A guide to Moroccan weaving tradition
Mrirt, Beni Ouarain, Kilim, Boujaad, Azilal and Taznakht differ in texture, construction and visual character. Here is how to understand the differences — and choose the right direction for your space.
The short answer
Moroccan rugs are not one single style.
Morocco is home to many weaving traditions, each with its own construction, texture and visual language.
Beni Mrirt is known for dense tactile pile, while Beni Ouarain tends toward softer wool and quieter geometry. Kilim creates a lighter flatwoven surface, Boujaad and Azilal bring more expressive colour, and Taznakht can combine several weaving techniques.
Our Design Library includes both interpretations rooted in Moroccan weaving traditions and contemporary designs developed specifically for TazRugs.
| Style | Texture | Character | Often chosen for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beni Mrirt | Dense pile | Refined | Softness and depth |
| Beni Ouarain | Soft pile | Calm | Neutral interiors |
| Kilim | Flatweave | Crisp | Low-profile spaces |
| Boujaad | Hand-knotted pile | Expressive | Colour and character |
| Azilal | Hand-knotted wool | Graphic | Artistic focal points |
| Taznakht | Pile / flatweave / mixed | Layered | Texture and detail |
01 · Beni Mrirt
What is a Beni Mrirt rug?
Beni Mrirt rugs are especially valued for their dense, tactile wool surface. Their pile creates depth and softness, allowing even a restrained composition to have a strong physical presence in a room.
Contemporary Mrirt designs can be minimal, geometric or colour-led, but texture remains one of the defining characteristics.
Customizable: size, palette, pattern scale, pile direction and fringe treatment can be adapted.
Selected designs
Four Beni Mrirt directions.
02 · Beni Ouarain
What is a Beni Ouarain rug?
Beni Ouarain rugs are widely recognised for soft wool, lighter fields and restrained geometric motifs. Their quieter visual language allows the texture of the wool and the simplicity of the composition to carry the design.
They work especially naturally in neutral, contemporary and organic interiors.
Customizable: dimensions, wool colour, motif scale, accent colour, pile and fringe treatment can be adapted.
Selected designs
Four Beni Ouarain directions.
03 · Moroccan Kilim
What is a Moroccan Kilim rug?
A Moroccan Kilim is flatwoven rather than piled. The colour and pattern are created directly through the woven structure, producing a lighter and lower-profile rug with a crisp graphic surface.
Kilims are particularly practical beneath dining furniture, in warmer rooms or anywhere a deep pile is not needed.
Customizable: size, palette, pattern scale, stripe width, composition and fringe treatment can be adapted.
Selected designs
Four Kilim directions.
04 · Boujaad
What is a Boujaad rug?
Boujaad rugs are known for expressive colour, irregular geometry and a freer handmade character. Their visual language often feels warmer and more spontaneous than the restraint associated with Beni Ouarain.
They are a strong direction when a rug should bring personality, warmth and colour into the room.
Customizable: size, palette, pattern density, pile direction and finishing can be adapted.
Selected designs
Four Boujaad directions.
05 · Azilal
What is an Azilal rug?
Azilal rugs are associated with expressive motifs, contrasting colour and free composition. Lines, marks and shapes can move across the wool field with less rigid repetition than in more formal geometric rugs.
The result can feel almost like abstract artwork, making Azilal particularly suited to spaces where the rug should become a focal point.
Customizable: dimensions, base colour, accents, motif placement, scale and texture can be adapted.
Selected designs
Four Azilal directions.
06 · Taznakht
What makes a Taznakht rug distinctive?
Taznakht is the weaving tradition closest to TazRugs' own roots. Our cooperative is based in Taznakht in southern Morocco, where generations of artisans have worked with wool, geometric motifs and varied weaving constructions.
One of the distinctive qualities of Taznakht weaving is the range of surfaces that can be created. A piece may use flatweave, hand-knotted pile or a combination of both, allowing texture itself to become part of the composition.
In mixed constructions, raised motifs can sit against flatter woven fields, creating contrast through both colour and height. This gives Taznakht designs a particularly layered character.
