Carpets & Rugs
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Carpets & Rugs
Jan 2006
I would like to buy 9' x 12'(ish) rug and have approximately
$6,000 to spend. Where to go? Are prices always negotiable or
is there some place that has good quality and price and no need
to haggle? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
EBay is the best place to buy a rug. New and used. Amazing
deals, you'll save a bundle.
annon
If you haven't tried eBay, give it a try. I have bought 3 rugs
on eBay and while they were not new, they were valuable oriental
rugs which I bought for a fraction of what they would have cost
in a store.
Karen
Try www.homedecorators.com
We got our living room rug there and get lots of compliments. They have a huge
selection ranging from traditional to modern, all types. We ended up buying a synthetic
rug rather than wool but you can't tell. It's a nice tight weave, easy to clean and looks
great. Some of their other products are a bit tacky so don't be turned off by that. Check
out the rugs. It's worth a look.
anon
October 2005
I'm thinking about buying a Persian Gabbeh rug from IKEA, but I want to make sure it will hold up, because it's pretty expensive. If you've bought one recently, I'd really appreciate any advice you might have.
These are my questions:
Does it shed?
How often do you vacuum it?
How long have you had it?
Has the vacuum cleaner pulled threads?
Thanks for your help!
Catherine
I bought one 3 years ago and it is OK. No complaints and it has had heavy use. I would not recommend a lot of IKEA things! For example, we bought a chest of drawers for $112. that only lasted 5 months. Piece of junk! Looked great at first though and maybe if only adults used it...but I can say with out reservation that our $500. 8X10 persian carpet has been a very good deal.
dillon
July 2004
Hello,
I'm looking for an alphabet rug to put in our son's room. I'd
like something that isn't ''pastely'' (maybe primary colors) with
conventional print. The rugs I've seen have letters that are
too fancy. Does anyone have any ideas on where I can get such a
rug?
Thank you.
Try:
http://shopmuseum.com/shop/product173.html
or
http://kidatheartdesigns.com/alphabetzoo.html
or
http://kidatheartdesigns.com/abcs.html
or
http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/
catzmeow
Try www.lakeshorelearning.com - it's a preschool supply store.
Jen
I bought an inexpensive alphabet rug at Walmart for $40. It is
not large (about 3 x 5, max.) but it is primary colors. The
alphabet is woven into the middle of the rug, and the border has
woven pictures of items that start with many of the letters (for
example: ladybug, airplain, train, fish....) So far it is
wearing pretty well, but the white areas do get a bit grey
looking and I hand clean it once in a while with spray-on rug
cleaner and the vacuum. (This rug sits in the middle of our
children's room so it does get a lot of traffic.) I don't
expect it to stay spotless and when it is too dirty or tattered,
I'll spend another $40 and replace it with the same rug.
Perhaps the size will work for you?
anon
Lakeshore learning store has a great alphabet area rug which
would fit your needs. Primary and bright colors, simple ABCs on
ovals of contrasting colors on a bright red background.
$40.00. There is a store in Walnut Creek, and another San
Leandro (with a clearance warehouse in the back - great deals).
Rachel
May 2004
We are thinking about replacing the wall-to-wall carpet in
our daughter's room and would like to get a carpet that
would do minimal off-gassing. Where would we look for
something like that?
Thanks.
Katherine
Most carpets are full of formaldehyde, a toxic substance
bad for both children and adults. Nirvana Safe Haven in
Walnut Creek sells carpets made only of wool and latex.
925/472-8868. www.nontoxic.com. They also have paints and
mattresses. I have never done business with them, so I am
recommending them only on the basis of the type of products
they sell.
sunsol
Jan. 2004
Hi, everyone. I am decorating a playroom for my kids (a boy
and a girl), and I am looking for a fun rug for the room. Any
suggestions of where to find a large rug for a kids room? Any
suggestions of places that carry stuff that is not only for
boys or only for girls?
Thanks.
Laura
I recommend Pottery Barn Kids or Target.
