No, this isn’t some Austin Powers shagadelic mojo discovery or even part of an all new shagmobile option, but the discovery that shag is something you never imagined an area rug could be – shaggy soft, disheveled elegant, tousled classy, ruffled scruffy and somehow still tasteful. It’s the all new shag area rugs that make you want to snuggle, nuzzle, nestle and borrow your toes, or at least cuddle your soles in long shag wool rug strands.

Naturally there’s sheep’s wool and goat hair in white shag rug styles you might expect just by hearing the name, but there’s also wild and funky pink shag rug designs for retro or art deco décor, and round red shag rug talking pieces that will make your room just as individual and lively as you.

And although I’m well aware of the impact a purple rug may have, the pieces that most impress me are the leather shag rug creations that are hand-woven and ultra chic…not to mention… mmmm…how good they smell!

Leather designs comes in many styles that may surprise you because some are mixed with fabric to make them even softer, and the pieces that are tied to make the rug can be all varied lengths so that the carpet has texture and dimension. Perhaps the brown shag rug colors in leather are obvious choices, but there are lots of cool shades in leather, like some sumptuous rich black styles to match leather sofas or even some unusual dyed leather to create a sort of olive green rug that is quite soft and natural looking – not neon bright or sickly old style 1970’s blah green shag rug shades.

But…let’s not forget about BLUE…a blue shag rug, especially if you need a shag flokati rug from those gorgeous long haired goats in traditional Greek color or the modern and popular versions of the flokati shag rug that are not even goat, but synthetic, or even a chenille shag rug that is super soft and silky.

There’s also a type of shag that’s called Pashmina, although it isn’t really goat hair either, but a blend of viscose and New Zealand sheep’s wool. And before we leave the topic of carpet color, it seems the shag rug comes in just about every shade and hue and tone that you can imagine even including what may sound more like ice-cream than carpet – chocolate shag rug or vanilla and chocolate or lime and cherry sorbet or peach fizzle and strawberry cream or a Small Fudge Shag Rug, that’s machine washable and is sold through USA Wallpaper for just over $50.

If ice-cream colors and fudge for your rugs isn’t your cup of sorbet then you just might find some metallic shades are right for you, like the bronze or silver or gold shag rug creations that are shaggily floating around some creative flooring shops.

And how much will this shagalicious flooring cost? Hand woven leather shag rugs cost about $500 for an 8X10 and down to about $80 for a small 4X2 runner style. There are a few super cheap products like Your Zone Bright Blue Shag Rug from Walmart for about $19, but it’s pretty small and the quality isn’t great. A better discount item might be the JC Penny Dorm Life Shag that costs about $44, but is a much better quality and comes in trendy fashion colors like the purple shag rug choice and the iron grey and potent fuchsia pink amongst others. Another cheap option is the one from Target for under $30 that’s a round shag rug in pure white or cream, but it’s not very large. That’s the main problem with these rugs, they’ve become so popular that they’re expensive. If you can manage to come up with $150 or $200 the world of shag area rugs opens a bit wider. Like for example the chocolate shag rug that’s hand tufted called the Stella which is made of ultra plush acrylic yarns and is sold by Ballard Designs for about $125.

Or the hand-tufted super shiny wool shag rug that’s a decent size of 5X8 made by Yankee Traders and is sold by Overstock for about $180, and comes in lots of fantastic colors like blue Ivory red and purple. Purple again…everyone has these wacky purple shag rug choices…when did purple become the fashionable new shade?

Okay but there’s a few more choices like the Shaw Rug line of area rugs like the Shaw Living Shaggedy Shag Area Rug…and if you can’t get that phrase around your tongue to say ten times….you’ll just have to order quietly online from Lowe’s for about $170. But wait..

I just found some discount shag rugs at Sears, okay so their only shaggy bath rugs but they’re super affordable at just $17 and they come in every shade imaginable, which reminds me that a long time ago I remember a lady who had a pink fuzzy shag thingy on her toilet seat and even covering her shelves and floor and part way up the bathtub….but that’s the other shag bath rug era…the old stuff that we’re not allowed to talk about any more…the new contemporary bath mats and carpets are never, ever again, going to be glued to walls and toilet seats or bathtubs or…which reminds me to tell you that the new pink is called Retro Pink or Hot Fuchsia or Dusky Rose at least if we’re talking about a modern shag rug.

