Pashm Rugs

Long, shaggy and dense, the pile on an Afghan Pashm rug is pure hand-spun wool and far softer than most people expect from a tribal rug.

Pashm is the Farsi word for wool, and these rugs are wool from the pile down to the foundation. They're hand-knotted by tribal weavers in Shindand, a town in Afghanistan's Herat Province, who work bold geometric patterns from memory, with diamonds, chevrons, stripes and lattices in brown, red, cream, black and multicolour. Some use undyed wool, so the natural shades of the fleece carry the design. Each weaver interprets the motifs freely, so no two are quite the same.

The deep pile makes a Pashm a cosy choice for a bedroom, reading corner or family room where people sit on the floor. It catches the light differently as you walk around it, and suits earthy rooms with timber and leather.