Design History

Rug Styles

The most timeless rug styles — their origin, their history, and why they still work in modern interiors.

Iran (Persia)

Persian Rug

Hand-knotted from wool and silk, encoding centuries of pattern and symbolism in a single field: the Persian rug is not simply a floor covering. It is one of the few objects in a home capable of giving an entire room its soul.

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USA/Western Europe, with roots in Greece and Scandinavia

Shag Rug

No other rug invites bare feet quite as directly: with its deep, plush pile, the shag rug defined the 1970s, fell out of favor for decades — and has staged one of the most remarkable design comebacks of the 2010s.

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Atlas Mountains, Morocco (Amazigh/Berber tribes)

Moroccan Berber Rug

Knotted by Amazigh women in the villages of the Atlas Mountains for their own households, the Berber rug was discovered by European modernist architects in the 1920s — and became one of the most widely copied patterns in the interior world.

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Diné (Navajo) Nation, American Southwest

Navajo Rug

Learned from the Pueblo peoples and refined over centuries into a distinct art form, the Navajo rug turned bold geometric patterns in wool into one of North America's most recognizable textile legacies.

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Europe/USA, Op Art and space-race aesthetics

Space Age Rug

No weaving tribe, no centuries-old craft tradition — the Space Age rug emerged from Op Art, the space race, and new synthetic fibers, turning the floor into a graphic, almost psychedelic surface for the first time.

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Anatolia, the Caucasus, and Persia

Kilim Rug

Light, reversible, woven without a single knot: the kilim was developed by nomadic peoples across Anatolia, the Caucasus, and Persia for a life spent moving — and is treasured today for that exact raw, graphic simplicity.

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