Open any monthly glossy or online magazine and design blog for that matter and you will notice that there is a huge trend with ethnic rugs. I must admit that if you asked me 10 years ago what I thought I thought about them I would have said they were for people my parent’s age, but my tune has totally turned.

Oriental/Persian/Turkish rugs add a great touch to any room. They make a room looked like it came together with pieces from around the globe and most times the have a variety of colors/patterns that you can use to inspire yourself with other elements in the room.

Often times I get emails asking where I’ve purchased ones I’ve featured so I figured it was time to jot down some tips on how to find them.

My first stop to hunt them down in always Ebay. Now going to ebay can lead you down a rabbit hole, but here are search terms I use that normally give me what I want:

Kilim rug (Now many people can misspell this so play around with different spellings)
Turkish rug
Persian rug
Antique prayer rug – this one always gives me the best finds, but they are not always on the big size.
Dhurrie rug
Hand-woven rug

*I will also thrown in the term vintage as well with any of the terms from above for additional finds.

One of my favorite ebay stores is Van Carpet: They ship directly from Turkey and your items is mailed out immediately after you pay. There items are mainly buy it now so you don’t have to wait for an auction to end and the prices are really great.

Here are some of my current favorites:

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A good retailer that I have used with clients and once for myself is esale rugs.

PROS:
-They are always having some sort of sale you can always at least get 15% off your purchase and some times they add special AMEX gift card additions to your promo code.
-The website is full of inventory and you can search by color, style or size. I like going by color.
-They ship really fast and have free FEDEX shipping.

CONS:
-Not all of the items are vintage or antiques so if you want a piece with history you may not find it. Because some of the rugs are not vintage/antique you could end up a low pile rug that looks like it came out of Home Depot even though it states it’s authentic Turkish rug. Yes, it was made in Turkey, but it won’t be what you expected. I tend to stick with the vintage pieces.
-Return shipping is all on you. If you purchased a large rug say around 8 x 10 expect to pay around $70 to mail it back to them. I always try and be a 100% certain when ordering from them.

Jenny got a great rug from them that currently resides in her kitchen:

{See, black and blue totally go together! Image via Little Green Notebook}

I ordered a rug from them back in April and didn’t have much luck with it in my own home, but they were very nice and helped me get it returned quickly for a full refund.

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Lastly my go-to budget friendly site for colorful Kilim rugs that are new not vintage is Overstock!

PROS
-Great prices
-Inexpensive shipping fee

CONS
-Again the return shipping fees will kill you here as well
-Some of the items have low stock so if you see something you like order right away, because it might not be there tomorrow.
-Inventory varies daily. Check it on weekly basis if you are looking for a rug for your home.
-Mainly just carry Kilim rugs. These rugs are on the thin side so if you are placing them on wood floors they may slip and slide regardless of rug gripper. Trust me it’s happened to me time and time again.

Here are some current favorites from Overstock’s World Trade Fair section:

Do you have any secret sources or searching techniques for ebay that you want to share with the group?