Moving on to something less weird, lets talk about a bamboo shag rug…excuse me…isn’t bamboo wood? Yes, and how does it become carpet or rugs? Well, bamboo is now a fabric made from the plant like linen or cotton, and let me tell you it’s very soft and comfy. There’s this great company called Anji Mountain Bamboo that has super soft bamboo made into huge white shag rugs, little shag throw rug styles and even tons of great natural colors and less natural ones like dark brown and black and deep crimson red.

Which naturally brings me to cotton shag rug designs that are rich and magnificent because a chenille cotton shag rug is soft…I mean even softer than my kittens soft white tummy fur. Chenille shag is like a silk shag rug only better because it’s really durable and less difficult to clean and comes in lots of fun colors.

Now here we’re back to wool shag rugs which are endless and I could give you a super long list of great styles, but as I write I realize that I’ve totally forgotten to tell you about a wool shag rug I can’t understand – the felted shag rug which I don’t see any point to at all, since felt is flat and shag is long and shaggy…why felt the shag? I don’t get it. In my opinion a felt shag rug is like leaving your wool carpet in the rain and saying it’s felt!

But in fact I think what carpet companies are doing is taking their old ugly beige shag pile rugs and wetting them down and selling them as something with the cool word SHAG in it so they’ll sell. And to top it all off, they don’t come in funky colors and they’re expensive, like this one from Pottery Barn called the Quinn Felted Shag Rug. And the color? It’s called Clay! Need I say more!

If we’re going to continue in the area rug department, then we have to talk about large shag rugs that can cover your living room and I must touch a little on washable shag rug designs. First large area rugs that are totally weird!

Here is the top one: the JC Penney Lollipop Shag Rug from Concepts Collection is a shag area rug that has massive polka dots all over it. This rug shag baby may be fine for a den or a children’s play room, but unless you’re an expert designer, I’d stay away from this in the living room.

Let’s move on to the large round rugs collections available, and there we find a purple swirls Circle Carpet or Circular Rug in a low pile that could overtake almost any room in a second should anyone dare to toss it on their floor.

And before I say any more about the many strange contemporary shag rugs that are large enough to fill a palace ballroom in bad taste, let me move on to a subject easier to address and that is washable rugs that are practical and don’t look like you’ve just peeked through a kaleidoscope. And that would be the large sage rug that is 5 x 7 feet and has a snuggly 3 inch deep, plush yarn pile and is totally machine washable in cold water…if you can find a washing machine that it fits in, that is.

It’s a great Sage color that won’t show dirt and it’s not terribly expensive at just over $400. You can even get matching little baby sage shags to go with it for about $50 each.

That’s about it for shag area rug styles that I’ve recently found interesting, but that doesn’t at all end the shag topic because every week there’s something new that some designer or manufacture comes up with to shock us or delight our senses.

Oh…just one last thing…I recently came across this phrase while searching for rugs: shag rug la, and I scratched my head and looked at it upside down and sideways and searched for Shangri-La shag rugs and Shagrala shag rug companies, but nothing…until I did this: Shag Rug LA, California, and the rest is history because that opened a real amazing can of fabulous shaggy rug worms in hip Los Angeles California style LA RUG INC…but that will have to wait for the post I write…

In the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Spain (near Granada), where I live, I simply can’t imagine my house (cortijo) without area rugs. The floors are all natural terracotta tile, and although it’s wonderfully cool on the feet in summer, in spring and autumn, and especially during winter, my toes long for something other than tile.

My Shaggy Shag Rug Studio

I look around the studio from where I write, and I can count 8 area rugs, just here in the studio, and it’s none too many. There’s a thick wool shag rug in front of the fireplace, but I have a few used rugs layered around and on top of each other, a little like an Arabian tent floor, just that I leave the stone area nearest the fire exposed. Since my studio is open I can see the salon (living space) and kitchen and dinning area from where I sit.

By the kitchen basin there’s a super long shaggy white and reddish purple shag rug that somewhat matches a royal purple chair throw (I got in India), and I have it in the kitchen because I love my hubby to sit and talk with me while I make salads, so I have a comfy chair and rug in the kitchen, which I know is odd, but it works for us. There’s also a large round shag rug (more of a low pile chenille rug) under the antique round wood dinning table beside a long wood console table I got in Belgium. (I know this is about rugs, but my console table is a work of art, all hand carved with two drawers and twisting legs, and the best part is that the top lifts up and has a second table top that is made of travertine marble and converts into a bar).

