As you know, we fell in love with Morocco a while ago (lets say… over 30 years..). As we fell in love with Morocco, we also fell in love with all there patterns. Some made while making the product, some carefully thought out and designed. Here is a little history. Because portraying people was not allowed by the islam, decoration became highly cultivated in the arabic world. You can see this in all kinds of techniques like carpentry, plaster-engraving, mosaics etc. In rural areas this is also the case, more primitive maybe, but that only makes this style of decoration more authentic and hip. Berber tribes in the south of Morocco decorate more expressively than the traditional arabic style, and more colorfully. This is characterized by tribal shapes, geometric patterns and explosive use of color combinations. It is quite usual in every family for women, after harvesting, when the work is done, to continue working on embroidering blankets, weaving carpets or decorating reed baskets. Baskets like these from the south of Morocco near the Sahara desert. After the basket has been braided, it is decorated with leftover pieces of wool. The baskets used to be made just for family use, but are now made commercially. The braided strips are covered layer by layer in different colors, all done by heart. This is an astonishingly delicate technique – on average one basket takes a few days to make. Household Hardware picks out these baskets one by one, to our own taste, from several different villages. We especially keep an eye on the pattern, colour composition and good colour combinations. Our baskets are made by Fatima from Ouarzazate or maybe by Aziza from Zagora. We love when you see a product is handmade. This is the case with almost all our products. Rugs with rough lines, sometimes even crooked or wry. We love the sponteniousity that comes with these designs. Or our black and white ceramics for example, that are always differently patterned, since they are painted by hand. Or what do you think of our berber rugs, that are all vintage, handmade and always unique? We are in love… By the way, if you keep strolling on our website but can’t find the rugs, no worries. We don’t sell the unique pieces online yet, but this function will be there as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you are interested, please send us an email and the rug is yours! Cheers! The HH team.