I'd start with Art Van Furniture - go there and see what they have.

Here is a link that might be useful: Art van rugs

I'm also looking at area rugs for our family room redo. I've seen many nice rugs on Overstock.com, but I don't want to bother with the hassle of returns. I shop at HomeGoods and Tuesday Morning for rugs. We also have a nice Capel rug store in our area. Re material, I am partial to wool and natural fibers.

I've been taking photos of rugs I like with my cell phone, then I look at the photos in my family room to see if they might work with the room. I have a favorite one I'm considering, and I posted photos to this forum...great way to get input. Maybe you could share photos of your room and rugs you like. Good luck!

It depends on the rug style you like and your budget. I like wool, hand knotted oriental rugs, so I would start with local oriental rug shops/dealers. My local oriental rug stores start at around $4k for nice 9x12. The finer 9x12 rugs are going to be in the $10k range. And if you have my knack to zoom in on the most expensive item in the store you will ask about the amazing rug displayed on the wall, that turns out to be a one of a kind antique and $90k! It was nice, but not THAT nice!

Since you're concerned about the return issue, I'll share my experience since it might help you. I purchased our larger area rugs from local stores, but decided to give overstock.com a try for some smaller area rugs, thinking that maybe the return shipping wouldn't be too horrible. I found that their customer service was super great. IF the rug was not the color described (that happened once), or was not the thickness or material listed (ditto), they will happily issue a prepaid return shipping label via email to you. Anyway, I had looked at some of the other places mentioned (also good options), but couldn't find what I wanted except at overstock. So I just made sure to carefully read the description and study the photo, and double check the size before ordering. I managed to get 3 smaller wool rugs that I really like finally, though did have to return a couple (free return, though). Good luck with your search.

OK, I went to Art Van. :( They do not have a rug department. They do sell rugs, but they are on display all over the store. You have to walk around and look at every display. The rugs were all 5x8, with tags that show the size and price. They seemed to be mid range quality, and none really caught my eye. No info on fiber content that I could see on the tags, but I did not bend down to examine the tags closely.

I think I need 8x10, because the rug is supposed to be under the sofa/loveseat legs, right?

So since I was out shopping, I went to Macy's. They have a rug area next to furniture. Lots of rugs, quite a few on hangers, most were on the floor. I tripped and fell on a pile of throw rugs in front of the hangers, but of course, fell on a pile of rugs, so no problem. Most of their rugs were traditional, not my style. I never saw a salesperson. The rugs on hangers did not have good lighting. I took a few pictures but am too tired to put them up tonight. I did see a couple of rugs that are available online, either at Overstock or Macys. Oh, and while on the Macys site I did the online chat and asked about returning to the local store VS shipping. She said the rugs come directly from vendors and have to be returned to them.

One rug I saw online and was thinking of as a maybe was at Macy's. I really like it, it looks nicer in person. It's more beige and more muted than the picture. So I'm thinking of ordering it, but feel it's too soon to decide, need to look around more first.

Oh, and I discovered butterfly rugs on Overstock. Very cute, had no idea these existed. Here's one I want, even though I would not know where to put it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Butterfly rug

Kathy, I am in the Grand Rapids area and I've bought a couple of rugs from Hagopian, one at the Novi location and another, I think on 8 Mile if I recall correctly. They were super nice and helpful and allowed us to take the rug home to try it before they charged our credit card. When we knew we liked it, we called and told them it was okay to charge (of course, they would charged it if we hadn't called back, too).

Good luck!

You'll have better luck if you stay with the local rug shops/dealers, as mentioned above since you'll find a variety of styles and sizes and will be able to take more than one home with you to try out. I buy only from a local rug supplier and have been amazed at how the colors change once the rugs are in my house.
Once you find a rug you're really interested in, don't be afraid to ask the seller what he can do on pricing. The dealer I work with always gives me a nice discount.......even from the first day I walked in. Also, let them know your budget and they can help sort thru the piles of rugs they carry.