Patty
Ikea has great kids type area rugs in wonderful colors. The
price is really good for the size and quality of some of the
rugs there. If you don't want to fight the crowds I believe
you can order online now. Ikea.com
a mom
Jan. 2004
We have a 6 month old baby who will soon be crawling, and we'd
like to get an inexpensive area rug for our all-hardwood-floor
apt to create a space where he can play/learn to crawl/walk
safely. Any idea where we can find something roughly 10x10ft
and easy on the skin (our baby has severe eczema and very
sensitive skin)? We aren't terribly stylish and plan on moving
in a year or so, so even scraps/carpet-ends would be OK. Also,
we've been told to get a ''carpet cushion'' to put underneath to
make it softer for baby-falls... any idea where/how to buy
these?
Thanks,
Mom of baby getting ready to crawl
IKEA has inexpensive, 100% cotton rugs that sell for about $25,
and are about 5x4. You may be able to saw two of these together
to fit your needs or they may have bigger rugs that aren't that
expensive.
E.
For inexpensive/attractive rugs, try Target! I am not sure if
they have rugs that are hypoallergenic; I am allergic to wool
and have had difficulty in finding rugs that are cotton. Target
has lots of different selections and could be a good place to
start!
Nov 2003
We are looking for fun children's rug for our soon-to-be
crawling baby and am having a hard time finding a good
selection. Pottery Barn Kids has some adorable rugs, but they're
fairly expensive. Also, we have two dogs who will also be
tramping across it, so it needs to be durable and easy to clean.
Any suggestions?
thank you
Ikea! They are cheap (under $25 for sure), they are fun, and they are backed
with a rubber material that makes it non-slip and also saves our wood floors
from spills. They are also very easy to clean: out in the backyard with water,
brush, and a little dishwasher liquid and like new again! anon
www.thecompanystore.com also has some nice childrens rugs that
are high quality. I bought one on sale for about $50 -- you
really have to look for deals & coupon codes on the internet.
but the rug is thick & pink with flowers.
Tasha
Jan. 2003
We need to buy a nice wool area rug for our living room. Our 7
month old daughter is starting to roam and I'd like to make it a
nice surface for her. We also have two cats and a dog so it
needs to be able to vacuum well. Where should I buy such a
rug? We don't want to spend more than 500-700 dollars on it.
Our house is pretty modern so we want something simple and
subdued. Do you have any suggestions? We have also thought of
buying carpet and having it bound on the edges. But this seems
expensive. We need the rug to be minimally 9x12 or bigger.
thanks
softer floors
You should be able to get a large rug for that price (or less,
especially if you are willing to consider a high quality
synthetic instead of wool) at Expo (in the East Baybridge center
in Emeryville) or, if you want a solid color, even at Home
Depot. You can also try the Rug Outlet store which is in the
same general area on, I think, Hollis Street, and IKEA. All of
these places offer simple, modern designs, not just Orientals.
Holly
Dick's Carpet One in Berkeley on Ashby (I think). We've
purchased lots of area carpets from them and are going back to
ad carpet to our stairs now. Best bargains are to buy the
remnants and have them bind the edges. The sales staff has been
friendly and helpful and the selection good.
happy shopping.
I just wanted to mention Ikea. I have bought a few there, both
wool and not, $40 - $80 dollars, 8ft by 5ft or so large, for the
mid living room and small back room, obviously doesn't cover the
edges. I also want to inform you that if your daughter shows
any signs of allergies, red patches, sensitivy to detergent,
soap, ect, you may want to hold off on wool. Wool is indeed a
high allergent. Cotton is safter at this young age. You could
test this by buying a inexpensive wool sweater and seeing how she
reacts by wearing it with a tank for a few days, buy used and
then return it for trade if she reacts. My daughter had ecxema
and wool was out of the question as was everything else under the
sun.
Catherine
IKEA is the place for you. Not only are the rugs inexpensive, but their designs are modern/contemporary which will fit your style perfectly.
They have large sizes and probably won't be more than $300. Be
prepared to vacuum a lot as they shed quite a bit at the beginning. IKEA is located in Emeryville off of Hwy 80.
chris
We bought a rug last summer at Macy's Furniture Outlet in Union
City. They were having a sale where everything in the store was
an additional % off (they do this every 4 weeks or so) and we got
a rug that was originally $1500 for $400. Like all outlets,
sometimes you go and there isn't anything great there. But they
generally have a lot of rugs. I live in Oakland and find that it
generally worth the drive down there (also, there is an ''In and
Out Burger'' across the freeway).
