You may want to know some Oriental rug terminology and find out what each section of the rug is generally called. They will typically have a centered design referred to as the medallion. The background to that is called the field. This takes up the bulk of the rug. Between the background and the borders is the corner bracket. These appear when a rug has a circular or diamond shaped center.
Now onto the borders. These surround the main design that is on the rug. The large border that follows the outside is called the main border because of its width and importance. The thin border inside that is called the guard border. It is narrow and ornate and separates the central pattern from the main border.
Like mice, Oriental rugs are generally classified by whether their place of origin is the country or city. A country rug is called a Balouch rug. They are a less tightly knitted type of Oriental rug, and are made with whatever materials are available. Cotton or wool are very commonly used. Because of limited resources, designs tend to use less colors and are shaped more geometrically than city rugs. The city rugs are known as Isfahan rugs. These are knotted much tighter and have more intricate designs. They use more dyes and colors. They are usually designed by the people buying the rugs as opposed to the rug makers themselves.
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