yonge and Lawrence and found not one, but two carpets that were contenders that could have worked with the Ikea one. However, once we got the two carpets into the bedroom, it was obvious that they were way nicer in her room than the Ikea. So my brother and I rolled up the Ikea one and put it back in the car and these two are now hers.... Sooooo jealous.

The two winning carpets from Eclectic Home (Toronto shop)

As you can see the two rugs she went for are totally different but work together. They look like they have been there all along and add a gorgeous warmth to the room. I'm a firm believer that sometimes you do have to splurge on the right pieces - I would say that about our kitchen countertop (I have yet to regret paying more for quartz after seeing red wine spills and strawberries left out - and yet no staining!) and also for us, having gone custom. Mom did the same thing - she waited and had a set budget on what she would spend. Anyhow, I thought because of the varying sources of rugs, others may enjoy this shopping experience and the few tips on where to find rugs.

No. 1 Custom Rug - See our carpet that we had made in this post
No. 2 Ikea - Check out their rug department for the oriental rugs
No. 3 Etsy - If you can stomach not being able to return something, the prices on some rugs pretty awesome
No. 4. Eclectic Home, 3275 Yonge St., 416-322-0080. Mom dealt with Mostafa Tehrani and he was very helpful!

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