Jennifer
Try the Home Decorators catalog. They have lots of Persian style
rugs inexpensively. Also, the Macy's outlet in south Hayward has
inexpensive rugs, but Home Decorators has a lot of what they
have. Call Macy's and ask when they have their additional 30%
off sale.
Toby
I recently answered a similar question on the Household list.
Dalton, Georgia is the carpet capitol of the US. We shopped
locally, got quotes, and then I found a Dalton dealer who got it
directly from the manufacturer. We bought a carpet that we had
bound on the edges, and even with shipping and handling, we easily
saved 50%.
The company was Capitol Carpet, Inc. Phone # 706 279 1820 - sorry
- their website and email are not on their invoice and I no longer
have it bookmarked.
Stacey
We bought a carpet remnant and had it bound at California Carpet
in the city, south of Market. (Might be 8th street.) We got a
nice wool quality for less than $500. Ikea also carries many
inexpensive area rugs.
Dana
Take a look at the ebay auctions for antique persian rugs. In
general they can go well with contemporary furnishings. You can
get amazing deals as long as you pay close attention to the
pictures, shipping costs and the seller's feedback. You will be
in running for many auctions at or below the amount of money you
mentioned.
Robert
I would like to make a comment and share an experience regarding
carpets at IKEA. While we had good luck with IKEA cotton rag
carpets (they last, wash well, that is what we have in our
daughter room), we had to return a large wool carpet because we
could not tolerate the fumes emanating from it.
When we bought the carpet (a large, 100% wool, natural color,
Made in India) the IKEA sales person warned us that the carpet
had been fumigated to comply with US Custom/Agricultural
regulations , to prevent the import of possible insects/molds
That treatment, he said, gave the carpet a strong smell, which
would have faded in a short while, just leave the carpet outside
a few days.
We did just that. We actually left the carpet unrolled outside
for 3 months, hoping the “noxious/insecticide” smell would fade
away. When we bought the carpet in the house we could not
tolerate being in the same room with it, and we are not
particularly sensitive. We finally gave up and managed, after
much arguing and insisting to return the carpet to IKEA (the
carpet was $400!) and get our money back. Pity because the
carpet was beautiful , but could just not be used.
silvia
Another option for a rug is an auction. We recently bought one
at the California Public Auction in Concord. It was a totally
fun, but time consuming experience... they have hundreds of
beautiful persian rugs in all sizes. They claim to have an
online presence as well, but it in no way compares to the
showroom (www.itc99.com). They have auctions every other
sunday, and it is a crapshoot as to what time the rugs will be
up for bids (they do furniture, statues, cars (!), etc) as
well. However, there are tremendous bargains to be had -- a 6
x 10 wool rug sold for $100 when we were there. And, as I
said, it is a lot of fun! They are California public auction
2241 Monument Blvd W, Concord CA 94520 Ph: 925-680-1280
Good LucK!
shopping fun!
I wanted to add another comment on IKEA's cheap rugs. Although i
like a lot of their designs and the prices are often really
great, i have to say i'm not at all impressed by quality. I've
purchased a large wool area rug and for months it's been
excessively 'shedding' to the point where i need to vaccuum it
daily just to get rid of the dust balls that it produces. This
rug wasn't inexpensive and i think in the long run...IKEA
products don't really wear well.
Liz
Kids' Interactive Carpets
2001
I'm looking for a fun alternative to wall-to-wall carpeting for my
18-month-old son's room--preferably something "interactive," like a
racetrack or airport scene. I know Home Depot has a racetrack rug (and I saw
them mentioned on the UCB Parents site), but I can't imagine spending much
time sitting on it--it's practically Astroturf. And I know Pottery Barn Kids
has awesome, fluffy-looking interactive rugs, but the 8-by-10 ones are $600.
Is there anything in between? Thanks for any advice.
