my fair home: rugs

Lately I have quite the obsession with rugs.  I love happening upon unique and one of kind throw rugs and area rugs, and these days I just can't get enough of them!  I have scored some really great ones recently and wanted to share some with you.  One thing that I've learned about rugs is that the majority of them are produced courtesy of child slave labor.  Check out this post for more on that if you're interested.  Given that rugs can be extremely expensive to start with, I've discovered that fair trade rugs or ethically made rugs can skyrocket in price.  So the dilemma becomes finding an ethically sourced rug that you can feel good about purchasing without completely breaking the bank.

 

This site has some beautiful fair trade rugs.

 

Some other ethical options are shopping at antique shops and auctions, shopping only rugs made in the USA(this not does not completely guarantee slave free labor, but it's much harder for it to happen here), or overstock stores such as TJMaxx, Ross or Marshalls.  I've seen a few articles circulating around the internet recently about the "myth" of these stores, but I still believe they are a great alternative to purchasing from the typical, mainstream big-box stores.  Most times they truly do carry overstock stuff.  The rug I recently scored from there is marked on the back and was clearly a sample at a higher end home design store.  It's in great shape though and I probably paid 10% of what it would have originally cost.

 

 

Here are a few of my recent finds that I've incorporated into my home.

 

 

I found this at TJMaxx.  It's an indoor/outdoor use rug, but right now I'm using it in my guest bedroom.  It's woven with recycled fibers created from PET plastic bottles.

Another TJMaxx find

I found this one in an antique store and am in love! In fact, this is the inspiration behind my ongoing redecorating project in the sitting area adjacent to the kitchen.