I also have a fabulous antique Russian Samovar (that my mother-in-law gave me) on the console table and a small gilded mirror above it. But, I’m getting distracted…this is about the shag rugs that are near my console table and all over the house.

More of my Shaggy Shag Rugs

Oh…and there’s the white sheepskin shag rug (from somewhere in Northern Europe…I’m not sure where because it was a wedding present) beside my bed. Mmmmmm, my toes love that shaggy sheep in the morning! There’s also a turquoise blue shag rug on my hubby’s side of the bed, which he bought from a local goat herder/carpet maker in the mountains above the house.

At the foot of the bed is a huge white shag (that could be and should be in the living room) that I just bought about two months ago in a mountain village. It’s an exquisitely soft white shag rug that my 3 cats love to curl up on. But it’s such a huge rug that I think when I finish renovating my antique house (which is quite another story) I will use it as the central rug in the living room. Anyway, I also have two multicolored (traditional alpujarreño) shag area rugs at the entrance to the courtyard (yes, in Spain, mountain homes called cotijos still have courtyards).

My Shag Rug Collection

So when I talk about rugs…I might actually know what I’m talking about! I’ve bought (or been given or somehow acquired) area rugs over the last 20 years as I traveled as a journalist, throughout Asia and Africa and Europe and the Americas (mostly South) and I have collected a lot of rugs.

Some are still in storage in Asia, but I will one day have all my area rugs in one place – my wool shag rug from a Mongolian trader, my strange American leather shag rugs that a friend sent me from New York, my Persian rug with the swirly Islamic motif, and my round Chinese rug with the lucky emblem in red and my all time favorite Tibetan rugs, one that is a sheepskin shag rug and the other a hand knotted wool area rug with a delicate Buddhist motif.

You know what a shag rug is. It’s synthetic, sticky, yucky, and comes in green, orange and red. You know this because you’ve been in a van or a cheap motel about 30 some years ago and you’ll never forget. Beeep! You’re wrong! And to prove it I’m going to tell you about the coolest shaggy shag rugs, Zebra area rugs and Spaghetti leather items you didn’t know you always wanted.

A Super Shaggy Shag Rug

Super Shaggy is fluffy soft, toe cozy and ultra modern! Many of the new shag rugs are knotted by hand and made of the best New Zealand wool, Chinese silk, African cotton, and Spanish leather and crafted by artisan from around the world including Nepal and Tibet, of from Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. Some have a low pile and some have fibers or yarn (or even bits of tied fabric) that are left very long and sheep-like.

Shag Rug Shapes

The shapes are another thing that set the newer rugs apart from their vintage predecessors. They are not wall to wall or chunks of shag with frayed edges cut from a larger roll of carpet as they often were in the 60’s and 70’s. The new cotton, wool and leather shag rugs are specifically designed as area rugs not as carpet to be glued down, and therefore come in every shape.

There is a round shag rug from teeny tiny to huge living room size, edged professionally and finished so as to be easy to care for. There are square and oval shaped shag pile rugs, and long rectangular runners for hallways and lots of shaggy shapes to fit any area, even the bathroom. Bath rugs can be not only practical but, because they are so soft on bare feet, they are a wonderful place to step onto when you’re fresh out of the tub or shower.

Shaggy Shag Rug Colors

The colors of shag area rugs have also changed a lot. Not only are they more plush, but there are contemporary colors in yellow, beige and neutral tones. There is a black shag rug, also a black and white and zebra rug and a plain white item that is very fashionable. Don’t forget the super popular baby blue shag rug for kids.

There’s a brown and a chocolate shag rug that look good enough to eat, and recently I’ve also seen some metallic colors and some gray and even green, but not the sickly greens from before. There’s also a green brown color blend that’s earthy and for trendy decors, a shocking lime and orange shag. There is also the super hit in pink, and the wild purple shag rug, to say nothing of the new shaggy designs in red.

Shaggy Raggy Shag Rug

It’s just as the name suggests, shag plus rags tied together into one rug. Wool yarn or fibers are knotted together with soft bits of cotton jersey for different textures and patterns in shag. With bits of fabric, and not only yarn, these area rugs can be more absorbent, especially when used as entrance or even as bath rugs.

