We Bought Antique Rugs for Our Period Home: Case Study

Over the past 45 years, Peter and Eileen Tynan have been collecting antique rugs for their Edwardian home. Each piece has not only been an investment but also an object of beauty to treasure.

Peter said:

“This house has been our family home for decades now. We brought our children up here and now our grandchildren visit regularly.

Eileen and I have decided we will stay here for another five years. Then we will think about moving to a home that is in a less rural position and has fewer bedrooms.

When we first saw the house back in the 1960s it was in need to of a huge amount of work. We took it on knowing it was a renovation project and slowly over the years worked our way through it.

It had some Beautiful Period Features – high ceilings, sash windows, fireplaces etc and we restored or replaced those wherever we could.

Original Flooring

To start with, we actually didn’t replace much of the flooring. Where the carpets were OK we kept them in place, planning to do something with them later. In one or two other places we quickly laid cheap carpet just to make the rooms look better.

Then as the children grew up and we found ourselves with a little more money, we decided to redecorate the house in our preferred fashion. This meant Sanding Down the Original Floor Boards and bringing in lots of rugs – antique rugs.

Love of Antiques

Eileen and I love antiques. We both inherited some beautiful pieces from our parents and grandparents and we used to love nothing more than spending our weekends hunting through second-hand stores and attending the auctions looking for bargains.

These pieces do tend to be worth money and we are keen to collect them so we have something to leave to our children when we go.

But, equally, we just love the way they sit so well within our old house. Although many of the Rugs Come From Abroad, these were just the sorts of items that collectors would have relished years ago.

A Hall Carpet

The first antique rug was one we happened upon at an auction in a market town in Norfolk. It was a runner and so ideal for our hall and came from Persia. Thought to date back to some time around 1890, it was in a rich red colour and had lots of detailing.

In a way, I think finding that one wetted our appetite. We then set about looking for large rugs for our sitting room and dining room.

Downstairs Floors

A friend of ours introduced us to a dealer and we asked him to start looking out for rugs of the right size. Within a few weeks he had found us a large red Turkmen rug, again thought to date back to the late 19th century, for the sitting room, and then for the dining room, in blues and creams, an antique Chinese rug, of about the same age.

Bedroom Rug

Upstairs, we needed a small narrow rug and a squarer one for the landing and something beautiful for our bedroom. The runner and landing rugs were both found in an antique shop in London.

Both of these are Caucasian, and are from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The smaller one is thought to have been a prayer mat.

Then we wanted something for our bedroom. Eileen wanted it to be a bit special, different from all the other rugs in the house so we really took our time looking.

Finally, we found a simply exquisite Turkish rug in silk that is though to be about 150 years old. It was woven in gold colours and has the most beautiful design.

Like the others, we think it looks perfect in our home.


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