Taste for Makers - A Cross-Discipline Exploration of Design Concepts

This interesting essay "Taste For Makers" (http://www.paulgraham.com/taste.html) by Paul Graham reveals the stuff it takes to make good stuff. It details concepts pertaining to what makes things beautiful, functional, useful and desirable. 

Fine rugs - especially traditional quality hand-knotted rugs - are all those things, and so must have these principles woven into their creation, and into our ultimate enjoyment of them.

Bucks County Rug Store Brandon Oriental Rugs - www.BrandonRugs.com - Helps Coordinate Selection of Multiple Rugs in Newly Built Home In Jamison, PA

Fine Quality Hand-knotted Area Rugs Help to Define Separate Use Areas Within the Same Room While Maintaining the Visual Integrity and Functional Flow of the Space

     This was taken on moving day at our customer's new home, so the rest of the Great Room furniture has not yet arrived. It demonstrates, however, the successful use of different rugs in close proximity to each other to define separate areas of use in a room, and maintain the sense of visual and functional integrity for the entire space.

     What is not shown here are the additional rugs (behind and to the right of the camera in the dining room and entry hall) which also add to the elegance and visual flow from room to room.

     The viewer should appreciate what the area rugs do for the room versus what bare floors, bound carpet, or wall-to-wall carpeting would offer instead. You can see how the oriental rugs, as unique as they are individually, actually make the room more intimate and visually whole (like a well composed picture.) Bare floors or an expanse of carpet could NOT accomplish what these fine quality, handmade (and uniquely individual) oriental rugs do in concert.

Brandon Oriental Rugs - www.BrandonRugs.com - Delivers Entry Parlor Rug to New Hope, PA Home That Proves Elegant Simplicity IS Better Than Ostentatious Pomposity

New Hand-knotted Rug for Entry Parlor to Anchor and Integrate Existing Furnishings and Decor

This small room at the entry of this newly finished home functions as a second living room/reading room/ media room. In an open floor plan (not apparent in this picture) it is adjacent to a central hall and opposite a formally furnished dining room. Our customers had a very good idea of what they were looking for and needed to complete the room. They saw -- as can you -- that a rug brings necessary intimacy, warmth and comfort to the room so it can be used as intended for the functions listed above. The rug they selected integrates all of the existing room furnishings, and focuses them along the long axis centered on the painting and the oversize chair beneath it. The rug's light background maintains a feeling of openness in the small room, while the neutral palette of the contrasting border serves to unite the seating and define the limits of the room. Without being too emphatic, the rug makes the simple declarative statement that this room is now complete, and an inviting space to gather as a family and relax.   

Santa's Sleigh Carrying Lasting Gifts For Smart Shoppers

Some gifts are memorable,

and shared for years to come.

Some presents really are special.

(And taking a cue from Santa,

Brandon Oriental Rugs delights in

delivering these enduring presents to you.)

How to Install An Oriental Runner on Stairs Demonstrated with Video by Bucks County, PA Rug Store Brandon Oriental Rugs - www.BrandonRugs.com - YouTube

BrandonRugs.com Shows How To Properly Install A Stairway Runner - YouTube

    Using some video shot after we'd installed a matched set of runners on the split stairway in our customer's new home, we demonstrate proper installation guidelines.
     First, we want to make it obvious that REAL hand-knotted runners, which are bordered on all four sides, offer a much more aesthetically pleasing finished look than"roll runners" -- machine made runner stock spooled on large rolls and cut to desired length -- which are bordered on only two sides (and look like a conveyer belts from space to some lower level instead of like framed works of art).
    We also demonstrate our preference for using "stair-holds" or runner "clips" to secure the stairway runner to each tread rather than the use of stair-rods crossing the runner at the back of each tread. The reason for this is that the runner clips allow the runner to be the focus instead of a lot of brass. It's also safer, since rods can be a trip hazard to women descending the stairway in heels. The clips also make it easier to keep the runner clean, and cause much less wear to installed pieces, so that if the runner is removed for use elsewhere there are not permanent wear marks every foot and a half as would be the case with rods.
     We also point out where the runner should start and ideally end on the stairway. In this video, the stairway is split (with an intervening landing) which made it imperative that the top runner not encroach into the landing since an additional rug is going to be placed there.
     As mentioned in the video, the runners used in the installation were originally longer, which meant they needed to be cut to properly fit the new home's back stairway. As we show, if attention is given to pattern matching, and the work of reducing the length is performed by a skilled artisan, the finished look is no less appealing than if the runners had been custom woven for the job. In fact, using existing runners and cutting them to length is much less costly, much less uncertain, and much less time consuming than ordering custom runners.
     If you have questions about any of what we demonstrate in this video, we invite you to call us at 215-794-2300.