Design Under the Influence: Kilim Rugs

Hello again, it's Erika from small shop, bringing you an eighth installment of Design Under the Influence. Today is going to be a quick lesson, with emphasis on the eye candy! We're talking about kilim rugs, which I've been seeing everywhere lately, have you? What I've really been loving are the fresh ways these rugs have been incorporated into interiors lately — seems to me like they add a dash of boho, making any space suddenly hip.

"Kilim" rug weaving is said to be a tradition that migrated with the Turkmen tribes to parts of present-day Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan in the eleventh century A.D. But archaeological evidence of kilim woven textiles from 7,000 B.C. have been recovered, making kilim one of the oldest and longest held design traditions in the world.

Not exactly sure what makes a kilim a kilim? Two easy differences between a traditional Persian rug and a kilim rug are:

And now for the fun part:

[ Commune Design ]

[ via The Lonely Wife Project ]

[ via Apartment Therapy ]

[ via Apartment Therapy ]

[ via Apartment Therapy ]

[ Fran Ugarte via Nuevo Estilo ]

[ David Cafiero via Lonny ]

Tough to tell if these are all flat-woven rugs like a kilim. But nonetheless, mixing them into white contemporary interiors softens up an entire room, don't you think? Makes it feel more well-traveled and vintage-y. Do you have any kilim rugs in your home?

Images on my LDV Pinterest board, although I had a lot of trouble finding the original sources for many of these. If you happen to know that, please let us know!