The Fretwork Design: A Short History and How to Read It

Fretwork is a real place in the history of carpet weaving, and the name on a modern rug is a reference to a specific tradition rather than decoration. Here is what it refers to, and what the pattern is actually saying.

Where the design comes from

Fret patterns come from pierced screens — the mashrabiya of the Islamic world, the lattice window of China — where the design exists as much in the gaps as in the solid.

In our range this sits in the Geometry collection. Pattern built to rules — from the Greek key and the zellige star to the isometric grid, where nothing is placed by eye.

How to read the pattern

Interlocking right-angled forms with the ground reading as strongly as the figure. Look at it twice and the pattern inverts.

Fretwork in a machine washable rug

Geometric pattern is unforgiving of registration errors: a lattice that is half a millimetre out per repeat is visibly out by the far end of a three-metre rug.

Our Fretwork designs are woven in chenille polyester on a woven cotton backing with a non-slip finish. That construction is what makes the rug washable at 30°C in a domestic machine — there is no latex or rubber layer to crack, and no wool to felt. It is a genuinely different object from the hand-knotted rugs the name refers to, and it is meant to be: one is an heirloom, the other is a floor covering you can put in the wash.

Colours it comes in

We currently weave 1 Fretwork design, in yellow & gold. Prices run from £50 for the 60 × 100 cm to £185 for the 200 × 300 cm, with delivery to the UK and Europe included.

What size to buy

A repeat looks best when several repeats are visible. Below 120 × 180 cm you may only see two or three, which reads as a fragment rather than a pattern.

Every design is woven in all ten sizes: 60 x 100, 80 x 150, 100 x 200, 120 x 180, 80 x 300, 100 x 300, 155 x 230, 200 x 300, 160 round, 200 round cm. We would put Fretwork in the living room, the bedroom, the kitchen and the hallway before anywhere else.

Common questions

Is this the same as a hand-knotted Fretwork?

No. A hand-knotted Fretwork is a different object entirely — tied by hand in wool or silk, often over months, and priced accordingly. What we make is a power-woven washable rug that uses the Fretwork design vocabulary. The pattern is the inheritance; the construction is modern.

What colours does Fretwork come in?

Currently one colour family: yellow & gold. We file a rug under the colour it reads as across a room, not the colour covering the most area, so an ivory ground with strong blue motifs is listed under blue.

Where should a Fretwork rug go?

The living room, The bedroom, The kitchen and The hallway suit it best. Anchor the sofa and coffee table. Because it washes at 30°C, the rooms most people avoid putting a rug in — kitchen, hallway, under a dining table — are the ones where it earns its keep.

Living with it

• Machine washable at 30°C on a gentle cycle — sizes up to 120 × 180 cm fit a standard 7 kg drum.
• Non-slip woven cotton backing: no separate underlay needed on wood, tile or laminate.
• Low pile, so robot vacuums pass over it without snagging.
• No latex, glue or rubber crumb — nothing to break down into dust.
• Dry flat or over a rail. Never tumble dry.