About RugSnob + FAQ

We want you to be obsessed with your rug. Not politely tolerate it.

All RugSnob sales are final and we do not offer refunds. However, if the chemistry just isn’t there, you may request a return within 3 days of receiving your rug for store credit.

You must contact RugSnob within 3 days of delivery to request the return.
The rug must be returned in the same condition in which it was received.

Store credit applies to the purchase price of the rug only. Original shipping charges are non-refundable and are not included in the store credit.
The buyer is responsible for all return shipping costs.

Store credit will be issued after the rug has been received and its condition verified.
No cash or credit-card refunds will be issued.

Buying a one-of-a-kind rug online is a little different than buying a toaster. We want you to feel confident pulling the trigger, while also protecting a collection made up almost entirely of unique, irreplaceable pieces.

Measure first. Fall in love second. You’ve got three days to make sure the feeling is mutual.

Yes. Our collection focuses on authentic vintage and antique handwoven rugs rather than newly manufactured rugs designed to look old.

Generally, “antique” refers to rugs approximately 100 years old or older, while “vintage” describes younger pieces with meaningful age. Dating handmade rugs isn’t always an exact science, so when an exact production date isn’t known, we use our best assessment based on construction, materials, design, dyes, provenance, and condition.

We’d rather give you an informed estimate than invent a birthday.

Our collection includes rugs woven across many of the world’s historic rug-making regions, including Persia/Iran, Turkey/Anatolia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and surrounding regions.

You’ll find everything from sophisticated workshop pieces to wonderfully imperfect village and tribal rugs.
Different origins. Different traditions. Different personalities.
That’s exactly why we like them.

Selectively.
Age alone doesn’t make a rug good.

We consider craftsmanship, wool quality, dyes, design, rarity, condition, patina, proportions, and overall visual impact. But there also needs to be something about the rug that makes us stop and look twice.

If we wouldn’t want to build a room around it, we’re probably not buying it.

Often, yes.

A rug that’s been around for 80, 100, or 150 years has usually lived a life. Low pile, softened colors, exposed foundation, abrash, irregularities, old repairs, and other signs of age can all be part of an authentic antique rug.

We distinguish between character and condition problems.
There’s a difference.
And we’ll tell you what you’re looking at.

Our rugs are inspected and prepared before being offered for sale, with cleaning handled as appropriate for the individual piece and its condition.

Antique rugs require more judgment than throwing them into a machine and pressing “wash.”
They’re old.
We treat them accordingly.

Because a person made them.
By hand.

Irregular borders, slight asymmetry, variations in color, changes in knotting, and other inconsistencies are common in handmade rugs—particularly village and tribal pieces.

Those variations are part of what separates a one-of-a-kind textile from something rolling off a production line.
Perfect symmetry is easy to manufacture.
Character isn’t.

Abrash is the natural variation in color that can appear within a handmade rug.

It may result from different batches of hand-dyed wool, variations in natural dyes, aging, or the weaving process itself. You’ll often see it as subtle—or occasionally dramatic—changes in tone across the field or border.

In a machine-made rug, inconsistent color might be a defect.
In the right antique rug, it can be spectacular.

Construction is usually the first clue.

Authentic antique rugs are evaluated through characteristics such as hand-knotting, foundation materials, wool, dyes, weave structure, design traditions, wear patterns, and other indicators consistent with their purported age and origin.

No single characteristic tells the whole story.
Which is one reason buying from someone who actually likes obsessing over old rugs helps.
Conveniently, you’re already here.

We make every effort to represent each rug accurately, but color can vary slightly depending on lighting, photography, screens, and your device settings.

Antique rugs are particularly interesting because their colors can also change depending on the direction of the pile and the light hitting them.
Consider it one of their better tricks.

Absolutely.
These weren’t originally made to live behind velvet ropes.

A properly selected antique rug can function beautifully in a living room, bedroom, dining room, office, entry, or other appropriately used space. Furniture can generally sit directly on the rug.

Just use some judgment.
A 120-year-old rug and an office chair doing 400 laps a day aren’t necessarily destined to become best friends.

Usually, yes.

A quality rug pad can reduce movement, provide cushioning, help protect the rug from friction against the floor, and make thinner antique rugs feel more substantial underfoot.

It’s one of the least exciting things you can buy for a beautiful rug.
It’s also one of the smartest.

Measure first.
Fall in love second.

Check the listed dimensions against your room and furniture arrangement, remembering that handmade antique rugs aren’t always perfectly rectangular.

And if you’re stuck between a few options, contact us. We’d much rather help you choose the right rug than talk you into the wrong one.

Because nobody else gets yours.

An antique rug offers something mass production can’t reproduce convincingly: genuine age, handwork, variation, history, and individuality.

The best ones don’t simply fill a space.
They give the room a point of view.
And after living for a century, they’ve already proven they don’t go out of style.