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

Konya 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

The oldest surviving Anatolian carpets in the world were found in the Alaeddin Mosque in Konya and date to the Seljuk period in the 13th century. Every Turkish rug tradition traces back through this city.

In our range this sits in the Anatolian Heritage collection. Designs drawn from the village looms and nomad camps of Anatolia — stepped medallions, hooked borders and protective motifs, drawn freehand rather than from a cartoon.

How to read the pattern

Small repeating geometric units across an open field, contained by a bold Kufic-derived border. It is the earliest Anatolian grammar: repeat, contain, repeat.

Konya in a machine washable rug

Village weaving was always freehand — the drawing wanders, the repeat drifts, and the colour changes where one dye lot ran out. Reproducing that on a power loom means deliberately building the irregularity back in, because a perfectly regular version of this pattern looks wrong.

Our Konya 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 Konya designs, across 2 colour families — blue & navy and red & burgundy. 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 formal medallion design wants to be seen whole. That argues for the larger sizes — 155 × 230 cm or 200 × 300 cm — where the centre is not hidden under a coffee table.

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 Konya in the living room, the dining room, the hallway and the entryway before anywhere else.

Common questions

Is this the same as a hand-knotted Konya?

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

What colours does Konya come in?

2 colour families — blue & navy and red & burgundy. 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 Konya rug go?

The living room, The dining room, The hallway and The entryway 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.