Linda
Home Depot has more child rugs available than the one you mentioned.
However, you must order them from a catalog. I bought a fairly large Looney
Tunes racetrack rug (not astro turf or carpet) for my son's room about a
year and a half ago. I think it cost around $150.00. He enjoys playing on
it with his cars for extended periods of time, especially if he has someone
to "race".
Nikki
I've bought two blue square racetrack rugs at Ikea and a long thin red
hopscotch rug as well. They're all inexpensive and they look great. I put
the two racetrack rugs back to back because we needed to cover a large area.
The drawback is that they're all thin, but I bought a thick rug pad (don't
buy the ones at Ikea, they're thin and are really skid-pads rather than rug
pads) at an Oriental rug store on College in Elmwood. Most regular carpet
stores sell the pads too. The rug pad turned out to cost as much as the
little rugs, which was a drag, but we ate the cost and forgot about it and
now play pretty happily and constantly on the rugs.
One afterword: I had originally bought a rug at Pottery Barn Kids and when
it arrived, was surprised to notice a chemical smell, which quickly gave me
a headache. It seems that if a rug is stain resistant, it means it's been
sprayed with a chemical which one can still sometimes detect strongly. I
returned the rug after trying unsuccessfully to air it out. When I tried to
buy another, different, non-stain resistant rug the customer service person
told me that almost ALL the rugs are now sprayed with pesticide before
leaving India or China or wherever they're made. This really bothered me,
because nowhere in their catalog, which is aimed at parents of kids, do they
mention this fact. I think it's common practice in the industry now, but
haven't researched it further.
Lisa
We bought a really nice one at Ikea and our 5 year old loves it. It is like
a big area rug with a picture of roads and buildings on it. He loves to
play with his cars on it, is comfortable to sit on and was only around $20.
Dawn
April 2000
I would appreciate names of companies near Oakland who
sell & install commercial carpet & remnants. We're moving
into the area & into a new house where we want to use
commercial(remnants if possible)in halls, on stairs etc-it
is inexpensive, best for folks with allergies & wears
like iron. Any thoughts appreciated.
Mary Ann
I've had good luck at Dick's Carpets which has two locations: a warehouse
in Oakland at 444 Lesser (tel:534-2100) and a store at 1065 Ashby Ave in
Berkeley (tel: 883-2111). They have a broad range of styles and even
upper-end designer types sometimes. There is also another source which I
haven't been to in years in Richmond called Tradeway Warehouse at 350a
Carlson Blvd (tel:233-0841) which has more industrial-type remnants.
Denise
Home Depot in Emeryville has a huge carpet selection and frequent remnants and
bargains. They will install. Ask for Pasquale. 601-9400.
Merry
Tradeway Carpets on Carlson in Richmond (not the El Cerrito furniture
store) has three or four floors of some pretty neat, and some definitely
funky large and small industrial carpet remnants, in addition to vinyl
and other kitchen floor type stuff. Give them a call. They do
installation and have pads and all that too. Decent prices. Good luck.
Sarah
There is a giant remnant warehouse for rugs called Tradeway. It's in
Richmond. It's a _very_ funky place (or it was the last time that I
was there years ago). It's big and dusty, but the carpets are cheap.
Mostly they have "end of the roll" remnant from wall-to-wall
carpeting. But they will bind the edges of the remnants for you.
Some of the carpeting is very good quality, but it _is_ nylon carpeting
for the most part, though the last time I was there they did have
some wool berber remnants at one time.
I bought a small (3' by 5') rug at CostCo a few years ago. It was
inexpensive. It was a cotton hooked rug in nice colors. I wasn't
looking for a larger size, so I'm not sure how large of rugs they carry.
CostCo's stock of rugs changes frequently, so you might check there, but
there's not much in terms of selection. CostCo is in either El Cerrito
or Richmond, and you have to be a member to buy things there.
Janet
-------
Just got an advertisment from Orchard Supply Hardware. They've got 6'x4'
Berbers on sale, I think for $30 or $40. You might want to also go to a
regular carpet store and see if you can buy a remnant for cheap.
