How much does a hand-knotted rug cost?
Hand-knotted rugs are priced by the square foot, and the figure moves with the specification rather than sitting at one number. Knot density, material composition, silk percentage, design complexity, carving, shape and the number of colors all change it. Current pricing is shown on each collection page, or given as a tailored quotation.
Where do I find your prices?
On the piece. Every rug in the collections carries its own current price, stated in CAD or USD, and a bespoke commission is priced by quotation once the specification is known. That is deliberate: two rugs of the same size can be quite different objects, and a single headline figure would be wrong for most of them.
For a size or a specification that is not listed, email us and we will quote it. A quotation states the size, the quality, the materials and the currency, so you can compare it against anything else you are looking at.
What is a fair price per square foot for a hand-knotted wool rug?
Per square foot is the right unit, because the work scales with area. A rug twice the size takes roughly twice as many knots and roughly twice as long on the loom, so a single sticker price tells you nothing until you divide it by the area. Ask any seller for the per-square-foot figure, the knot count and the fiber together; one of those three without the other two cannot be compared.
If a quoted rug is dramatically cheaper than everything else you have seen, ask what the construction is before you ask anything else. A price far below the hand-knotted market usually means the rug is not hand-knotted, which is set out on hand-knotted vs hand-tufted.
What moves the price of a hand-knotted rug?
| Factor | What it changes | Effect on price |
|---|---|---|
| Size | The total number of knots and the time on the loom | The largest single factor |
| Knot density | How many knots fill each square inch | Higher density, more weaving time |
| Material composition | Which fiber or blend the rug is woven in | Varies by material |
| Silk percentage | How much of the drawing is carried in natural silk | Rises with the proportion used |
| Design complexity | Color changes, fine line work, how hard the drawing is to weave | Rises with complexity |
| Carving and pile variation | Hand work added after weaving, cutting the pile at varying heights | Adds hand finishing time |
| Shape | Rectangular, round or irregular | Non-rectangular shapes take more setup and finishing |
| Number of colors | Every color is a dye lot to match and prepare | Rises with the count |
| Artist or licensing arrangement | Collections made with an artist or under license | Priced independently |
How much does a custom 8x10 hand-knotted rug cost?
By quotation, because the size alone does not price the rug. Two 8x10 rugs can differ by a large multiple: one woven at a low knot count in wool, in a simple palette, is a different amount of work from one woven at a high count with silk detail, carving and a large number of colors.
Tell us the size, the room, the design and roughly what the rug has to do, and we will come back with a specification and a price for it. The specification stage is described on how a custom rug is made.
Why are hand-knotted rugs so expensive?
Because you are buying months of skilled human time, and nothing about the process can be sped up without changing what the object is.
A single rug is woven by several artisans working side by side on one loom, keeping their rhythm together so the tension stays even across the full width. A master weaver among them has typically trained for a decade or more. At 100 knots per square inch there are 14,400 hand-tied knots in every square foot of the finished surface, and each of them was tied, cut and packed by a person following a graphed plan of the design.
Around that sit the parts people forget: preparing and dyeing the yarn to a specified palette, then washing, stretching, hand-trimming and finishing the rug after it comes off the loom.
How does knot count affect the price of a rug?
Directly, because knot count is time. A 150 KPSI rug carries nearly four times the knots of a 40 KPSI rug in the same area, and somebody tied all of them. That is the single largest lever you control on price.
It is also the lever most often pulled the wrong way. Density buys detail, and if your design is texture-led or large in scale, a high knot count buys you nothing you can see. Choosing a moderate quality for a design that does not need a fine one is not a compromise, it is the correct specification. Knot count and quality sets out what changes at each step.
What is the price difference between a wool rug and a wool and silk rug?
Silk is the costliest fiber we weave, so the more of the drawing it carries, the higher the rug is priced. Two things drive that: the raw fiber costs more, and silk is finer, so silk areas are usually woven at a higher density than the wool around them. There is no single silk premium, because it depends on the proportion used and on the rest of the specification.
For most rooms the sensible use of silk is as an accent inside a wool rug, catching light in the parts of the drawing that should shift as you move. That gives you the effect for a fraction of the cost of an all-silk piece, and it wears far better. The fibers are compared on what our rugs are made of.
What is quoted rather than listed?
Some things are priced per commission rather than from a standard rule, because they vary too much to publish one:
- Woven samples.
- Designer and trade terms.
- Additional design revisions beyond reasonable design development.
- Unusual shapes.
- Carving and pile variation.
- High color counts.
Artist partnerships and special collections may also be priced independently of the rest of the range.
Do I pay a deposit for a bespoke rug, and when is the balance due?
Yes, in two halves. A 50 percent deposit is required to begin production, and the remaining 50 percent is due before the rug ships. Nothing goes onto a loom before the deposit and nothing leaves Nepal before the balance, which is deliberate on both sides: you do not pay for weaving you have not approved, and we do not weave a rug nobody has committed to.
Is shipping included, and what about duties and taxes?
Shipping is free worldwide, by FedEx Express. Duties, customs charges and taxes are separate: they are the client's responsibility unless the quotation states otherwise, and they are set by the destination country rather than by us.
Do hand-knotted rugs go on sale? Are rug sales real?
Ours do not, because there is nothing to clear. The conventional retail model carries large inventories across designs, sizes and price points, which produces unsold stock that has to be moved with heavy discounts. Those discounts are the cost of the inventory model, priced in from the start.
We make every rug to order. No stock, no storage, no waste, and no clearance event, because the rug does not exist until you order it.
Why is a bespoke rug more expensive than one from a store?
Often it is not, once you compare like with like. A store rug at a fraction of the price is usually machine-made or hand-tufted, which is a different object made a different way. Compared against another hand-knotted rug, a bespoke piece adds the design work, the sample where one is made, and a loom set up for one rug rather than a production run.
What it removes is the retail chain. A rug that passes through an exporter, an importer and a showroom carries all three margins.
Is a hand-knotted rug worth the money?
It is if you measure by the year rather than by the day. There is no adhesive in the construction to deteriorate, so the failure mode that ends a tufted rug's life does not exist here, and wool develops a patina as it wears rather than degrading. A rug that stays in a room for decades is a different purchase from one that is replaced repeatedly.
FAQ
How much is an 8x10 hand-knotted rug?
By quotation. Size is the largest single factor, but knot density, materials, silk percentage, complexity, carving, shape and the number of colors all move the figure, so we price the specification rather than the size.
Is the price the same for every rug in a collection?
No. Each design is priced individually according to what it takes to weave. Current prices are on each rug in the collections.
What currency are prices in?
Prices are stated in CAD or USD, and the collection page or the quotation says which.
What is the deposit?
50 percent to begin production, with the remaining 50 percent due before the rug ships.
Do you offer samples?
A woven sample is recommended on a bespoke commission so you can see the actual construction and colors before the full rug is made. Sample pricing is quoted with the commission.
Are shipping costs extra?
No. Shipping is free worldwide by FedEx Express. Duties, customs charges and taxes are the client's responsibility unless the quotation states otherwise.
Is there a trade price for interior designers?
Designer terms are quoted per commission. Tell us about the project and we will quote it.
Can I return a rug?
Standard rugs may be returned free within 30 days, unused and in their original packaging. Custom and bespoke rugs are final sale, because they were woven for you.
See current pricing on individual pieces in the collections, or email info@weaverandloom.co for a quotation.