What is the Difference Between a Rug Repair and Rug Restoration?

When we first meet clients who have damaged rugs or kilims, we strive to give as much information as possible to them so that they may make an informed decision.  As such, we list all repair options a client has, followed by the available restoration options.  There are time, of course, when there is only one option available, but more often than not, there is a quicker, less skill intensive route that we would consider a repair.  Rug repairs are generally less costly than proper restoration.  But they are not as permanent, and they can affect the beauty (and value) of a piece.  For this reason, when possible, we always counsel clients to restore damage.
The rug above had a hole near the fringe.  In order to properly restore the rug, we first professionally cleaned it.  Then we built a loom on the section with the hole and removed all compromised fibers.  Next, we rebuilt the missing warp and reknotted the missing pile.  The entire process takes weeks - sometimes months.  But the resulting restoration will last as long as the original rug will, perhaps even longer.  And the beauty of the rug stays intact as any patch that is merely sewn in will not match perfectly.  --www.traditionalrugrepair.com