The Shaggy Raggy Shag Rug Collection from The Rug Market has solid and multi colored shag rugs, hand dyed then woven with strips of cotton jersey. Because they are handmade, there are no two shag rugs that are the quite the same. They have a 2 inch pile height so they’re fluffy to touch and walk on and don’t crunch down easily because the fabric is somewhat bouncy and resilient.

Although these creations may be of New Zealand wool yarn and enhanced with other modern textiles, they are hand woven in India and so retain the eastern quality that rugs are famed for. They come in small 22″ x 34″ sizes, or in a medium sized shag rug of 2’8” x 4’8” or a large 4’7” x 7’7”. There’s also a round shaggy raggy rug that is 4′ in diameter. They can be washed by hand in cold water and hung to dry. They can also be vacuumed from the backside so the fibers don´t get damaged and to avoid unnecessary shedding.

Shaggy Raggy Shag rugs come in cream, yellow, lavender, tangerine, and there is also a white, a blue and the ever popular pink shag rug for kids or all the pink loving ladies.

• Natural Sheepskins that come in two sizes and are really well priced at just under £39.
• Natural Double Sheepskin Rug that has two skins joined end to end to make a large shag rug for under £90.

• Black Sheepskin Rug, which is really rich black with lustrous natural wool sheen for under £45. And all the rest of the colors cost the same, just that you can select from all these fabulous colors.

• Chateau Rose Sheepskin
• Cobblestone Sheepskin Rug

• Deep Orchid Sheepskin Rug
• Insignia Blue Sheepskin Rug
• Rhododendron Sheepskin Rug
• Royal Purple Sheepskin Rug
• Sepia Sheepskin Rug

The Real Rug Company also has superb natural Flokati shag rugs in 8 different sizes, from large shag rugs to cover your living room or small area rugs for tossing about the house.

And they start at just £50. I think they are the cheapest genuine wool Flokati shag rugs I’ve found yet. And what’s more? All their Flokatis are hand-woven and made from 100% New Zealand wool and they come in these great versatile colors:

• Burgundy Flokati
• Cocoa Flokati
• Beige Flokati

The burgundy one is especially great on any rich hardwood floor.

Their natural grey/ brown Flokati, which when you see it you’d swear it had been dyed, is totally natural made from undyed wool, just that the sheep weren’t white to begin with! This style of shag rug blends natural brown , grey and white/grey to create this exquisite totally natural shag area rug that can be as large as 150 cm in a round shag rug for £150; or over 300 cm in a square or rectangular shape, the largest square or rectangular being priced just over £300. What an amazing bargain and what a fabulous product hand-woven from New Zealand drysdale wool. And get this, their most expensive round Flokati rug is 200 cm around. Yes, it’s a round shag rug, and costs only £265. That is a 2 meters of round shag!

And here’s a new shag for me…an eyeball shag rug…that has nothing to do with some weird art deco or modern abstract art style nor with a contemporary area rug that had eyes painted all over it. This is a luxurious, top quality New Zealand wool area rug, actually a deep pile shag rug, that has some felted shag areas with a slightly darker shade in the center of each large strand of felted wool.

These are each called an eyeball and they are not one bit scary, in fact their chic and elegant. Take a look at the close-up view of the felted eyeball and then also see how great it is when spread on the floor. The black eyeball is scarcely visible except for giving a slightly darker hue on the border, but when you’re sitting on it with friends, the soft eyeball shag rug will be a talking piece for sure.

If that hasn’t been enough shag to make you want to order one, then how about the Spring Twists collection that starts at just £48. and is created by twisting and wrapping fibers around each other so that the shag rug is not only shaggy but also bouncy with a super textured look that keeps it’s springy shag shape. This style of area rug is available in a unique blend of colors of brown and purple together. These subtle purple shag rugs have a pile of about 3-4 cms in depth. They’re also made entirely from high quality New Zealand wool. I don’t see how anyone can go wrong choosing one of these rugs, especially since the largest versions that are over 300 cms in length cost less than £400.

And on the topic of very individual style, here’s one last little number that might just be the final touch of color you’ve been looking for: an orange highlander sheep deep pile shag rug, and when I say DEEP PILE…I mean it’s over 10cm deep, and uses two tones of orange to give it richer carroty-red-orange sass like you’ve never seen in modern shag!

