Tips for selecting a rug for your home:

When shopping, come prepared with room sizes and general layouts. Bring color photos of your rooms, if possible, fabric swatches. Include snippets from magazines or other pictures that show the effect you're trying to achieve. Visualize the desired total look of the room. Do you want a room that's uncluttered and monotone or a room rich with colors or textures.  If you start with a totally empty room, choose a rug, then paint or paper the walls in colors found in the rug.
Remember, the rug has to fit the room in more ways than one. Consider how the room is used, how much traffic the area gets and who will view it under what light. For high-traffic areas such as hallways and foyers, you may want a durable, patterned rug. Choose furniture that enhances the rug design or colors found in the rug. If you start with furniture, choose a rug to pick up the colors used in your furnishing patterns. Patterns can be mixed if they are coordinated by color. Elements of a rug design can be further incorporated into the overall design scheme. For example, if the rug is floral, add framed prints or flowers in similar colors. Size up the size of the room and the area you want to cover. The most common area rug sizes are 4-by-6 and 6-by-9 feet. They work well under a coffee table. An 8-by-11-foot rug or larger can cover an entire room. Smaller area and scatter rugs can be ideal for adorning smaller spaces a hearth, a bedside, the area in front of a kitchen sink?with a splash of color and warmth. A rug with a bold, overall design can be the focal point of a room with a chair and sofa in solid or subdued patterns. Light colored rugs make a room look more spacious, and deeper colors lend coziness to a room. Choose a rug that will perform well, with the right combination of density and fiber. The denser the pile, (with closer tufts or stitches), the better your rug will wear. Synthetic yarns - nylon, polyester, acrylic, and polypropylene - and the naturals - wool and cotton - are durable, soft, and easy to clean. You've got to hand it to machine-made rugs: they may look strikingly similar to the handmade kind, but they are usually much less expensive. Watch out for fringe elements. If the rug you like has fringe, make sure it's sewn on well, and very carefully use the vacuum cleaner. Don't be boxed in by the idea of getting a rectangular rug. A circular or octagonal-shaped floor covering can add flair. Remember to take a swatch of any fabrics you'd like to match with you when you shop for a rug. That way, you?ll have a better idea of what will complement your existing decor. Don't underestimate the value of an underlay. Not only will it absorb the impact of feet and noise, it will reduce wear and tear on the rug and make vacuuming easier. Smaller area and scatter rugs can be ideal for adorning smaller spaces a hearth, a bedside, the area in front of a kitchen sink?with a splash of color and warmth.

SHOPPING FOR A RUG ROOM BY ROOM
Living Room

In a living room the area rug would most likely be placed in front of the sofa and under the coffee table
To place a room-sized area rug on a hardwood floor, choose an area rug which allows eight inches (twenty centimeters) of wood to be exposed around the rug's perimeter.
Measure the open space up to the sofa and chairs making sure that the individual seated will have both feet on the area rug.
More than one area rug is acceptable.

Dining Room
There should be room to pull the chairs out from the table with the back legs of the chairs remaining on the area rug.

Stairs
Look for Busy & Dark patterns
Hallways & Entrances
Dense Patterns
Wool pile (Most durable) with cotton foundation (strong and does not loose shape) is ideal.

Bedroom
Do not recommend a room size Persian/Oriental area rug for the bedroom. Most of the pattern will be hidden under the bed in the dark making the rug prone to moth damage.
Instead, use multiple area rugs. A rug at the foot of the bed and two on each side Or use several scatter rugs to fill areas around the bed as needed. It will actually cost less and compliment your furnishings better.

Returning home with the "trial" or newly purchased rugs
Oriental rugs create an effect wherever you place them. If you don't like the result, change them until you do like the "look" of the room. Get started by creating a private space that's uniquely you. Or, you can work with floor-covering and design professionals to create a showplace. Put an exclamation point on the lifestyle statement you've been striving to make.

Create your space to please yourself
Feel free to mix styles to create new and exciting interiors. If you use antique furniture, you may find a contemporary rug will lift the room and give it a new, refreshing look. Conversely, modern pieces on an antique-style rug can give the room richness.

Accessories with purpose
Finally, add accents for secondary activities. Create a reading nook in a bedroom, a game area in a family room, a computer desk in the library, or a focal point on a long empty wall or in the kitchen. Rugs can showcase the accent through color, texture, pattern and shape - any one of the Oriental rug's eye-catching characteristics.
They enrich your life with evolving beauty while adding warm respite from cold marble, smooth slate and burnished wood. When properly cared for, they can be enjoyed for many generations.
Finally, there are so many factors that determine the quality and value of an oriental rug that it takes caution and thorough study to make an intelligent purchase. Be sure to ask a lot of questions because this is a purchase of great value and valuable carpet or rug appreciates with time depending upon the origin