What Makes a Herbarium Rug? Pattern, Palette and Provenance

Herbarium 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

A herbarium is a collection of pressed and mounted specimens, flattened and faded by time — plants preserved as two-dimensional objects, which is exactly what a woven flower has to be.

In our range this sits in the Botanical collection. Flower design taken from the botanical plate and the herbaceous border rather than from the Persian vine — clear, spaced and legible.

How to read the pattern

Flattened, slightly faded botanical forms arranged in a loose grid. The flatness is honest to the medium.

Herbarium in a machine washable rug

Drawn plant forms need space around them to stay legible. The temptation is to fill the ground, and the discipline is not to.

Our Herbarium 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 2 Herbarium designs, across 3 colour families — cream & white, blue & navy and 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

Botanical repeats suit bedrooms and quieter rooms, where the 120 × 180 cm and 155 × 230 cm sizes tend to be the useful ones.

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 Herbarium in the living room, the bedroom, the dining room and the hallway before anywhere else.

Common questions

Is this the same as a hand-knotted Herbarium?

No. A hand-knotted Herbarium 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 Herbarium design vocabulary. The pattern is the inheritance; the construction is modern.

What colours does Herbarium come in?

3 colour families — cream & white, blue & navy and 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 Herbarium rug go?

The living room, The bedroom, The dining room 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.