Friends, we have a new Persian rug. Now, before I show you the whole thing, I’d like to give a personal TED talk on my love for these floor beauties and why I stopped using them. My “Gateway Rug” was this $50 blue Chinese Craigslist rug full of holes (that I would kill to have kept now for sentimental purposes and turned into an ottoman). I loved what it did for that kinda basic room – instant pattern, color, and soul. After that, I would snag cheap ones at flea markets or at antique malls (not from dealers, but by just looking down, and they are usually great but dirty). I didn’t start buying with Sheba from Blue Parakeet Rugs until years later, when I had more of a budget. But I think between the minimalism of the mountain house and our rug line (that was definitely not Persian-inspired), I just stopped buying them. To be fair, they are also very expensive at larger sizes online, and most of what I need for our house (or the River House) was huge. And if I’m being totally honest, they can make a room look much busier if they are high contrast (and while I like forgiving rugs, I don’t like busy rooms for me). I love our house when it feels airier and lighter, but for the guest cottage, I want vintage Persian rugs everywhere. So I’ve been back at it, shopping online, going to antique malls, collecting like the hoarder that you all met almost 17 years ago. And boy, is it inspiring.

When we first shot our LA English Tudor, I wanted to go back to the more traditional style, so I bought this rug, and admittedly, this iteration of this room was actually the most balanced (the heavier rug looked great with the beams). I thought I bought it from Blue Parakeet, but I found an old blog post that said I bought it on eBay for $2,800 (it was 12×15), which is a lot, but also a great price for that size. Ultimately, I sold the rug years later because this room was just way too visually busy for my life with two toddlers (our house wasn’t huge, this was our only hangout, family/ living room). I just remember it ALWAYS felt messy, cluttered, and loud, and while you might just say that that is life with toddlers, I swear that once I changed to the simple, boring gray rug, I felt like I could breathe a little bit again. Even when it was messy, it didn’t feel nearly as chaotic.

Then, as I struggled to make this room feel right, I borrowed this rug from Blue Parakeet Rugs (she texted me and was like, “Girl, I found your rug”). She knew that I was always on the hunt for blue-toned Persian rugs (which are rare). I LOVED IT, but it was just too small. I think it was a 9×12, and that room just wanted a bigger rug (this sofa belonged in the other room). So we shot it, and I gave it back to her (man, I wish I still had it). But I do feel like the tonal blue of the rug made it way less busy than the red Heriz Persian rug.

My Two Favorite Vintage Rugs Of All Time

My Entry Rug

Twelve or so years ago, I found this rug at an antique store for $500, which is a lot for a 3 1/2×6, but my god, if a rug was ever made for me, this is it. I saw it, and my gut screamed: “YOU HAVE TO GET THIS”. I would absolutely steal it in a fire before most things. The color palette is perfect; the vibrant blues and greens are calmed down so well with the caramel tones. And yet, because it’s more tonal, it’s not busy or too powerful. If I come back in my next life as a rug, this is it.

Our Kitchen Entry Rug

A few years ago, Sheba reached out and found me the most perfect runner, just out of nowhere. She sent it as a gift, which was so freaking sweet, and I opened it up and gasped (Again, she owns Blue Parakeet Rugs and has the best eye, sources, and is a total expert on every Persian-style rug). These colors!! It’s been in our hallway with the huge windows ever since, and it makes me EXTREMELY happy.

Primary Bathroom Rug

Ah, sorry, not the best photos! I don’t remember where I found this one, either, but those colors are just so incredible. It’s a bit small for the bathroom, but I don’t care. It’s good enough.

The First Kitchen Entry Rug

This is another random one that I found likely on the floor of an antique mall. I love the blues and pinks, and I would pay real money if it were larger and could be in my living room. I rarely buy from dealers, but again, at flea markets or antique malls, many often just have cool rugs lying around that people walk on, and therefore they are dirty but wayyyyy cheaper.

So you get it. I like Persian-style rugs, but especially when they are not super busy and have really balanced yet bluer color palettes. As I was shopping for the guest house on Etsy (which is a great place to shop, but going to be more expensive than a local antique mall), I found this one, 9×12 in what seemed to be my blue dream colorway.

Oh, these colors! It’s pretty incredible, and I would kill for it to be a 12×15 to fit in my living room (impossible to find, I’ve looked for hours and hours and hours). This was listed for $3,495, which felt high to me (and just frankly more than I wanted to spend), so I offered $1,800 and paid $1,922 (so yes, negotiate, even on Etsy). Most online rug dealers price things high and expect the negotiation, so don’t feel bad – it’s kinda baked into their business. They can always say no 🙂 My general motto is that if something is fairly priced and I have the budget for it, I don’t negotiate because, in general, dealers’ profit margins are not high. If it feels overpriced or I simply don’t want to pay that price because it’s not worth it to me, I offer less. If this had been a 12×15 for our main house, I would have expected it to be much more, and I might have paid it, but for the guest cottage, I have an almost gut-level threshold, and going over $2k for a rug in there feels excessive and unnecessary.

Ok, now this does have some dying, I can tell. It’s not overdyed, which is a thing, and I don’t love it (but I have one in the garage that I don’t mind, actually). What I was told is that a lot of the less popular bright red rugs from the 80s don’t sell, so they bleach and dye them in colors that are more palatable. I like that they are taking something that doesn’t sell and making it more useful, for sure. This one doesn’t feel like an overall dye, but there are a few places where the dye looks like it has “run,” so clearly the yarns themselves weren’t dyed; it was dyed after it was woven (if that makes any sense). I’m ok with it because I love the color variation so much.

I think that it’s going in the game room in the guest cottage (which will double as a shoot space for us). I wish so badly it were big enough to put in our living room, but it really needs a 12×15. You might have seen a sneak peek on stories that I am trying out a larger Persian rug for this room right now, which I’ll show you soon (I’m so on the fence because of the colors).

But what do you think? Are we into it? I AM!!!!!

Opening Image Credits: Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Experimenting In My Living Room: Trying To Find “THE” Rug