What is a Sarouk rug? The Persian floral carpet, explained

A Sarouk is the Persian rug for a formal room that wants flowers and a pile thick enough for daily use. Sarouk is a village in Farahan, the plain north of Arak in west central Iran, and the name covers rugs hand-knotted in wool there and in the villages around it. Three things mark one: sprays of roses and other flowers across the field, a palette built on deep rose red and navy, and a dense, heavy pile. You can see all three across Sarouk Rugs, and the pile is why a Sarouk holds up under a dining table or in a family living room.

Arak was called Sultanabad until the late 1930s, and it was the center of a large weaving district whose names often come up together. Mahal Rugs are the coarser village weave, with big flowers and plenty of open ground between them, and Sultanabad Rugs are the finer version of that open layout. A Sarouk goes the other way: smaller flowers set close together on a tighter weave, with a thick, heavy pile.

Farahan Sarouk and American Sarouk

Dealers sort Sarouks into two periods by name. Farahan Sarouk, sometimes spelled Ferahan, is the trade name for the earliest ones, woven from the late 1800s into the 1910s. They have a shorter pile and finer, more stylized flowers, they often center on a medallion, and most were made in small sizes. Ours follow the pattern: 8 of our 15 Farahan Sarouks are 4' x 6', and 9 have a navy or ivory field. This Antique Farahan Sarouk Area Rug (4' x 6') shows the type, with a dark navy medallion on a pale field scattered with small flowering branches.

American Sarouk is the name for the rugs woven from about the 1910s into the 1950s, when the United States was the main market for them. The design changed to suit American houses: usually no medallion, and instead sprays of flowers spread over a deep rose red field inside a navy border, on a thick, heavy pile. It is the Sarouk most people picture, and it is the look of this Vintage Sarouk Area Rug (12' x 19'), with rows of flower sprays on a deep red field inside a dark navy border.

Flower sprays or a medallion

The layout tells you where a Sarouk belongs. An all-over field of sprays has no center to line up with, so it suits a dining room or a bedroom where furniture covers much of the rug, and the flowers keep showing between table and chair legs. A medallion gives a living room a center: keep the middle of the floor open and gather the sofa and chairs around it. Size often makes the choice for you. Most of our room-size Sarouks, 8' x 11' and up, have an all-over field, and nearly all of the small ones have a medallion.

Why antique, and why small

Thirty of our 40 Sarouks, not counting the Farahans, are antique, meaning eighty years and older, and so are 9 of the 15 Farahan Sarouks. A Sarouk's pile was knotted dense and heavy, which is why so many have come through those decades of use with the pattern still clear. The years have also softened the color: 27 of the 30 antique Sarouks are now muted or faded, their red and navy eased toward rust, rose and slate, so an antique Sarouk is softer in color than a new rug in the same red and navy.

Small sizes are where a Sarouk's tight weave shows best. It fits a whole medallion and a full border into a 2' x 3' rug, so a small Sarouk looks complete rather than cut down. The 18 small Sarouks we have run from an 18-inch square to 3' x 5', sized for a front door, a bedside or the floor in front of a desk. Thirteen of them are antique, and 16 are built around a medallion, which gives a small rug a clear center.

Antique Sarouk Rugs Eighty years and older, knotted dense and heavy. Shop Small Sarouk Rugs From an 18-inch square to 3' x 5'. Shop Medallion Sarouk Rugs A clear center for a front door or a bedside. Shop

Muted or faded

Few Sarouks are still bright: 49 of our 55, Farahans included, are muted or faded, and only 6 keep their full color. Muted means the rose red and navy are still there at a lower volume, as rust, navy and camel on an ivory or red field, which suits a traditional room with dark wood furniture. Faded means the color has washed back to blush, ivory, taupe and pale blue, which sits easily with pale walls and modern furniture. Either way the palette leans warm, and 28 of the 40 Sarouks are also in Warm Sarouk Rugs.

Muted Sarouk Rugs Red and navy at a lower volume, for dark wood furniture. Shop Faded Sarouk Rugs Washed back to blush and pale blue, for pale walls. Shop

Size the rug to the furniture. In a living room, rest at least the front legs of the sofa and chairs on it; under a dining table, leave about two feet of rug past the table edge on every side so a chair pulled out stays on it. Put a pad under it on hard floors, vacuum without the beater bar, rotate it once or twice a year so sun and traffic wear it evenly, and send spills to a professional cleaner.

If you want the classic Sarouk, start with rose red and navy. This Antique Sarouk Area Rug (10' x 13') has sprays of flowers across a red field inside a wide navy border, sized for a large living room or a dining table for eight. For an entry or a bedside, this Antique Sarouk Area Rug (2' x 4') puts the same sprays on a rust red field. Every Sarouk we have is hand-knotted and one of a kind, the kind of rug you buy first and take the room's other colors from.