MacFrugals on San Pablo Ave (Richmond) also may have some inexpensive rugs
as well as KMart (if you're not too picky about the pattern). What I've
been doing, for my crawling 9 month old is laying down a blanket. If you
choose to do this, I recommend you buy some of the non-skid matting (at the
most $4) to put under the blanket so it doesn't move so much.
Mitzi
-------
I've always gotten inexpensive area rugs through the Pottery Barn
catalog or the Crate and Barrel outlet on 4th Street. The former is more
likely to have sizes 8X10 or larger.
April
-------
I would suggest looking at Home Depot for carpets. In the
past they have had some with prints that would be fun in a child's
room (animals, kids, "game" carpets, etc.), as well as solid colors or
simple designs. Home Depot carries some of the same carpets as
department stores, but at much better prices.
Susan
-------
We just bought a carpet remnant at Dick's Carpet One on Ashby below
San Pablo 883-2111. They have lots of remnants that you can either
take as is or have them bound. They have an excellent selection and
are resonably priced. Also have pretty cheap rugs made of some kind
of plastic material. Melissa
-------
regarding rugs, try "Dick's Carpet One" on Ashby next to OSH.
I've just gotten a couple of things from them. Good prices, decent
people.
Andrea
--------
I have bought remnants at Tradeway Warehouse, 350A Carlson Blvd Richmond,
233-0841. They have 3 or 4 huge floors of carpet rolls standing on end.
A lot of berbers, a huge assortment. The roll length is usually 12' by
whatever length which is wide for an area rug in my small Albany house.
You have some choices.
Take the piece and lay it down wall-to-wall - We have done this
ourselves by removing everything from the room, putting down a pad and
cutting the piece to fit exactly in the room. Or use the cut piece
without binding it as an area rug, but it will fray on the edges. If
you bind the piece, it is about $1.50/foot and they do it in about a
week. Even a very long roll can be tied to a car roof for getting
home by the back roads. Probably the freeway is not a good idea for
transporting a long carpet piece. Tip: They have a discount room in a
corner all the way down to the right when you go in the door. I have
found smaller pieces of quality carpet in this room but look for
defects. There are other places like Calif Carpet with remnants but a
friend told me this place has good prices.
Susan
-----------
A good place for reasonable large area rugs is Home Depot (either in
Richmond) or in Emeryville near Toys R' Us. We bought ours for around
$80-100 for a very large area and got a really thick pad which they'll cut to
size for you. They'll help you get it on top of your car too. Ours was just
a plain solid color but they also have patterned ones and oriental-style
rugs. They also sell a much thinner green area rug with car road patterns on
it that is fun for play. I think it sells for around $20.
Denise
------------
From: Melissa
We just bought a carpet remnant at Dick's Carpet One on Ashby below
San Pablo 883-2111. They have lots of remnants that you can either
take as is or have them bound. They have an excellent selection and
are resonably priced. Also have pretty cheap rugs made of some kind
of plastic material. Melissa
-------------
From: Andrea
regarding rugs, try "Dick's Carpet One" on Ashby next to OSH.
I've just gotten a couple of things from them. Good prices, decent
people.
Racetrack Carpet
1998
I've seen the racetrack carpet at Home Depot in El Cerrito (and probably the
one in Emeryville stocks it too). It was around $15 near the area rugs.
Denise
We got our race track carpet at Home Depot in El Cerrito - it was really
inexpensive...they had several different designs...a town, or race track, etc.
Molly
Floor covering for breakfast room
2001
I am looking for something to cover my breakfast room floor, under the table and high
chair. I need something that will protect my soft wood (fir) floor, as well as be easy to
clean up (we have a ten month old daughter). I am thinking of maybe getting a painted
piece of vinyl or something like it.
Any suggestions?
-Lisa
You could use:
(1)a desk chair mat(you can find one at Office depot
without the sharp "teeth" on the back since you have
hardwood floor)-this is the easiest ot clean since
it's hard and you can mop it
(2)an ex-shower curtain folded
(3)a special highchair mat that is still a piece of
soft vinyl but it's very colorful (kids oriented)-you
can find those in Target, Wal mart etc in the baby section
--Simona
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