Yes. The following steps will save you both time and money.

1. Measure the room in which you want a rug or carpeting.
2. Summarize your lifestyle (children, pets, entertaining) and consider where and how the rug(s) will be used.
3. Look through Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Colonial Homes, Southern Living, or other shelter magazines to study the variety of room styles and decor.
4. Go 'window shopping.' Visit two or three stores without your checkbook in hand. Begin to focus on the rugs that appeal to your taste in terms of design, color and texture.
5. Establish a budget. Now that you have shopped around and seen what you like, you are in a position to determine what you plan to spend.
6. Make a list of places for serious shopping.

Specialty stores typically stock better quality merchandise than chain operations or department stores. In fact, it is the practice of many wholesalers to send their better-grade goods to smaller dealers who actually check each piece for color consistency, shape, design integrity and quality of craftsmanship.

Comparison shop Eliminate dealers who do not display prices on all new merchandise. Beware of dealers promoting unusually high discounts (50 percent or more), which often reflect unrealistically high, 'original' prices. Such prices are not likely to represent true value.

Look for dealers who provide repair and cleaning services. Those who do, and better still, those who do the work themselves, will be better prepared to share knowledge about how rugs really wear. Further, ask what other ancillary services, such as appraisals, delivery, storage, etc., each dealer offers in anticipation of your future needs. And, look for references from family and friends, but don't rely on word of mouth alone. Screen for the hard sell and trust your own judgment. Finally, don't buy a rug at a hotel auction or a professionally run going-out-of-business sale, where the goods are often below-grade and the typical consumer pays as much or more money for a rug than he or she would elsewhere.

A hand-knotted rug has, on its back, visible foundation threads that run east to west (the width). The actual knot in a handmade carpet may be visible at the base of the pile. In a handmade rug, the fringe is a continuation of the warp threads. In a machine-made rug, a separate strip of fringe is sewn on to the end of the carpet.

Many of the rugs on QVC are Chinese tufted or hooked goods, which are usually available through mass merchants (like Home Goods) with outlets from coast to coast. More important, buying from QVC or a catalog, for that matter, does not replace the 'good sense' move of actually seeing, touching and feeling any rug of interest to you. Most reputable specialty rug stores have policies that allow their customers to try rugs out in their homes prior to purchase. Often, delivery of these rugs is free of charge. Compare this to the potential hassle of buying a rug, deciding you don't like it, and having to pack it up for return.

Many oriental rug dealers offer a trade-in policy that allows for exchange of an oriental carpet, based on the original purchase price. Rustigians, for example, will exchange for full dollar value, less minimal fees for restocking, cleaning and necessary repairs, qualified merchandise that has been purchased at the store. Ask the dealer if certain types of rugs are excluded from the trade-in policy. For example, custom-ordered rugs usually cannot be exchanged.

Historically the art of rug weaving probably achieved its zenith in Iran and Turkey. Some the finest other examples of the art came from the Caucasian Mountains & Turkmenistan. In the modern rug weaving world, this is not precisely the right question to ask as all rug producing countries make both great and marginal rugs. One must be careful of newer Iranian rugs for much of that country's production is not mindful of the critical nature of color fast dyes. As a rug cleaner, I frequently cringe when faced with the challenge of cleaning a modern Persian carpet. From a structural point of view, Pakistan, India, China, Turkey and Nepal all make exceptional carpets. But it should be noted that India and Pakistan are significant suppliers of low end goods that may not wear well in the long (or short) run.

Your best course of action is to buy from a reputable dealer who stands behind his or her merchandise and who has experience in service of Oriental rugs This service expertise makes a dealer a better buyer...knowledgeable in dyes and wool quality and durability of construction.

Eliminate dealers who do not display prices on all new merchandise. Beware of dealers who routinely offer disproportionately high discounts on all merchandise. This usually is a sign of unrealistically high list prices.

In short......YES! The following steps will save you both time and money

1. FOREMOST ..... Select the rug first ..... particularly when you are re-doing a whole room or house. You can mix any paint to match a rug.... It does not work the other way around!
2. Measure the room in which you want a rug or carpeting.
3. Summarize your lifestyle (children, pets, entertaining) and consider where and how the rug(s) will be used.
4. Look through Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Veranda, Southern Living and other shelter magazines to study the variety of room styles and decor.
5. Go window shopping. Visit two or three stores without your checkbook in hand. Begin to focus on the rugs that appeal to your taste in terms of design, color and texture.
6. Establish a budget. Now that you have shopped around and seen what you like, you are in a position to determine what you plan to spend.
7. Make a a list of places for serious shopping.