Patterned. I defy anyone to find a stain in my 60-year-old Persian rug's flowers, animals, swirls, etc., although there must be some.

Wool. For washability and so chair feet won't leave impressions.

BTW, dining is such a clanky, noisy business, and the typical home these days doesn't have nearly enough soft surface to tone it down into a fairly genteel range. And you have tile to boot; happily tile and rugs set each other off really nicely, a win-win. So I'd personally do a rug and make it a graciously big one (i.e., enough that no one ever wonders if a pushed-out chair is going to fall off the edge).

In our last home, I had a wool Karastan in the DR. Also had wool Oriental in this house, but it has been replaced with a Soumak. I also have a Soumak in the breakfast room (guest room, foyer and great room too!) They are extremely hard wearing and easy to clean spills (liquid or solid).

Here is a link that might be useful: Dining Room

This post was edited by allison0704 on Sun, Sep 8, 13 at 10:23