We Just Found the Perfect Rug Store for Summer and it Ships Immediately
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It’s not easy to find a happy medium when you’re rug shopping. Most of the time, you’re stuck between discount options from big box stores on one end, and museum-worthy Turkish antiques worth more than your 401(k) on the other.
Revival is among a handful of relatively new online retailers trying to help regular folks on a budget split the difference. Backed by Brooklinen co-founder Ben Hymen, the Oakland-based direct-to-consumer brand launched in 2017 after building a network of artisan weavers in Turkey, Morocco, and India with the mission of bringing eco-friendly vintage rugs to the masses.
They’ve since accomplished that goal with a Casper-like business model that cuts out the middlemen, eliminating markups along the supply chain to keep prices competitive. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re cheap, but it’s possible to find some bargains: For a large rug between 6’x9’ and 7’x10’, you can expect to see options ranging anywhere from $300 to nearly $3,000.
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Revival divides its rugs into two categories—vintage and Revival-made, while the vintage rugs are further categorized as original, overdyed, distressed, or antique washed. A key selling point is that most of the handwoven, vintage pieces are one-of-a-kind, using materials that date back anywhere from 30 to 100 years.
These rugs also undergo a rigorous cleaning and restoration process that involves trimming and shearing to remove the outermost layer—basically, imagine the rug version of refinishing a hardwood floor—before they’re gently washed with a hand brush. The final step involves an overdyeing process to bring out the original pattern, followed by a final wash and dry.
New rugs, meanwhile, are handwoven to the same standards as the vintage rugs, using all-natural materials, azo-free dyes, and working with weaving houses that are certified by organizations like GoodWeave India, CraftMark, and Fairtrade.
Given the opportunity to test one of Revival’s rugs for myself, I settled on a bold tangerine option from Morocco called the “Hiroyo.” The carpet’s striking pattern included warm, motley streaks of coral, cream, and mauve, which Revival says was “hand-knotted by the Marmoucha tribes in the Middle Atlas mountains.”
Once my order was placed, I realized that one of the few downsides to buying a one-of-a-kind rug online is that it forces you to place far more trust in the supplier to hold up its end of the bargain. I’m a cautious shopper, one more inclined to follow the collective wisdom of Yelp reviews and 5-Star Amazon ratings. This time, it was going to require more of a leap of faith than I was used to taking.
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Thankfully, the Hiroyo was not a decision I’d come to regret. My shipment arrived with remarkable expediency—just two days after I placed my order—and in a compact, apartment building-friendly package that transported easily up three flights of stairs.
My girlfriend and I breathed a sigh of relief as it tumbled out of the box. The rich color scheme perfectly synced up with the bright, sunny, beachy SoCal vibe my girlfriend and I had been hoping to achieve in our small New York City apartment, adding a welcome pop of color to the more neutral beige and cream tones elsewhere.
The plush fabric was just as thick and soft as advertised, and provided a healthy—and much needed—barrier between the creaky wooden floorboards and our downstairs neighbor. Best of all, unlike the old rug I’d bought off the rack years ago next to dozens like it, this one was entirely our own.
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