Here’s just a little information about the Real Rug Company you might find interesting (I know I did). They are not some great big corporate conglomerate or rug manufacturer, but a rug company based in Mypashmina UK that has been doing business for about 5 years. They offer their personal services and believe quality is the foundation of their business. Their website tells about Paul King and Caroline Persson who have been impressed by the quality and selection of shag rugs and area rugs they saw in Greece. They offer free samples of their Flokati shag rugs, too, all you nee to do is ask. They offer personalized attention and provide a telephone number and email for contact and say you can actually talk to the boss, which is rare in the rug world. They also believe in being environmentally conscious and selecting only top grade wools, natural dyes and minimal packaging. They also offer free delivery of their gorgeous area rugs within the UK, but I see they have an office in Nottinghamshire UK and in Göteborg, Sweden so I don’t know if they ship abroad, but you can drop them an email to find out. They also raise funds for charity through namastebanepa, which allows Nepali children to receive education. It seems to me that buying your next shag rugs from a company like the Real Rug Company may be a very sound choice.

PS: If you are pondering buying a shag rug, or a sheepskin rug or a flokati but are concerned because you need washable shag rugs, then rest at ease. Sheepskins and flokati are a washable rug, and here’s how: Just shake out all the dust or vacuum without rollers or brushes to get the lose dust and dirt out, then wash with a mild wool soap in cool water, not hot water because that could cause it to shrink.

You can do this rug washing by hand or, if the shag rug is small enough, you can pop it into the machine on a gentle cycle and then shake, shake, shake and air dry in the sun – in the sun if it is a white shag rug or natural color, and in the shade if it is a vivid color (like an orange or purple shag rug) because you don’t want the sun to bleach the area rug if it has been dyed. That’s it. Caring for your flokati or shag rugs or sheepskins is really easy!

Now imagine short strands of mohair or wool laid out flat, this would be the rug pile, and now place some yarn and twist it together so that the edges of the two strands will be at right angles from the core. It’s essentially a soft bottle brush or a pipe cleaner r a caterpillar, right? If the yarn is silk or soft wool or mohair, it will not be bristly but cozy and fuzzy and very soft.

Now imagine the right angle fibers that create the double pile effect are left long. That’s a chenille pile shag rug. Some f the newer chenille rugs are also made of fine acrylic or rayon, and even from olefin, although the best quality and softest rugs will be made of natural fibers. Although the best will also be hand twisted or tufted, there are machines that made chenille rugs too.

The biggest drawback to chenille rugs is that exactly what makes them so soft, namely the added fibers at right angles, is what makes the weave delicate and susceptible to shedding. This has somewhat been helped by a process of melting nylon to the tip of the yarn at the base so as to attach to the backing, but all chenille area rugs tend to shed a little or a lot depending on the quality.

If chenille shag rugs are what you want, be aware that after a time, if placed in high traffic areas, these fabulous shag rugs may get some bare spots.

The good thing about these rugs is that they can usually be hand washed and dried flat or tumble dried in a dryer on low heat. They shouldn’t be hung because they are prone to stretch.

There are great colors available in this type of shag and most rug manufacturers have a selection of chenille to choose from. For super soft shag there’s the Chenille Blue Shag Rug, hand-woven of natural chenille fibers, that is not only super shaggy but super soft and could be a good choice for a kids rug.

Really, Really Shaggy Goat or Sheepskin Shag Rugs

The ultimate shag rug is not woven but comes straight from sheep or goats. Some may be what you know as a sheepskin, with the leather hide as backing, and some may be woven or tied versions onto other backings. Some of the best and shaggiest area rugs are the flokati rugs that originated in Greece. But now there are many variations on the traditional Greek flokati goatskins and sheepskins that still use the same name.

The true flokati is very expensive (probably over $200 for a small to medium size), but there are good imitations in wild and fun colors and shapes for a lot less. For example consider the flokati round area rug for under $27. It comes in super funky pink shag rug, purple shag rug and black shag rug for the same price. The white shag rug version comes in sizes and shapes that start at $33.00. A medium white shag rug in flkati design is between $60 and $75. A Flokati white shag rug that’s quite large and will cover a good sized living room floor will cost between $290 and $390.

