The most loved patterns in the world

A William Morris rug brings some of the most beloved patterns ever designed onto your floor: thrushes stealing strawberries among twisting vines, willow leaves swaying in a breeze, deep acanthus scrolls and garden trellises full of birds and roses. These designs, drawn by hand in Victorian England, still feel remarkably fresh more than a century later. Ours are printed edge to edge on soft velvet, so the fine linework and rich, natural colors come out with remarkable detail, and the whole rug goes in your washing machine, something Morris himself might have appreciated as a practical man.

Who William Morris was

William Morris, born in 1834 and died in 1896, was an English designer, writer, poet and campaigner, and the leading figure of the Arts and Crafts movement. Frustrated by the cheap, machine-made decoration of his day, he set out to make beautiful, well-crafted things for the home. In 1861 he co-founded a decorating firm, later known as Morris and Co., which produced wallpapers, textiles, furniture, stained glass and carpets. He believed a home should contain only things that are useful or beautiful, ideally both, and that idea has inspired designers ever since.

Morris was deeply and personally hands-on. He studied old dyeing techniques and revived natural dyes like indigo and madder; he set up looms to weave hand-knotted carpets, first at his London home in Hammersmith and later at his workshops at Merton Abbey; and he drew constantly from the plants and birds of the English countryside.

The famous patterns

Pattern	Year	What it shows
Trellis	1862	His first wallpaper: a garden trellis with roses and birds
Acanthus	1875	Large, curling acanthus leaves in rich, layered tones
Pimpernel	1876	Swirling leaves and flowers in a dense, symmetrical pattern
Strawberry Thief	1883	Thrushes stealing strawberries in his garden, on a deep indigo ground
Willow Bough	1887	Gently curving willow branches and leaves

Strawberry Thief is one of his best-known designs, and its deep indigo looks rich in a study or a living room.

Strawberry Thief

Strawberry Thief is Morris's most famous design. It was inspired by the thrushes that stole strawberries from the kitchen garden at Kelmscott Manor, his country home in Oxfordshire, and it was printed using a slow, demanding indigo technique that Morris was especially proud of. Birds in red, white and brown, with strawberries and flowers, sit on a deep blue ground. As a rug, it's rich, detailed and endlessly interesting to look at, revealing new details every time, a perfect centerpiece for a living room, a library or a dining room.

Willow Bough

Willow Bough is perhaps the gentlest of all Morris's patterns: soft green willow leaves on slender, curving branches, with a light, airy rhythm. It's calmer than Strawberry Thief, and it suits bedrooms, sunrooms and any room where you want pattern without drama. In sage and cream, it feels almost Scandinavian; in deeper greens, it feels like a Victorian garden.

Acanthus, Pimpernel and Trellis

Acanthus, with its huge, curling leaves, is bold and sculptural, a dramatic choice for a large, high-ceilinged room. Pimpernel is dense and symmetrical, rich with swirling flowers. Trellis, his very first wallpaper, is a charming garden lattice of roses and small birds, lovely in a bedroom or a breakfast room. Each translates beautifully to a rug, and each has its own distinct mood and rhythm.

Red House and Kelmscott

Morris's homes were laboratories for his ideas. Red House, in Bexleyheath near London, was designed for him by his friend the architect Philip Webb and completed around 1860; Morris and his friends decorated it themselves, and the experience led directly to his firm. Later, Kelmscott Manor, a stone house in the Oxfordshire countryside, became his beloved retreat, the garden that inspired Strawberry Thief. Near the end of his life he also founded the Kelmscott Press, producing some of the most beautiful printed books ever made.

Arts and Crafts in America

Morris's ideas crossed the Atlantic and shaped the American Craftsman style of the early twentieth century: solid oak furniture by makers like Gustav Stickley, low-slung bungalows with deep porches, handmade tiles and hammered copper. A Morris rug is a natural partner for that look, and many owners of Craftsman homes use one to bring a little of the movement's English roots into their living rooms and dens.

Birds and gardens

Birds appear again and again in Morris's work, thrushes, peacocks and small songbirds perched among leaves, because he loved to draw from life in his own gardens. A bird-filled Morris rug brings that sense of a living garden indoors, and it's a favorite for sunrooms and garden-facing rooms.

