Rugs are often one of the most expensive pieces in a well-designed room. In addition to color and style, how do you know the rug you are choosing is the best value for your project? How do you incorporate different types of rugs into your clients' homes? Join Dering Hall and Yudi Kaufman, Vice President of Robin Baron, live from the Niermann Weeks showroom in the NYDC as we learn how to choose the perfect rug for every room and help make you an expert.

The masterclass, which can be viewed above, covered the following topics:

Material sourcing – Yudi explains the two ways fibers are spun into yarn, machine spun and hand spun. Machine spun yarn produces a consistent, smooth and chic look at the end. Hand spun yarn gives you gives you more of an inconsistent texture, but often allows for more variation.

Dyeing - There’s also two ways of dyeing, machine dye and hand dye. Machine dye is usually for more commercial projects that are producing a great amount. Hand dyeing takes great skill and time to achieve the desired color that they’re looking for.

Design - Rug designs are typically done in a CAD format, which provides a sort of blueprint for weavers to bring the designs to life.

Weaving - There are many different types of weaves. Two of the main types of weaves used at Robin Baron are hand-knotted and hand tufted. Yudi goes in-depth into hand-knotted rugs and how intricate they can be, with weavers going line by line to create the patterns. Hand-tufted rugs are made by hand but use a special tool to shoot the yarn into the pattern to create the rug.

Washing - One the rug is woven, the washing process begins. Using water and mild soap, the rug is washed roughly 3 times before being dried and washed a couple more times. This process can potentially change the color of the rug, so it is important to keep that in mind as well.

Weather - You need the weather to cooperate when dying your rugs. The sun is needed to properly dry your rugs, so this process cannot happen in harsher climates.

Stretching and binding - Once the rug is dried, the rug needs to be stretched. The rug is sewn onto log rods and is pulled and stretched to create the final product in the intended size. Often times with high-end rugs, the rugs are binded by hand.

Clipping - In order to smooth out the rug, it must be clipped at the end. Machine clipping usually provides a smooth, even surface. On the other hand, hand clipping is often used in high-end rugs to achieve the “high-low” effect, which many people tend to like as well.

Stain protection - Natural materials, such as wool or silk, will stand the best chance against wearability and stain protection. Synthetic fibers are often harder to clean. However, Yudi recommends to invest in a stain protection company, such as Revita Rugs, to ensure your investment holds up against the many factors that can cause damage.

Check out the Robin Baron Rock-a-Rug Program:

Rock-a-rug allows you to customize rugs in your own way using 3 simple steps.

Dering Hall would like to extend a huge thank you to Yudi Kaufman for presenting this masterclass and sharing his expert knowledge, tips, and recommendations for choosing the perfect rug.