All Over Layout

In this layout, there are no dominant or central designs. The motifs on the rug are spread throughout the rug. Sometimes they are connected and sometimes they are separate. Usually a single motif or a group of motifs is repeated throughout the rug. The motifs could be small and repeated many times, or large and repeated only a few times. The Persian name afshan, which means scattered, has been given to the all-over layout. Some common designs that fall under this layout are repeating, endless repeat, and panelled.

In a repeating design, which is a very common example of the all-over layout, a single motif or group of motifs is repeated throughout the rug as mentioned above. In an endless repeat, the motifs do not end and are interrupted by the borders. Some say this design is symbolic of eternity. In a panelled design, the background is divided into compartments. The same motif could be repeated in all the compartments, or different motifs could be repeated in different compartments.
Some common motifs used in the all-over layout are boteh, gul, herati, lattice, mina-khani, mir-i-boteh, and lotto