The colors

Morris's palette came from nature and from the natural dyes he championed: indigo blue, madder red, weld yellow, sage and olive green, warm browns and soft creams. A Morris rug in those tones sits comfortably with wood, leather, books and plants. If you'd like a Morris pattern in a lighter, more contemporary palette, pale blue, blush or neutral, our custom rugs can print it in your colors.

In the living room

A Morris rug under a coffee table brings warmth and history to a living room. Strawberry Thief in indigo suits a room with dark wood and deep colors; Willow Bough in green suits a lighter, airier space. Keep other patterns simple, a plain sofa and a few solid cushions, so the rug can truly shine. A 5×7 ft rug is our largest standard size; custom sizes go up to 5′11″ × 10′. For the softest feel underfoot, choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back, about 700 g/m². Our living room rugs page has more layouts.

Libraries and studies

A Morris rug looks especially at home in a library or a study, with bookshelves, a leather armchair, a desk lamp and a cup of tea. Acanthus or Pimpernel in deep, rich colors feels scholarly and warm. Under a desk chair, choose Standard: 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, about 500 g/m², which stays put and lets wheels roll freely.

Bedrooms

In a bedroom, a Willow Bough or Trellis rug beside the bed or at its foot adds a soft, romantic pattern. It pairs beautifully with white linen bedding, a painted wooden bed and a few framed botanical prints on the walls above. Our bedroom rugs page has more ideas.

Period homes and modern homes

Morris patterns are a natural fit for Victorian, Edwardian and Craftsman homes, where they echo the era's woodwork and fireplaces. But they work just as well in modern rooms: a Strawberry Thief rug in a white, minimal apartment becomes a striking focal point, the one rich, historic element in an otherwise clean space.

Kitchens and hallways

A small Morris rug in front of a farmhouse sink, or a custom runner up to 10 ft long down a hallway, carries the look through the home. Choose Standard for its grip on hard tile and wood floors.

Pairing with other patterns

Morris patterns pair well with simple stripes, checks and solid colors, and with other botanical designs in related tones. Avoid two dense Morris patterns side by side at the same scale. For more nature-inspired rugs, see our flower rugs, botanical rugs, strawberry rugs and toile rugs, and for another classic of decorative history, our chinoiserie rugs.

Printed versus hand-knotted

Morris's own carpets were hand-knotted wool, made slowly and at great cost. Printing lets us reproduce his intricate patterns in fine detail on a soft rug you can wash at home, at a fraction of the price. The trade-off is a smoother, lower pile than a thick wool carpet. If you love his designs and want something practical for everyday life, printed velvet is the better fit.

Standard or Premium

Standard is best for kitchens, hallways, studies with desk chairs and anywhere with a hard or slippery floor, because its non-slip back stays put. Premium is softer and warmer, best in living rooms, bedrooms and libraries. Both are printed the same way, so every leaf and bird stays crisp, and both go in the washing machine.

Sizes, shipping and returns

Rectangles come in 2×3, 2.6×3.9, 3.3×5, 4×6 and 5×7 ft. Round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across. Custom sizes go up to 5′11″ × 10′. We don't make 8×10 rugs. Every rug is printed to order in 1–3 business days and ships from Turkey; US delivery usually takes 2–5 business days after that. Unused rugs can be returned within 30 days on US orders; custom rugs can't be returned.

Care

Machine wash on a gentle, cold cycle and let it air dry flat. Vacuum on a low setting between washes, and blot spills with cold water right away. The design is printed into the fibers, so the indigo stays deep and the reds stay rich, wash after wash, year after year.

A note on the designs

William Morris's original nineteenth-century designs are well over a century old. Padrift is an independent studio, and we are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Morris and Co. or its current owners.

Morris & Co. and Merton Abbey

In 1861, William Morris and his friends founded a decorating firm, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., which became Morris & Co. in 1875. It made wallpaper, textiles, stained glass, furniture and tiles, all designed to bring beauty and craftsmanship into everyday homes. In 1881, the company moved its workshops to Merton Abbey, beside the River Wandle near London, where clean water allowed Morris to revive old natural dyeing techniques.

There, Morris perfected indigo discharge printing, a slow, painstaking process used for Strawberry Thief in 1883, in which the whole fabric is dyed blue and the pattern is bleached out and colored by hand. It took days to make a single length of cloth.

Morris summed up his philosophy in a famous line: have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful. A printed velvet rug in one of his patterns honors that idea in a modern way, beautiful to look at and useful enough to go in the washing machine.

His words still ring true.