Making your house your home is of course largely down to the items you decide to bring through your front door and place in the rooms. When choosing ornaments, furniture, storage options etc, we’re naturally judging the item on both its own merit, and also on how well it contributes in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps there’s a lamp you like but just can’t picture it in your living room against the backdrop of the wallpaper.

The same is naturally true of what you place underfoot, albeit with specific requirements. A wooden floor has many advantages over carpet such as the ability to clean up a spill without worrying about staining the pile.

One thing a wooden floor doesn’t always give is a feeling of warmth and comfort and undoubtedly this is something homeowners are looking for. To accomplish this, an area rug is often a sensible option.

Persian and Oriental rugs are perfect in the role of area rug and have the added advantage of being elaborate and comprehensive enough to fill a room without covering the whole floor area. The fresh combination of polished wood alongside the classic patterns and design of a Persian rug create a feeling of comfort and sophistication.

A contemporary vs traditional environment

The combination of wood and Persian rug is suitable for both a contemporary décor and a more traditional outfit and even accommodates options in between which are becoming popular these days.

It’s important to remember that whilst the wooden flooring in your room requires very little maintenance, the rug will still need the attention it deserves which may include professional treatment at times. The wooden flooring won’t make it immune to children or pets!

Colour Options

Neither Persian rugs nor wooden flooring come in one colour option. You have the freedom to match dark woods with deep reds and lighter woods with shades of blue. As with any area of design, there are rarely any right answers, it’s simply a case of judging a combination on its merits.

In essence, a wooden floor and a Persian rug is a viable, interesting and suitable combination, just as long as you get the right match.

Part of the wonder and magic of owning a Persian rug can come through learning something about the history and culture around its production. Whilst there is an abundance of literature on the library shelves that can help with this, YouTube boasts some very interesting videos that prick your interest and introduce you to the subject.

1. Colours of My Culture – http://youtu.be/7b2f2kpTVao

The first recommended video is presented quite artistically with a prominent musical overlay. The close up shots of the production process shows the intricacy of the design and the skill required to produce a piece.

2. Around the World in 80 Treasures – http://youtu.be/62NmISLekqI

This clip is an excerpt of the BBC programme ‘Around the World in 80 Treasures’ and features a journalistic view of rug production. Interviews with those involved in the rug making process are fascinating and thought provoking.

3. UNESCO: Traditional Skills of Carpet Weaving – http://youtu.be/xaBsaQwwV7Y

Presented in documentary format, this production by UNESCO looks at the process and shows examples of the tools used alongside the techniques.

Buying something new for the home that’s likely to be on prominent display involves a multitude of considerations from price through to questions such as ‘will the cat try to fight it?’ Alongside this, we have to consider how long something is realistically going to last or how long it will be until it deteriorates beyond a point that it is no longer aesthetically pleasing and needs to be replaced. This is one of the motivating factors when choosing an item that may not be the cheapest, but will indeed last longer than ‘five minutes’.

Of course, purchasing a prominent item that also has a functional use such as a refrigerator requires thought beyond its aesthetic purpose, there are factors such as energy efficiency, helpful or time-saving features etc. But what about items that are purely there to look wonderful or complement something else?

Although an object may be stationary in a room and not have any moving parts, wear and tear is still a very real concern. An antique cabinet in the corner of the room for example may occasionally be used to rest your hand on whilst stood in the lounge. Repetition of this over time will cause an item to show signs of usage which build up and eventually manifest as imperfections. This is why museum exhibits are often unavailable to touch and even the sturdiest of structures often appear behind subtle ropes and poles to prevent physical contact.

A genuine Persian rug is made using techniques that have been refined over a thousand years, which for mass manufactured area rugs the same certainly cannot be said. Whilst the quality of mass-produced floor coverings isn’t by modern standards ‘poor’, the old adage “they don’t make them like they used to” makes the point rather eloquently. When standard rugs are designed to last for a few years, the manufacturing process of a Persian rug accepts that each piece will at the very least be passed down from generation to generation.

Not everything you purchase for your home needs to last to see in the new millennium, but the relatively higher cost of a genuine Persian rug is often outweighed by the fact that it can be quite feasibly by enjoyed by your great grand-children and their children after that. What else in your home will last that long – aside from the special pieces that are carefully boxed in the attic?