Rugs by style
Rugs are rarely bought in isolation — they have to work with what is already in the room. These groupings are by visual language rather than by origin, since a Heriz and a Tibetan tiger rug have nothing in common geographically and yet do much the same job in a loft.
Style directions
- Classical Persian — medallions, floral fields, formal symmetry. Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan, Bidjar. At their best in rooms with some formality of their own — mouldings, panelled doors, symmetrical furniture.
- Tribal — geometric, freely drawn, one of a kind. Qashqai, Bakhtiari, Afshar, Baluch and Moroccan Azilal. The best value in the collection and the easiest to layer.
- Vintage and muted — softened colour, pattern read as texture. Suits pared-back and Japandi interiors. Vintage rugs.
- Minimalist and Scandinavian — quiet, neutral, textural. Beni Ourain, low-pile Tibetan wool and plain Perfect Plains.
- Industrial and loft — something with enough weight to hold its own against concrete and steel. Bold Heriz geometry, Tibetan tiger rugs, modernist art editions.
- Transitional — classical drawing in softened colour, the bridge between traditional and modern. Ziegler and Chobi, Sarouk.
- Warm and Mediterranean — terracotta, madder and earth tones from Berber, Persian and Caucasian weaving. Kilims and Abadeh.
- Contemporary art rugs — designs drawn in a studio and knotted in Kathmandu, including editions inspired by twentieth-century abstraction. Contemporary designer rugs.
Mixing a rug with what you already own
Three things that tend to hold true:
- A busy rug wants plain furniture, and plain furniture wants a rug with something to say. Pattern on pattern works, but it needs one of the two to be clearly dominant.
- Old rugs sit better in modern rooms than new rugs sit in old ones. A vintage or antique piece brings the depth of colour that a new interior lacks; a brand-new rug in a period room often looks like the newest thing there.
- Layering — a smaller tribal or kilim over a larger plain rug or a natural-fibre mat — is the cheapest way to make a small rug work in a large room.
If the style does not exist yet
Where nothing in stock fits, we develop the design with you — from a mood board, a fabric sample, an architectural plan or a sketch — produce a hand-painted strike-off for approval, and weave the piece in Kathmandu. Any size, any palette, typically three to six months. Made-to-measure rugs.
Also browse
Rugs by size · Rugs by room · Rugs by colour · Persian rugs · Sale
Djoharian Collection — since 1967. Five decades of family expertise in Oriental textile art, with roots in the Grand Carpet Bazaar of Tehran. Label STEP Fair Trade: fair wages • no child labour • monitored working conditions.