Many designers of contemporary apartments, lofts and even studios and dens, are using one or two simple animal motifs like the zebra rug to add a dash of difference to a crisp black and white and chrome minimalist area, or to add zing to a neutral living room space, such as a rug in front of a fireplace or under a footstool. They can also be used like an afghan throw on a leather sofa, be it a black modern design or a classic cream or beige. Since a zebra rug need not be a zebra skin it can be as soft as a blanket if woven or knotted in wool, especially in chenille or a plush shag design. There are also some very unusual creations in colors other than black and white.

Contemporary Purple Zebra rug

Want a purple zebra rug? You may be in luck. There’s a Purple and Black design made by Nejad Rugs in their African Safari Collection. The purple shag rug comes in a variety of sizes and starts at just over $200. Each rug is hand made in China or India from high quality wool. As a kids rug this zebra motif in purple is perfect, but there are other animal skin designs in other colors available too.

Zebra Shag Area Rugs Cost

Dalyn also makes a Super Shag Zebra Area Rug that is crazy cool and huge! It’s a 12 foot round shag rug with really long shaggy fibers in black and white, but it’s very expensive, over $2,000.

As you can see, unless you choose a very cheap area rug that is made of polyester and has the zebra design printed on it, a zebra rug is not cheap. For example one of the best rugs of this type, hand woven in India, with a 1.5″ thick pile, made from New Zealand wool and iridescent strands of polyester, that comes in brown, black, tan, and beige, and your choice of round shag rug or rectangle or as a long runner, costs about $900.

It is not machine or hand washable and must also be professionally cleaned, although it can be vacuumed using a wand – not with the upright rotary brush home vacuum. There are a few other acrylic, polyester or nylon printed zebra rugs that are $150 to $200, but although they look fantastic they are not as plush or shaggy as the more expensive rugs.

These are not what you think when you hear leather. They are not tanned animal hides, cow hide or sheepskin but a tied or woven item in the shag style.

A spaghetti leather shag rug is made of long, delicate strands of very soft leather or suede.

The most subtle, delicate and unique of all is the fine spaghetti shag rug made from Italian or Spanish calf or kid leather. These are shag rugs that employ slender strips of leather, like spaghetti, which are then hand tufted into a cotton backing. They are plush thick rugs, very different from the flat weave leather rugs that look like car seat protectors. They are fluffy not smooth. The great thing about these rugs is that they bring that wonderful leather smell to any room, even if they are a bizarre or none traditional color. They come in everything from tan or brown to neon bright funky modern pinks and purples.

Not Cheap Shag Rugs

Real leather area rugs are not cheap. Like all true leather home furnishings, be it a sofa a chair or a footstool, if made from leather they will cost a pretty penny. For a medium sized design expect to pay anywhere from $250 to more than $400. You may be able to find a small handmade rug that super soft suede for about $60, but it will be very small. Most can be spot cleaned with warm water and mild soap but otherwise, as with all leather products, they will require professional rug cleaning from time to time.

One 8 foot round leather Spaghetti shag rug in a rich brown color, which has been hand tied and has a leather and cotton blend, ultra soft and cozy is a great value for just under $220.

Leather Area Rugs and International Shipping

If you are hoping to order a leather shag rug from an online distributor, please be aware that many leather products cannot be shipped internationally. It is best to find an online rug merchant who is in your own country if possible and has already gone through the leather import process on your behalf.

Leather Shag Rugs and Fire Resistance

The other thing to be careful about is that some leather rugs are not fire resistant and may not be a good idea to have near the fireplace or in the kitchen. Please check the label for fire retarding protection before selecting a leather area rug or any kind of shag rug, be it a wool shag rug, a cotton shag rug, or a leather shag rug, especially if it is to be a kids rug or will be anywhere near a radiator, water heater, stove or open fire.

Leather Shag Color Variations

Another thing to be careful with when buying a leather area rug is the color. What you see on your screen (when shopping online) may not be exactly what you receive in the mail. Exact color matching is almost impossible. There are two ways to help: Order a swatch first. Visit a carpet retailer in your area and see the colors and then order online for better prices. However, even when you buy leather rugs in a shop you will note that no two leather products will take to the dye in the exact same way.

So, if you need two identical area rugs, buy them at the same time and from the same merchant. Even then there is no guarantee. Color variants in leather are not just a little different, but can be very noticeable. That however is part of the charm of natural shag rugs as a whole, they are natural and hand made and will not be manufactured mimicked copies of each other.