Moroccan Rug 5×7 — The Apartment Living-Room Size
Five feet by seven feet — roughly 152 by 213 centimetres — sits in the sweet spot of urban apartment living. It is large enough to anchor a sofa-and-coffee-table arrangement, small enough to ship at reasonable freight rates, and inexpensive enough relative to a 9×12 that a serious wool rug stays accessible. For a Beni Ourain or Azilal woven at this dimension you are looking at roughly 25,000 to 35,000 hand-tied knots — three to four weeks of work on the loom for one weaver, slightly less for two working in tandem. The price differential against a synthetic flat-weave of the same dimension is real, but it represents the difference between an object that lasts forty years and one that flattens and fades inside five.
Where 5×7 Actually Fits
The 5×7 dimension works best in three specific scenarios: centred under a coffee table with the front legs of a sofa resting on the front edge; floating in front of a fireplace or media wall in a smaller living room; or anchoring the foot-end of a queen-size bed (where the rug extends past either side of the bed by roughly 18 inches). It is generally too small for the under-bed treatment that 9×12 enables, and it is too large for most entryways or kitchens.
Interior designers use a quick test: stand in the room and measure the distance between the two furthest pieces of furniture you want the rug to visually connect. If that distance is between five and seven feet, 5×7 is your size. If it is more than seven feet, step up to 6×9 or 8×10.
What a Hand-Knotted 5×7 Actually Costs to Make
A 5×7 Beni Ourain in undyed Middle Atlas wool at the traditional knot density of roughly 80 knots per square inch contains approximately 33,600 individual hand-tied knots. At a steady weaving pace of 8,000 to 10,000 knots per day for an experienced weaver, this is between twenty-four and thirty days of pure weaving — before wool washing, carding, hand-spinning, dyeing (if any), setup of the loom, and finishing.
The wool itself: a 5×7 rug uses roughly 4 to 5 kilograms of finished wool, which translates to about 6 to 7 kilograms of raw fleece (you lose 30–40% to washing and carding). At Middle Atlas farmer prices that wool runs $45–$70 depending on grade. The labour, even at modest co-operative day rates, accounts for the bulk of the honest cost — which is why a sub-$800 rug labelled 'hand-knotted 5×7 Moroccan' should always be treated as suspicious until proven otherwise.
Why 5×7 Is Often Better Than 8×10 in Apartments
There is a persistent piece of interior-design advice — 'go bigger than you think' — that has been repeated so many times it is treated as a law. In open-plan houses with 11-foot sofas, that advice is correct. In a 650-square-foot Brooklyn one-bedroom or a 60-square-metre Berlin Altbau, it is wrong. A 5×7 leaves a visible border of floor on all sides, which makes the room feel wider. An 8×10 in the same space crowds the walls and swallows the proportions.
The other quiet advantage: 5×7 ships globally for $60–$120 in DHL or FedEx air freight rather than container-load sea freight. For a buyer in Stockholm or Sydney that means days, not weeks, and no customs broker. It is the most practical size for direct import from a Moroccan co-operative.
What to Verify Before Buying a 5×7 Hand-Knotted
Three questions answered honestly separate authentic from counterfeit. First: where is the wool from? A genuine Middle Atlas Beni Ourain uses live-sheared wool from a specific altitude band (1,500–2,200m). Second: ask for a photograph of the back of the rug. Hand-knotted backs show individual knots and weft lines clearly; tufted backs show a uniform latex or canvas coating. Third: weight. A genuine 5×7 hand-knotted wool rug weighs 11 to 15 kilograms. Anything under 8 kg at this dimension is almost certainly machine-made or hand-tufted.
Vad du kan verifiera om oss
- Direkt inköp
- Atlas-kooperativInga mellanhänder mellan vävaren och dig.
- Konstruktion
- Handknuten ullVerifierad i varje steg — aldrig maskintuftad.
- Härkomst
- Dokumenterad per pjäsBy, vävperiod och, där vi har den, vävarens namn.
- Returer
- 14 dagarI mottaget skick, full återbetalning av köpeskillingen.
Vanliga frågor
Frågor
- Is 5×7 too small for a living room?
- Not for an apartment-scale living room. The test is whether the front legs of your sofa can rest on the rug while the coffee table sits fully on it. If yes, 5×7 works. If the sofa is longer than seven feet, you need 6×9 or 8×10.
- How many knots in a 5×7 Beni Ourain?
- At the traditional Middle Atlas density of ~80 knots per square inch, a 5×7 contains roughly 33,600 hand-tied knots. Higher-density Beni Mrirt at 130–160 KPSI would contain 55,000 to 70,000 knots in the same dimension.
- How long does a 5×7 take to weave by hand?
- Twenty-five to thirty days of pure weaving for one weaver, or about fifteen days for two weavers working together on the same loom. Add another week for wool preparation, spinning, and finishing.
- What does 5×7 mean in metric?
- 5 feet × 7 feet equals 152.4 cm × 213.4 cm. European listings may round this to 150×210 cm or 155×215 cm; rugs are hand-made and exact dimensions vary by 2–4 cm.
- How much should a real 5×7 Beni Ourain cost?
- Direct from a Moroccan co-operative: $1,100 to $1,800 depending on knot density and wool grade. In a Western retail boutique: $2,500 to $4,500. Anything significantly under $900 is almost certainly tufted, synthetic, or machine-made.
- Can I use a 5×7 in a bedroom?
- Yes — at the foot of a queen bed, extending past either side by roughly 18 inches. For a king bed, step up to 6×9 or place a runner on each side instead.
- Will a 5×7 rug shed?
- All wool rugs shed loose fibres in the first three to six months. This is normal and does not damage the rug. Vacuum gently weekly with the beater bar off; shedding subsides as loose fibres are removed.
Sources & References
What this page rests on
- 1. Atlas Mountains Wool Co-op
- 2. DHL Express Morocco
- 3. Berber Weaving Census 2024
Personen bakom pjäsen
”Innan du köper skickar jag en video av den verkliga mattan i dagsljus — inte en katalogbild. Jag svarar på meddelandena själv.”
Jag heter Youssef. Jag startade ARINID eftersom den här marknaden är full av mellanhänder och maskingjorda imitationer som säljs som äkta — och jag växte upp nära nog vävstolarna för att känna skillnaden.
Varje pjäs vi för går att spåra till kooperativet som vävde den. Vill du prata om mått för ditt rum finns jag i andra änden av meddelandet. En matta på den här nivån är ett trettioårigt beslut. Du ska kunna se den som säljer den dig i ögonen.
Youssef
Grundare, ARINID
Nästa steg
Se varje Moroccan Rug 5x7 vi erbjuder just nu
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