Our story

How it all began

We are Driss and Bettina. Driss was born in El Ksiba, a small town at the foot of the Middle-Atlas mountains. Bettina is originally from Germany. We both made a career in advertising in the Netherlands, which is where we met and fell in love.

In 2013, Bettina left the busy advertising world to open our charming B&B in the centre of Amsterdam. Through our many travels to Morocco, we were both naturally drawn to Moroccan artefacts. When we set up the bed and breakfast, we returned to Marrakech to source authentic furnishings.

It was Driss’s mother who first suggested that we leave the busy souks of the city and return to Driss’s birth village. Here, we could source the carpets straight from the weavers and we could create rugs according to our own designs and needs.

We were able to establish a personal relationship with the artisan weavers and support them by paying them an honest wage. This was a nostalgic journey for Driss. As a child, he would watch the decorative carpets grow, as if by magic, as the weavers worked at their looms.

The Weavery Rugs is born

We saw first-hand the huge difference that the extra income from the weaving made to the women’s standard of living and we wanted to do more. By reviving these ancient practices, we hoped to keep this craft alive and secure a livelihood for the impoverished women of Driss’s village.

We began trials; first with traditional patterns, and later experimenting with modern designs. We also found pleasure in the creative project, which fed our passion for interior design.

There was also a fascinating serendipity to this venture: Our 17th century home in the heart of Amsterdam was itself originally the living quarters and workshop of a family of weavers. What could be more natural than to re-establish a carpet business there? And so The Weavery was born, and a link created between two historic weaving communities some 3000km apart.

The Weavery continues to evolve. We are expanding our collection to include vintage rugs and home accessories like cushions, letting our imagination and our love of Moroccan culture guide our journey.

Our beloved rugs

For centuries, the Amazigh women of the Atlas Mountains have woven luxurious carpets, passing the skill down from mother to daughter. Each carpet is a labour of love, requiring artistry, patience and precision, and taking at least a month to complete.

Once finished, the cherished carpet was often considered part of the family or exchanged as a precious gift or dowry. But factory production using synthetic materials is endangering this tradition, and the rugs and their talented weavers are becoming scarcer.

We love the layers of meaning and history that the rugs bring to the home. The woven patterns were originally based on ancient symbols denoting fertility, spirituality, and good luck, which the weaver hoped to bestow on the owner.

We specialise in carpets made from pure wool, dyed using mostly natural ingredients. We also produce rugs from cotton, recycled fabric, and acrylic (hypo-allergenic).

In addition to the classic Berber patterns, we enjoy creating original pieces. These offer a fresh take on the traditional designs and work well in both contemporary and period settings.

Vintage rugs

Our vintage rugs are carefully selected from weavers from different villages. They are woven using wool, cotton or recycled materials – whatever the creator has available to them.

We look for real works of art: interesting, unusual pieces which reflect the vivid imagination of the weaver.

We mainly source Boucherouite rugs. These are vibrant and cheerful rugs that are an early example of upcycling. They are woven from the offcuts of fabric which the tailors keep for the weavers who have no access to wool.

Though the materials are humble, the result is incredibly rich: an explosion of colour and texture. This recycling of materials creates an environmentally-sustainable product that will last for years, beautifying as it ages.