Well, I answered some of my own questions browsing the internet. Olefin is out, because apparently it doesn't do well with heavy traffic, and polypropelene seems like the better choice.

In the meantime, I swung into Tuesday Morning and found this. $200, wool blend.

Frank approves, and Ziggy looks very handsome on it:

Here are my questions/concerns. Is the color scheme too blue/gray? I have nothing else in the way of art, frames, etc. so the area is a blank slate, but I don't want to limit myself too much for the adjascent rooms.

Does wool fade more than poly? I have a feeling that whatever goes there will fade, but which is worse? I'm planning to add sheers to the window wall, but that won't block much of the UV damage.

For an area that gets this much traffic, is it better budget wise to buy a cheaper rug, and just replace it when it gets tacky, or buy the best you can afford?

I want something inexpensive that will be tough and durable, but not look like a cheap rug. Help?

I have some wool rugs that have lain in some pretty high traffic areas over the years.

One of them was the front door rug for the house I grew up in and it spent 20 years there and then another 10 in my fathers office in a laboratory and it still looks great at 40. Another is about 80 years old and even spent some time in my dorm room in college. I have a couple cheaper runners that are also 40 years old and the fact that they are worn does nothing to detract from their appearance. They also spent most of their lives in high traffic areas.

I don't think you can go wrong with a rug that has wool in it. They age gracefully. The only negative that has happened to these rugs is that the fringes have worn off and that something that can be fixed if the rug is good enough to warrant it.

Thanks Pal! That's what I suspected about wool. There's tons of poly rugs out there at half the price, but I really don't want to get into a cycle of buying a new rug every year. This rug is 90% New Zealand wool and 10% viscose.

As far as THIS rug goes...I do like it. It looks nice with the tile (which has a smidge of smokey gray in it in person)and it does go well with the cats. :)

Do I LOVE it? I don't know, but I'll be browsing wool rugs in that price range to see what else I find.

No advice about the rug, but can I just say I love the cats?!!!

So cute! My cats are just the same - they sprawl out by the patio door all day.

I do like that rug quite a bit (but what is Tuesday Morning... a local store?)

I don't think the rug will limit what you can do in adjacent rooms. If you look carefully at it, you can see that it has more than just blue/grey. It's got beige, darker brown and even a couple shades of green. (And maybe plum? I can't tell.) There are plenty of possibilities. And you also don't have to use a color that's in the rug - you can use complementary colors. The print MIGHT limit your choice of artwork - but that's pretty much true of any rug that isn't a simple solid color.

I agree that wool ages gracefully. My parents have some rugs (handed down through the family) which are close to 100 years old, and they look great. Any fading just adds an attractive "patina".

Oh wow I've been meaning to post a similar questions about rugs all week! So is the consensus that a wool rug is best? I don't have the sun issue but my foyer is a high traffic area. I always tell the kids to take their shoes off there, wet snowy clothes and boots stripped of on it, I run a small in home business that will use that entrance.
So there is a part of be that wonders if synthetic is better because you can take it outside and rinse and scrub with a hose? Or is wool that you wipe and dry with a towel still the better choice?

We have alot of wool rugs that have worn very well overthe years-although we don't wear shoes in the house and don't have any pets.

I like th rug, but to me it might be too wide. I like to have at least 12" of exposed flooring on either side, 18" is even better. I would try a 4 x 6 to see if you like the scale better, or if you need the length, a wide runner.

I have a wool Karastan at the door. It's been there several years and still looks new. Wool repels dirt, so it's easy to care for.
Dee

Tergar, that's my understanding. After a lot of reading, it seems that no one advocates home cleaning of wool. There's the wool fiber itself, the chance of colors bleeding, the glue, the backing, which may be cotton, burlap, etc.

I have a synthetic rug that is nice quality, thick pile, but I bought it used, and wanted to clean it before I put it down. I cleaned it in my driveway with the garden hose and my carpet steam cleaner. It dried in about a day, and turned out great. The thing I didn't realize about wool, though, is that there are a lot of wool rugs that aren't that much more expensive than synthetic, and some that actually cost less. I know you have to compare the quality of the two, but if the price is the same, the wool seems like the better value.

I looked at that new rug for a long time, and finally decided that what bothered me most, was the rectangular pattern of the design. There's already a lot of rectangular shapes in that hallway, and I think it kind of looks weird with the tile layout.

I looked at overstock last night, and snagged the last one of these in the size I needed. There's some disagreement about how true the colors are in the pic, so if it looks odd in the hallway, I have another room that it would probably work in. It looks more golden on my monitor, but it's supposed to be sage green, and some reviewers said it was darker than the pic shows. We'll see when it gets here.

Here is a link that might be useful: sage rug

Franksmom, looks nice, I hope you like it when you get it!!

The Target near me has some wool rugs on clearance. But I noticed they are looped. Anyone have experience with that?

