Here’s what to know about buying a rug.

Rugs are such a critical element to helping a room feel polished, cohesive, and complete. But buying them can be maddening and a good way to go broke, you know?

First and foremost, I always buy 100% wool rugs, for my own home and my clients. Anything made with cotton, jute, sisal or other materials will not hold up over time and wear. And rugs made with poly blends or other man-made materials just look cheap and don’t feel great under foot. Wool rugs will shed like crazy the first few months you have them, but it’ll be worth it for how well they’ll hold up over time.

Once you know you definitely want a 100% wool rug, you need to figure out what size you need. People commonly buy rugs that are too small for their space — and who can blame them since smaller rugs are generally less expensive. A good rule of thumb is you want the rug to be large enough that the front feet of every piece of furniture in a room to sit on top of the rug. So for example, the rug should go all the way under your sofa, so the front feet sit completely on the rug, though the rug doesn’t need to also sit on top of the back feet of the sofa. Another way to figure out size it to shoot for the rug to go to about 12-18 inches from each wall.

The exception to that rule is if you have a larger room that is comprised of multiple functional spaces, such as an open living-dining room, in which case you can use rugs to help create distinct spaces within the larger open room. You can also position a rug off-center in a room to create a walkway where there isn’t one. Rugs can really help dictate and signal the spaces within a room.  Instead of being confined by the oddities that we don’t love of the shape our space or room, we can use a rug or a pair of layered rugs to re-configure the space and create the parameters we’d prefer. 

When buying rugs online, I always try to zoom in as close as possible on the photos to get a sense of the quality and construction of the rug, so I won’t be surprised and disappointed by the rug when it shows up. Sometimes a rug may look good in an online photo, but when you zoom in, it turns out that cool pattern on the rug is printed onto the rug rather woven into it, which isn’t a good indication of quality.

If you’ve got the budget to invest in a really nice rug that should last decades, places I look include Caitlin Wilson (always get a sample before buying), Nordic Knots, and custom options on Etsy.

For more budget-friendly options, try Target’s website — they’ll let you return rugs you buy online to your local brick-and-mortar store, and while carting rugs back and forth is a huge pain, it can be worth it to be able to lay out a rug in your space and see it, and then return it if it doesn’t work. You can also try eBay for cool antique rugs and Rugs.com has some great finds at bargain prices.

Here’s my rundown on runners, which are especially good for kitchens and hallways.

Machine washable rugs are tempting but I find they don’t wear well; the corners begin to roll up over time and they just don’t look as nice as a wool rug (though they can be a great option for a playroom).

Because it’s so tricky to figure out how a rug will look in your room, stand in the room with the image of the rug you’re considering pulled up on your phone or laptop to try to get a sense for how it will look in the space. Also consider how much of the pattern on a rug will be covered by your furniture. A rug with a huge pattern may be better in a dining room, where there’s less furniture on the floor, than in a living room where sofas and coffee tables take up much floor space.

When it’s time to clean a spill from a rug, I pour a bit of soda water or vinegar on top of the spill and blot — never rub — with a washcloth. And I keep a bottle of Folex on hand to help get out more intense spills. But of course it’s always a good idea to test any cleaner in an inconspicuous spot before dumping loads of it on your rug.