Oriental Rugs & Carpets

The Rug Shop of Tunbridge Wells offers a wide range of hand-knotted rugs, including oriental, traditional, classic and modern hand-made rugs & carpets.

Our wide range includes rugs and carpets from the world’s most renowned rug weaving nations, including Persian rugs, Afghan rugs, Indian rugs and Nepalese rugs (among others).

Based in Tunbridge Wells on the border of Kent and East Sussex, we are able to cover the entire south east and London areas.

Browse Our New Autumn Range

For authentic charm at a modest price, try our colourful flat-weave kilim. The tribal designs have a contemporary edge, so they look great just about anywhere!

How to Choose the Perfect Rug

There are a few key elements to consider:

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Size

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When choosing a rug for a desired room, it is helpful to consider the key furniture within the room, and have an idea of the ‘configuration’ that appeals to you. Below we have made plan views for a range of room types, and placed rugs of varying sizes to give an indication of the relative size. This is a helpful starting point to view and select your ideal room configuration.

Also, it is useful to have an idea of the rug’s minimum and maximum length and width that will suit the intended space/room. Handmade rugs are made to standard sizes, but as they are hand-made there is often variation in these sizes (this may be up to 10 centimetres).

Colour

A key consideration when selecting a rug, is whether the rug is to be centrepiece of the room, or a more subtle item that adds aesthetic interest.

Rugs that feature more rich and bold colours are generally the classic and Persian rugs. This is due to the historic prevalence of vegetable dyed wool. There is also the option of a contemporary rug with vibrant and rich colours.

Having said that, with classic design rugs that have been produced more recently, many feature creams and pastel colours. Also, in our contemporary rugs you will find subtle and muted colours, such as taupe, terracotta, peach, grey, silver.

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Design

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Another factor to be considered is whether you prefer motifs on your rug such as geometric or floral, or prefer an abstract or plain design.

View Rugs By Size

Rugs are available in different sizes and shapes, however standard rug sizes are:

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• 150cm x 100cm (5’ x 3’ 3”) - traditionally this is known as ‘Zaronim’ size.

• 180cm x 120cm (6’ x 4’) – this is referred to as ‘Dozar’ size.

• 200cm x 150cm (6’6” x 5’) – this can be known as ‘Ghalicheh’ size.

• 240cm x 170cm (8’ x 5’7”) – sometimes this is referred to as ‘Padeghe’ size.

• 274cm x 183cm (9’ x 6’) – as unusual size to find in the UK or Europe, although frequently seen in USA. This size is referred to as ‘Padeghe’ in the US.

• 300cm x 200cm (10’ x 6’6”) – these large rugs are referred to as ‘Ghale 6m2’size.

• 30cm x 240cm (10’ x 8’) – these large rugs are referred to as ‘Ghale 7.5m2’ size.

• 366cm x 274cm (12’ x 9’) – these large rugs are referred to as ‘Ghale 10m2’ size.

• 400cm x 300cm (13’ x 10’) - these large rugs are referred to as ‘Ghale 12m2’ size.

In addition small mats (traditionally referred to as ‘Zarcharak’ size) are available - these are useful for bedside mats and doormats.

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Runners are also available (in a range of widths and lengths).

You will find rugs of all these sizes, and more at The Rug Shop of Tunbridge Wells.

On selecting a rug size for your room, it is often wise to consider how you wish your rug to look in relation to the room furniture. Below, we have included some living room plan views to give an indication of the relative size of the standard sized rugs (with respect to regular sized 3-seater and 2-seater sofas).

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If you require a rug of custom-made size, please let us know. We can accommodate special requests.

Select Your Size

View Rugs by Style or Design

At The Rug Shop of Tunbridge Wells, we offer rugs and carpets featuring a wide range of styles and designs including geometric, tribal, modern classis, floral, abstract and kilim.