I've never had luck at Macys. They just didn't have the quality nor a choice of colors and designs.

Last month I purchased a rug for our breakfast room. Found exactly what I wanted at Pottery Barn, but the price $550 (including shipping) was a bit steep. I looked on e-bay, found the exact same rug, $200 less-including shipping

I must admit I was VERY nervous, especially when the delivery tracking indicated the shipment was coming from overseas.

End results, rug arrived in ten days via FEDEX, on schedule, and its perfect. I was thrilled with the savings, love the rug.

Good luck

Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn

I ordered and received 2 rugs from Regency Rugs which is a dealer on Ebay...they sell new rugs and no need to auction. Both came in looking exactly like the picture and both were just the size we expected. I didn't have to return either. But they do make it easy to return....only thing is you do pay return shipping which is reasonable.

I got a great deal on CraigsList for rug for my husband's office when we were moving into this house--
it is probably some type of fake wool but was in great shape from owner with no pets, no-smoking home...
The colors work great with the beige walls/wood floors, med-tone wood furniture and all of his office set up fits on the rug so his chair can roll w/o problem...
Depending on YOUR area you might check CL and see what is available...
My husband and I went to pick up the rug at the seller's house--which was in OK area of Dallas--and could put it into the back of his Trailblazer and take it home...
The seller was good to help roll it up and take outside to our SUV
it's an 8x10--but the rug was fairly flexible and was fairly easy to carry...

We have Tuesday Mornings in our area and they carry rugs--some on hangers, some flat and you can get a good deal at times when they are running a sale or have coupon...
Our daughter has bought rugs for her house at Target--you can order online and return to local Target store w/o reshipping cost
Same with Bed Bath and Beyond...

If you are not going with a traditional style of rug (i.e something Oriental) then you need to consider the pattern for the rug in your room...
some modern/contemporary rugs can have patterns that vary in scale/design which might make more of a design impact in your seating arrangement than a a more traditional, balanced rug design...

You could check the Ballard Designs catalog. Have been thinking of ordering from them myself.

I recently received 2 rugs from Overstock. They are beautiful wool rugs and seem to be very good quality. I am expecting a 3rd rug to be delivered in a day or two. I am very impressed with how quickly they process and ship items. I do pay close attention to reviews before ordering.
I also purchased a gorgeous 8x10 rug from Marshalls. There are several Marshalls stores in my area and one of them has a much nicer rug and home decor section than the others. If you have Marshalls stores where you live you should check them all out. There merchandise turns over quickly so check often and if you see something you like buy it right away. You have 90 days to return it if you change your mind.
We also have Home Owners Bargain Outlet (HOBO) stores in our area that have great deals on rugs, although sometimes they are not as good quality as Marshall's and Overstock. If you have a store like HOBO around you check that out too.

Well I have 2 rugs in mind now. One is on Craigslist. I emailed to ask if I can see it tomorrow, waiting for an answer. Thanks lovestoread, I never would have thought of Craigslist. The other one is online at Overstock, and I saw it in person at Macy's.
I do have a Marshalls nearby, but no furnishings, it's a small store. But their website shows stores with furnishings within driving distance, so that's still a possibility.
The rug I saw at Macy's is listed on Overstock twice, for 2 different prices. It looks more beige and more muted in real life than the Overstock pictures.
Here it is for $347.99
Rug for $347.99
And here it is for $213.99
Rug for $213.99

CL is always a crap shoot
I saw lots of nice, reasonable priced furniture this spring when we were in process of buying a vacation/second home south of Sarasota
couldn't buy then cause we weren't in FL and hadn't closed on the house
by the time we WERE ready to buy, most of what I had seen had sold and there wasn't much new listings that we liked...we were looking for beachy/retro type used furniture there in good shape...

lot of stuff I see in the DFW CL is not that great and think there is good deal of scamming..
I got lucky with that rug...

hope yours works out

So the Craigslist seller took her time responding to me. We set up a time for me to come and see the rug tonight, but then she cancelled and put me off till tomorrow.
AND, GET THIS, now she says there is a lot of interest in it, so she's raising the price to $225.00. I never heard of such a thing!
Well, at this point I still plan to go see it. But I really am not sure what to look for, other than is it clean, and is it in good condition.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rug on Craigslist

When you go and check out the rug, make sure to sniff it. I bought a PB rug on CL, and already in the car, it stank really bad. Absolutely loved the rug, but there was no way it could stay in the house. Google Pottery Barn rugs and smell. They say that they fixed the problem, but even now, whenever I go to PB, I can still smell it with some of their rugs.

