Whether one lives in a classic townhouse, country farmhouse, or urban apartment, choosing the right carpet can be a daunting prospect; this is the first book to guide the reader through the process. The selection of carpets featured in these pages includes both antique and contemporary Oriental, European, and American carpets. Over 200 photographs illustrate a broad range of inspired color schemes in different interiors with carpets of all sizes, to aid the carpet collector or homeowner in showcasing their treasures.

The authors discuss the various types of interiors for which carpets are intended, with focus on why and how the design, colors, and textures of specific carpets work with certain room settings. Imaginative ideas showing how carpets can be used to create a wide variety of design effects are included, such as Wild West rooms with Navajo rugs, stunning ethnic-style outdoor rooms with Turkoman flatweaves and Indian dhurries, rustic French farmhouses with cotton runners, Manhattan lofts with carpets used as wall hangings, country houses in Europe and America with floral Savonnerie carpets, and attractive staircases covered with Turkish kilims. There is also a discussion of the history of carpet display in the western domestic interior-- from the earliest export of Oriental rugs to Europe in the fifteenth century to the present day, the age of the designer carpet.

Detailed information is given about the typical characteristics of each type of carpet by geographical area, such as the weave, size, and use of traditional motifs. The book concludes with a glossary of terms, a useful list of further reading, practical information on care and repair, and an international directory of carpet dealers and museums with noteworthy carpet collections.