Colorful Rug: Hand-Knotted Wool in Many Colours at Once

Two colourful rugs can behave very differently, and the reason is the ground. When the colours are drawn as lines, diamonds and signs on pale wool, most of the surface stays light. The rug reads as an ivory rug with colour in it. It keeps a room open and suits small spaces. Many Azilal rugs are built this way.

When the ground itself is coloured and the pattern covers it edge to edge, the rug is saturated and warm, and it becomes the dominant thing in the room. That needs space around it and calmer furniture. Look at the photographs with half-closed eyes: the colour you still see is the one the rug will bring into the room.

Pick two colours from the rug and repeat each of them once or twice elsewhere: a cushion, a vase, a lampshade. Not more. The rest of the room stays in neutrals and natural materials such as linen, oak, cane and plaster white. The repetition makes the rug look intended, and the restraint lets it stay the centre.

Pattern follows a similar rule. The rug is the large, irregular pattern in the room, so anything else patterned should be clearly smaller in scale or strictly regular: a fine stripe, a small check. Two large freehand patterns compete. And keep the floor around the rug visible, because a colourful rug needs a frame of plain floor much as a picture needs a mount.

The bigger a multicoloured rug, the calmer its drawing needs to be. Scattered signs in six colours are a delight at six by ten feet; at ten by thirteen they would turn a room into a fairground. That is why large colourful rugs tend to use bands and broad stripes, where the colours follow one another in an order the eye can read from the door. Keep the sofa plain, repeat one of the colours once, and leave a clear border of floor.

Our stock follows the same logic. Most of the colour in this selection is carried by Azilal rugs, and nearly all of them are close to 6 ft 7 in × 10 ft: thirty-one of the multicoloured pieces are that size. Only three are larger, all Beni Mrirt: two of about 8 ft 3 in to 8 ft 6 in × 10 ft 3 in with stripes, bands or lines in several colours, and one of 10 ft 6 in × 13 ft 9 in in broad striped bands. For a big room, look also at the large rugs in one strong colour: green, rust, caramel or teal.

Nothing hides daily life better than a multicoloured rug. Crumbs, a drop of coffee, pet hair, a child's felt-tip mark: on a plain cream rug each is visible from the door, while in a field of mixed colours the eye passes over them. Under a dining table or in a family room that matters more than any styling argument.

Care is the same as for any wool rug, with one extra caution. Vacuum weekly without a beater bar and blot spills with cold water and a white cloth. Strong dyes, reds above all, can run when soaked, so never use hot water or a steam cleaner, and leave a full wash to a specialist. Turn the rug twice a year so sunlight softens the colours evenly.

This is our largest colour group, and almost every piece in it is an Azilal. Their drawings range from scattered signs and figures to diamond lattices, bold graphic blocks and stripes. Alongside them are three Beni Mrirt rugs in a deep pile, two of them striped at about 8 ft 4 in × 10 ft 3 in and one very large at 10 ft 6 in × 13 ft 9 in, and a single long Boujaad.

Sizes cover everything. About a third are small pieces of roughly 3 × 5 ft or a little larger, the biggest share measures around 6 ft 7 in × 10 ft, and there are a handful of runners. Each rug is one of a kind and its measured size is on its page. Delivery is free worldwide, duties and taxes included.