A couple years ago I purchased an 8' X 10' hand tufted New Zealand wool carpet made in India over at overstock.com. I think it was only about $600 or less including shipping. It was a very heavy grade and has worn well with the exception that the hand tufted patterns tend to pull out and fray. I would avoid hand tufting. I have also been shopping for an outdoor carpat to use on our front porch and know a few things about them. One is that polypropylene is a form of polyolefin. So is polyethylene. Most online sellers and the local ones say for outdoors you must use it because of water. Also must have a rubber backing. Those are called "marine grade" because they can be used as boat carpets. You know already if you have had water damage to your blue carpet. If not, you might try overstock.

Oh, wow, so that's Frank! What a cutie! Look at those eyes! Ziggy is also quite handsome!

Love how the rug colors are so soft & muted. I agree, they look great with your tile floor. Beiges, creams, grays, maybe periwinkle, would look pretty with it. What an interesting, unique, not-cookie-cutter color scheme you could build around it. Frank is telling us that a little black would make it pop!

This rug really has a special quality I can't put my finger on. It certainly does not look cheap, in fact, I think it looks very rich!

I like both rugs, but I am another who would steer clear of any tufted rug. JMHO.

LOVE the cats!

Well, the Overstock rug arrived last night, and it's not a keeper. The beige in it is too light, and I think will show every splash of coffee, muddy feet tracks, and cat incidents. The pile was quite thick and luxurious, but I don't think it's as well made as the TM rug. The backing looks like it was cut off-grain, and I wonder if the rug won't wear crooked? Anyway, it's going back.

DH had a fit when I told him how much it cost. He would be happy with an old beach towel thrown on the floor, so his frame of reference is skewed. I think I can convince him to keep the TM rug, but then I wonder if I do, will I be stuck with this rug forever?

I like the rug. It goes well with the tile, is the right size, is dark enough to not show dirt, but light enough to go with the rest of the house, seems to be well made. I also just noticed that the darker brown in the rug is a good match for the stained wainscoting and trim in the great room that is next to the hall.

I don't know what to do at this point.

Your last paragraph says a lot! Keep it. Use it. Enjoy it...for now! Nothing is forever. You can have more than one rug in your lifetime. Cross that bridge when you get to it. Frank & Ziggy will be delighted, I'm sure.

I'd keep it. It looks nice and will be easy to clean. AND, the kitties approve! :)

"He would be happy with an old beach towel thrown on the floor, so his frame of reference is skewed."
That made me chuckle because I've head my DH say some crazy things when it involved spending more money than he thought was necessary!

Just wanted to add the only type of wool rug I own is a hand tufted one and I'd also stay away. The glue on the backing eventually breaks down from what I've read. It sheds and there are little pieces that pull out at times. You're also not supposed to run a shampooer over it.

With pets and future kids, I believe I'll always buy synthetic. I'm not messing around with having stuff professionally cleaned.

Thanks!

Stinky, you made me LOL!

Shee, no kidding. DH made some comment like "Can't you just find something for $20 at Goodwill?"

The rug from Overstock was hand tufted, but the one from TM is power loomed. I did some poking around on the internet, and the power loomed is allegedly the more durable.

I'm going to stare at that rug a few more days and then decide. And to satisfy DH, I may just make a trip to Goodwill! LOL!

11 years ago, I bought a wool 5'x8' rug on sale from Home Depot for $100. It still looks great. It is in the bedroom but still, with two dogs and it being in the traffic area of the master bedroom, I am impressed.

I have only wool rugs, not because of any snob element, but I think wool rugs hold up better than anything synthetic.
I had a lovely wool rug runner ( 11 years old) that I recently discarded only because the latex backing was deteriorating and stinky.

So, to me, I think you should only get wool. If pet hair is a problem (or hairballs), look for low contrast rugs.
Our bedroom rug is medium valued but low contrast. It has never shown any dog hair although the dining rug which is high contrast, shows everything.

I just got this rug and love it. It was very reasonable and free shipping.

Here is a link that might be useful: ogee rug

The only wool rug that has ever disappointed me was one of the commercially-made ones with a sewn on fabric backer. The fabric was concealing a rubber glue they use in lieu of proper knots (like persian/oriental rugs have used for millennia) and as the rubber ages it stinks. My rule is, if you see a backer fabric or know there's rubber involved, stay away unless you are comfortable with throwing it away in a few years. It will not age well.
The fairly middling/cheap Iranian/Baluchi/Peshawar rugs I have got on ebay have given me perfect satisfaction, as nice as the three rugs I paid $$$ for at the rug merchant.
Casey

The rug from TM is a great choice. It looks good, it is neurtal enough to work with it in the adjoining spaces and it fits your budget.

I have several wool oriental rugs and they do hold up well, but you pay for that and, in some ways--opinion here--are stuck with them!

This rug will serve you well and it's easy--it's there, you like it, the durability factor is good. Keep it and enjoy. It goes with your tiles, it goes with your walls...and most importantly, it goes with the cats! Do not drive yourself crazy trying to beat this!

I am a lover of TM, and am fortunate to have one only about 5 miles away. They have high quality and unbelievably low prices. I'd call this a SCORE!