Customizable: dimensions, palette, motif scale, flatweave/pile balance and finishing can be developed around the project.
Selected designs
Four Taznakht directions.
Choosing a direction
Which Moroccan rug style suits your space?
For dense softness and a more luxurious tactile surface.
For calm geometry, soft wool and a quieter neutral direction.
For a lightweight, low-profile and crisply woven surface.
For warmth, expressive colour and a more individual character.
For graphic motifs, stronger colour and an artistic focal point.
For detailed geometry, layered texture and mixed construction.
The TazRugs approach
Choose the design you love. Then choose the texture you want.
You do not have to choose between a design you love and the texture you prefer.
Most designs in our library can be adapted as the starting point for a custom commission. Where technically appropriate, we can reinterpret the composition in another pile or weaving construction.
You might love an Azilal composition but prefer a denser pile. You may choose a Beni Ouarain design but want a shorter, more structured texture. Or a Kilim composition can inspire a piled rug, with the design adjusted for the new construction.
Moving from one construction to another may require changes to line weight, pattern scale or proportions so the design works properly once woven.
Behind the commission
How we work with these traditions at TazRugs.
Before weaving begins, we look at the design, dimensions, intended use of the rug and the texture the client wants.
We then determine how the composition should be translated into the chosen construction — whether flatweave, medium pile, dense pile or a mixed surface.
We work directly with women-led cooperatives and experienced artisans, and each project is matched to the hands best suited to its technique. A dense Mrirt pile, a flatwoven Kilim, a mixed Taznakht construction or a hand-knotted medium pile each requires different skills, so we make sure the right weaver or team is chosen for the work.
Moving a design from one texture to another is not simply a matter of changing the wool. The composition itself may need to be redrawn or rescaled. Fine lines that work in a Kilim, for example, may need more space when translated into a thicker pile.
It is about making the design, technique, proportions and texture work together as one rug — and placing each technique in the hands of the artisans who know it best.
Made to order
How does a custom Moroccan rug commission work?
A commission can begin with one of our designs, a photograph, a sketch, an interior palette or simply an idea.
We develop the dimensions, colours and texture with you before weaving begins. A 50% deposit confirms the project, progress photographs and videos are shared while the rug is on the loom, and the finished piece is shown for approval before the remaining balance and dispatch.
See the full custom Moroccan rug process .
Moroccan rug styles
Common questions.
What are the main Moroccan rug styles?
Morocco has many regional weaving traditions. Among the styles explored by TazRugs are Beni Mrirt, Beni Ouarain, Moroccan Kilim, Boujaad, Azilal and Taznakht. They differ in construction, pile, colour, texture and visual language.
What is the difference between Mrirt and Beni Ouarain?
Mrirt is especially associated with a dense, highly tactile pile, while Beni Ouarain is widely recognised for soft wool, lighter fields and restrained geometric motifs.
Can I choose a design and change its texture?
Yes. Where technically appropriate, a TazRugs design can be reinterpreted in another texture or construction. The design may need to be rescaled or adjusted so it works properly in the new weave.
Can I change the colours of a rug design?
Yes. Colour direction can be developed before weaving begins. You can start from the colours shown in a design or share an interior, material sample, photograph or palette as reference.
Can Moroccan rugs be made in custom sizes?
Yes. Made-to-order rugs can be developed around the dimensions of your room. The composition is adapted to the chosen format rather than simply stretched.
Which Moroccan rug works well under a dining table?
A flatwoven Kilim is often practical beneath dining furniture because its low profile allows chairs to move more easily. A lower or medium pile may also work depending on the room and underfoot feel you prefer.
Can I commission a Moroccan rug from a photograph or sketch?
Yes. A photograph, sketch, interior image or other visual reference can become the starting point for a custom rug. Because the rug is woven by hand, the final piece is an interpretation rather than an exact machine reproduction.
Your rug
Start with the design you love. We can shape the rest.
Choose from our Moroccan rug designs or bring your own reference. Together we can develop the dimensions, palette, texture and finishing before your rug reaches the loom.
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