View Rugs by Colour

Traditional and classic rugs and carpets are typically woven in rich, deep colours such as red and blue. Historically, these were the predominant vegetable dyes available, hence the popularity in rug weaving. Those carpets with more modern origin are typically produced with more muted and subtle colours, such as terracotta, teal, grey etc. Of course, as always, there are exceptions.

View Rugs by Origin

At The Rug Shop of Tunbridge Wells, our rugs and carpets originate from varied rug-weaving nations including Persia, Afghanistan, India and Nepal. Within these rug producing nations, famous weaving regions include Tabriz, Isfahan, Nain, Qashqai, Balouch, Aqcha, Yalameh, Kashan. At The Rug Shop of Tunbridge Wells, we stock handmade rugs from all those origins listed above and more.

Professional Rug Cleaning & Restoration

The Rug Shop of Tunbridge Wells provides a professional, highly specialised rug cleaning and restoration service. Our traditional Persian washing system is able to clean any Oriental, Persian,  Afghan, Turkish, Indian and Chinese pieces. We're also able to clean Shaggy pile rugs, silk rugs, hand-knotted rugs, antique rugs, tufted rugs and machine made rugs. Our custom built cleaning facilities are large enough to clean rugs and carpets of any size. If you need help bringing your rug too us for cleaning, let us know, so we can arrange to have it collected, cleaned and delivered back to you. If your rug has been damaged or been worn away over the years we also provide professional rug, carpet and kilim repair and restoration service. Our highly trained repairers and restorers are able to repair fringes, selvedges, rips, tears and holes in any handmade rug, carpet or kilim. If large parts of your handmade rug is missing due moth damage or general wear and tear - we'll be able to fully restore them to their former glory. Whether your rug is new or antique and has been damaged; we are able to repair it. We have years of experience repairing and restoring many types of Oriental rugs and Carpets including: Persian, Afghan, Indian, Turkish, Pakistani, Chinese, Nepalese and Tibetan rugs. We also have experience restoring European pieces and tapestries. If you would like to find out more regarding our cleaning and restoration service please visit our Cleaning & Restoration page.

Fringe Repairs

General wear can cause damage to the fringes. Fringes are the weft threads of the foundation of the rug or carpet, so worn fringes can cause the rug to literally unravel over time. Three options are available in this case, depending on the degree of damage. We can apply ‘stop-end’ thread to halt any further damage. The fringes themselves can then be trimmed or re-built. Alternatively, a few warp threads can be removed to neaten up the edge of the carpet, and a new ‘stop-end thread’ is added. Finally, if damage is more severe and some of the pile itself is affected we can re-build the end. This is done by reinstating warp and weft threads, interpret the existing pattern and adding further knots to re-pile the new foundation threads.​​

Selvedge Repairs

The sides of the rug (selvedge) can be worn, which can result in warp threads being depleted. We can re-bind and secure these selvedges (side cords) to tidy the rug, Securing the edges will prevent further damage. 

Restoration of Holes and Moth Damage

We can repair any holes, splits and tears in your rug and carpet by reinstating the foundation threads, then matching the existing pattern and adding new knots to the foundation. Moth damage can cause loss of pile. We repair these threadbare regions by matching the existing pattern and adding new knots to the foundation.

Importance of Underlay

Underlay is important for a variety of reasons. Over time, hand knotted rugs can lose their shape and become stretched due to footfall.

• Underlay helps to minimise the degree of stretching that occurs with regular traffic, therefore, the shape of the rug is maintained.

• Underlay enhances the feeling of luxury.

• Rugs and carpets can 'migrate' (due to footfall). The movement between the carpet and the floor creates friction. The friction, over time, causes wear to the knots on the underside of the carpet - underlay is designed to stop this migration.

We stock the best and most affordable underlay specifically designed for both hard flooring (i.e. wood, tiles, and stone) and those with fitted carpets.

If you would like to receive a free quote for underlay or, you have any questions regarding this service, please contact us here: