Rugs

Each Beni Ourain rug is knotted by hand in the Atlas Mountains from undyed sheep's wool. Khadija has been working this way for thirty-two years, on a loom her father taught her to use. The wool is washed in cold mountain water and left its natural colour, which is why no two whites are quite the same white.

These aren't woven to a pattern book. The diamonds and lines are drawn from memory and improvised as the work goes, so a rug drifts a little off-square and the motifs don't repeat exactly. That's the point of a hand-knotted rug, and the reason a machine copy never quite looks right.

Expect a dense, high pile that flattens under furniture and springs back. Vacuum gently, shake it out in the sun, and it will outlast the room you bought it for.