I can't help but marvel at the extraordinary craftsmanship and creativity I'm seeing in cowhide rugs. 
Traveling to Turkey on and off for the last 12 years, I have been lucky enough to develop reliable sources for vintage and antique rugs.
In over 30 years of serving the interior design community exclusively with our carpeting business, we've picked up a few consistent practices or "musts" from successful designers. The most oft repeated axiom is probably that the overwhelming majority of a designer's business comes from referrals. So it pays to invest time and energy into the relationships that you've already formed.
Check out some samples of Addison Dicus Aria wood flooring.
At the Domotex show, a Turkish-American designer from New York won the prize for the Best Modern Rug Design. His name is Erbil Tezcan. He is a fascinating character as well as a fabulous designer.
Indian saris are the colorful dress/wraps that make India a never-ending festival of color.
Recently rug makers have taken the same silk as that is used to make saris and spun it into a yarn to weave rugs.
The results are always surprising.
The Pazyryk Carpet is the world's oldest pile rug. It was found in a burial mound in the Pazyryk Valley in Siberia. Experts agree that it was most likely not made there, rather Persia or Armenia. They have dated it to some time in the 4th or 5th Century BCE.
Rugs continually surprise me.
I bought this one in the later part of last year on a trip to India. It's maker copied a design that he liked from the textile museum in Jaipur and gave it a modern touch by adding an "erased" component.
There are a number of great reasons why it makes sense to build your room design on and around the rug.
Although the availability of beautiful, brand new rugs in unprecedented sizes and colors is enormous, some people have a passion for antique rugs.
What is an antique rug?
Simple. The rug must be over 100 years old. Anything younger than 100 years, but not new is called "vintage."
Antique serapi, Persia ca 1870. Medallion detail. Size 8'6" x 12'7"