I have four PB wool rugs and none of them have smelled at all. I've always been worried about that but haven't had a single problem.

WOW, thank you so much! I found a site that describes the smell problem in detail. I just can't risk the time and trouble that would be involved, even if it might not be one of those rugs.
Now, where was I before I saw the rug on Craigslist? LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: Smelly rug problems in detail

OK, I found a rug I think I want at Costco. It's wool, hand tufted, made in India. So does anyone have experience with Costco rugs? Do you like this for my living room or should I keep looking?
There is the other one I saw in person at Macy's, and online at Overstock, but it's not wool.
Here's two views of my living room. yeah it is small :)
Living room one
Living room two

Here is a link that might be useful: Wool rug at Costco

Okay, this is very coincidental -- I have been browsing gray area rugs and I recognized your Costco rug as one I saw on Overstock! Here is it, less expensive. Look around for the smaller 5x8 size (on Overstock), I think it has a positive review.

I actually love it and wish I had a place to use it!

Here is a link that might be useful: Same rug

Sueb -- funnt, I actually have that rug (or its brother, same series & maker) in a smaller size; bought it from Overstock when staging my bungalow for resale. It's a nice thick wool rug and I love the colors in the one I got (gold/greens).

If you have other real orientals, it's not as nice as those, of course, made in India with tuftier wool and less delineated pattern lines, but it's a great mid-range rug and I can recommend it if that's what you're looking for. Pretty arts & crafts-ish design.

Realtor's photo, sorry that's all I've got:

FYI, Tuesday Morning on-line (tuesdaymorning.com) is having an on-line area rug sale through today. Free shipping and up to 70% off.

Some of the Pottery Barn rugs on Ebay are fake. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but keep that in mind when bidding/buying. You can also see that when you look carefully at the pictures of the actual rug that is on Ebay, i.e. no PB stock photo, and compare with PB.

I can't believe no one has mentioned my go to sites yet. Try Amazon, or Home Decorators. Both of these offer a huge variety of options at all different price points.

Here is a link that might be useful: homedecorators.com

Thank you all. I ALMOST got the grey/blue wool rug. But hesitated because I thought it might be too dark. Then there was a similar one for a bit more. But I kept going back to the one at Overstock, that I saw in person at Macy's where it was $549.00. In person it's more beige, more muted. Overstock had it for $213.00, but then I checked again yesterday and it was reduced to $181.00. So I ordered it. Having seen it in person made the decision easier. And I admit to being a bargain hunter, $181 vs Macy's $549 put me over the edge!

Here is a link that might be useful: The rug I finally ordered

Yay! Post a pic when you get it.

I swear last year I brought as many rugs to try than I tried on wedding dresses.

The price drop could be related to the fact that
100's here clicked on it and did not buy..........

I will probably hear many voicing disapproval, But I have purchased some rugs that I consider to be nice from Home Depot. They are not hand made many 1000's of dollars nice but they are very nice for production rugs.

They carry several brands and several price ranges.
We have purchased 8 or 9 for in our 112 year old home.
I have had many comments how nice they look, and they have been holding up well. HD often runs rug sales with free shipping to boot. I have purchased one or two that were store stocked, but most have been ordered on line.

I have also purchased rugs for one bedroom from Amazon, and the ones I purchased were not the quality level of the ones i purchased from HD, how ever for the price they were and the lighter foot traffic in this bedroom, We are pleased with our purchases there as well!