We recently had our floors repainted. If you missed it, you can see why here in this post. What a process this has been. So while we are in the midst of putting our home back together, we decided to spring clean everything while doing so. I mean, why not?  There is dust everywhere from the sunroom addition and from us sanding the floors, so this is perfect timing. As we are cleaning and redecorating a few areas, I made a list of some different rugs I wanted for some of the areas in our home.  My favorite are vintage rugs. I found a few of them and wanted to share. I know it can be a bit intimidating, so I thought I would give you a few tips to buying vintage rugs online.

A Few Tips to Buying Vintage Rugs Online

I LOVE vintage items. Vintage anything is my vibe. Vintage rugs have withstood the test of time. Lots of them have worn spots in them which I actually love. I wonder how many different people have walked on them and where they have been in their past life, just as I do with all of my antiques. I purchased my first vintage rug online and absolutely loved it. It was exactly what I hoped for. And I was hooked. It is the one we have currently in the entryway. The rust and cream colors match my style perfectly and the pattern is one that I really love. Also, the worn spots are perfect.

The first time I ordered a vintage rug, I was very intimidated. But, since I have done it several times, I feel I have learned a lot over the years and thought I would share.

Before I go into the tips to ordering, you need to know that if you aren’t the “worn” looking rug type, these aren’t for you. They are far from perfect. But, if you love a vintage vibe in your home, then they may be.

I have bought all of my vintage rugs in my collection on Etsy. They have THOUSANDS to choose from. All of them have been bought from different countries and I haven’t had any problems at all with delivery, payment, etc. I have also never had a rug come that smelled foul or looked dirty. Worn, yes.  Dirty, no.

My favorite kind of rugs are Vintage Turkish Rugs.

Vintage Turkish rugs are normally distressed and the reason for that is the washing and renewing process that Artisans do to them. Artisans collect and carefully wash them to remove stains and dirt. Then they shear the rugs and sometimes leave them in the sun to fade the colors naturally. This brings new life into rugs that may be out of style due to their colors. A lot of the sellers have videos showing the exact cleaning process, so if you have questions, make sure to check that out.

Tip One: Sizes

Vintage rugs come in all different sizes because they are handmade from years ago. They do not come in your typical sizes of 5×7, 8×10, 10×12 like they do here in the United States. When a rug is listed, it may state it is 5×7, but if you scroll down and read the description, it will give an actual size.  That particular rug may be 4.7 x 6.8 – which means it’s a little under 5×7. This is really good to know because I love my rugs to fit the size of the space and not too big or too small. I love vintage runners because they come in so many different sizes.

Tip Two: Colors

How many times have you bought something and the color was completely different? Make sure you know what you are getting. Every rug that I purchase, I have already asked the owner about the colors. I will message them and say, “I am seeing green, brown, and cream.  Is this correct for this rug?”  I just had one the other day that look like it was a rust color. I messaged him and asked if I was seeing it correctly.  He said it was a hot pink. Well, we all know that wouldn’t have worked. 

Tip Three: Shedding

I learned the hard way with a rug shedding. So I asked one of the shop owners how I can tell if they will shed or not. He told me that “soft woven” rugs shed and hard woven rugs do not. All of mine are hard woven so there are no issues. So I would highly advise you to ask the shop owner about that when you are asking them about the colors.

Tip Four:  Make a List

I have a list of rugs that I want for certain spots and new rugs that I want to replace with vintage ones. Keep a running list so that when you get the chance to scroll, you already have those sizes available. My lists will have the smallest and the largest possible measurement.

Tip Five: Look Often

Vintage rugs are listed all of the time. I find really pretty ones by looking often. Shopping for vintage rugs is actually something that I really love to do. When I get tired of scrolling my social media platforms, I look at vintage items. It relaxes me a bit.

Tip Six:  Color Palette

This is a little rule that I follow with almost everything that I buy, including clothing. It may be very boring, but I buy things in the same color palette so that I can mix and match everything. If you keep your vintage rugs around the same color, you can move them to any room in your home and they will match. I have several rugs that I have moved from room to room when the mood strikes. If you purchase a rug for one room and it isn’t quite the right size, you can always move it over to another room where it fits.

These are the rules that I follow when ordering vintage rugs online and I have had great success when doing so. Stay tuned for a few more that I found that will be placed this weekend as we finish spring cleaning our home. I will for sure share on social media stories.

I rounded up a few vintage rugs here. Since they are one-of-a-kind, it may show that they are gone. HOWEVER, please make sure to check out the actual shop by clicking on the shop name.  That will show you all of their listings of similar items.