Vintage Rugs in a Farmhouse: Which Persian and Turkish Rugs Fit

By Storied Rugs6 min read

A red vintage Heriz rug with a bold geometric medallion and ivory corners in a farmhouse living room with beams, a linen slipcovered sofa and rush-seat chairs

The vintage rug that suits a farmhouse best is a village rug, such as a Heriz or a Hamedan. These rugs were woven in farming villages for daily use, with bold geometric drawing, warm reds and blues, and hard-wearing wool made to be walked on. They sit as easily beside a plank table and a slipcovered sofa as they did in the houses they were made for. Our Heriz rugs are the classic place to start.

Why village rugs suit a farmhouse

A farmhouse room is built from plain, honest materials: wide boards, painted wood, linen, iron and stone. A city carpet with fine curving vines can look too formal there. A village rug fits because it comes from the same kind of life. The Hamedan district is a good example: its rugs come from many villages, each with its own stock patterns.^[1] The Hamedan guide covers the district in depth.

Heriz rugs take the big medallion of a city carpet and redraw it in a village hand. The smooth curves of a Tabriz medallion become hard, geometric angles and broken contours.^[2] That straight-line drawing matches beams, plank floors and simple furniture. Our Heriz guide explains the three names that share the look.

A farmhouse living room

For the main seating area, a room-size Heriz is hard to beat. Its deep red field warms a room full of white walls, oak and linen, and its large medallion reads clearly from across the room. Room-size rugs in our Heriz collection run from about $750 to $2,850. Size the rug so at least the front legs of the sofa and chairs sit on it, and 8x10 vs 9x12 works through the usual choice.

Keep the rest of the room calm. A slipcovered sofa in natural linen, a wooden coffee table and one or two leather or rush-seat chairs let the rug carry the pattern. If the room already has a lot of plaid, quilts and gingham, choose a rug with a smaller repeat instead of one big medallion.

Under the farmhouse table

A long plank table with mismatched chairs is the heart of many farmhouses, and a rug under it softens the whole room. Choose a low pile, so chairs slide out and back without catching. Nearly all of our rugs are low pile, which suits a table that gets used three times a day. A busy geometric pattern also helps here, since crumbs and the odd spill disappear into it until you vacuum.

The rug has to be large enough that the back legs of the chairs stay on it when someone sits down. Dining room rug size gives the measurements for rectangular and round tables, so you can check the size before you choose a pattern.

Kitchen runners

A farmhouse kitchen is a working room, and a runner in front of the sink or along an island takes the most traffic in the house. Here pattern and color matter for practical reasons. Medium and darker colors and busy patterns help disguise everyday soil in high-traffic areas.^[3] A red village runner with blue and gold drawing hides crumbs, drips and dog hair between cleanings far better than a pale rug.

Our post on choosing runner length for halls and kitchens covers the measurements. The kitchen rugs collection gathers sizes that fit beside a counter, and the runners collection has the longer pieces.

A Gharajeh runner with stepped motifs in denim blue, gold and cream on a deep red field, lying on wide pine boards in front of white farmhouse cabinets with a butcher block worktop and an apron sink — A Gharajeh runner, 2 feet 8 inches by 10 feet 8 inches. Large stepped motifs in denim blue, gold and cream sit on a deep red field. A busy village pattern like this is the kind that forgives a working kitchen.

Mudroom, entry and back door

Farmhouses bring the outdoors in, and grit is a rug’s worst enemy. Dirt and dust work their way into a rug and act like sandpaper, grinding away at its base.^[4] The answer starts outside. Put a doormat at each entrance to cut down the dirt and moisture that come in from outside.^[5]

Inside, a vintage runner or small rug in the mudroom does the next part of the job. Choose a dark field and a low pile, and shake or vacuum it often. Entryway rug size explains how big to go, and the hallway and entry rugs collection gathers the sizes that fit.

A Hamedan runner with stepped red medallions on a dark blue ground and a tan border on pale stone tiles in a farmhouse mudroom, with a wooden bench, canvas coats on pegs and rubber boots on a tray — A Hamedan runner, 3 feet 5 inches by 9 feet 8 inches. Stepped deep red medallions run down a dark blue ground inside a tan border, a pattern that hides the grit of a back door.

Modern farmhouse: paler rugs for white rooms

A modern farmhouse is lighter: white walls, black window frames, pale oak and very little color. A deep red Heriz can still work there as the one strong element, but many people prefer something softer. Look for village rugs whose color has faded with age, or with a small all-over repeat rather than a central medallion. Faded blue and gray Hamedans, and pale Turkish village rugs, sit well against white.

If you worry that a traditional rug will look dated in a clean, modern room, are Persian rugs out of style covers how to keep it current. The short version for a farmhouse is to keep the upholstery plain and let the rug be the only real pattern.

A pale Hamedan rug with a small all-over repeat in blue gray and cream and a faded terracotta border on warm pine boards beside a black iron bed with white linen and a wooden stool — A Hamedan, 6 feet 9 inches by 10 feet 9 inches. A small all-over repeat in soft blue gray and cream covers the field, with turquoise touches and a faded terracotta border. It is quiet enough for a white farmhouse bedroom.

Looking after a rug in a working house

Farmhouse floors work hard, so a little routine care goes a long way. Vacuum with a standard head and low suction, not a power head with a spinning brush.^[4] Put a thin pad under every rug on a wood or tile floor, and turn the rug every few months so sun and traffic even out. Protecting a rug from sun, pets and spills covers the rest, and our rug care page has the basics.

When you are ready to look, start with the Heriz rugs for the living room and the Hamedan rugs for runners, entries and smaller rooms.