Haven't heard of Hanover carpeting but it looks very nice. I googled it but came up with no real reviews, only the same photo you have and a few others. We have karastan wool carpet in one basement room and like it very much. It was pricey but my heart was set on the check pattern. If we were looking at neutral carpet I would def have priced other brands. Maslin though, is just as expensive.

If you want a carpet that is almost impervious to stains and fading, I'd look at olefin. Not berber for sure and if you want a cut pile, it would need to be short or very dense as olefin will crush. But it is made from recycled milk bottles so it won't absorb anything.

Must they carpet? I hate it. It's never really 'clean'.

I love wool rugs, and bought several new hand-knotted 'orientals' for our house in 2000 for about the same as good carpeting. They can go out to be washed. The patterns hide almost anything *until* they go out to be washed! You can take them with you!

I'm with chisue: must they carpet versus using area rugs? If so, here are tips when I asked a relative who owns a carpet cleaning business for his recommendations:

"Before I recommend a specific carpet I would like to suggest getting carpet pad that may not be top of the line but is not bottom of the barrel at least. A good pad will act as a foundation and may even prevent buckling or uneven wear to the carpet.

In my opinion, I would choose a 100% nylon carpet. Nylon seems to wear the best and seems to respond the best to cleaning. I have several customers who have nylon carpets almost 20 years old still cleaning up well. Just beware of nylon which is blended with polyester as this carpet will adopt the same negative traits that accompany polyester carpet.

Your next best choice (on the synthetic and affordable side) will be olefin . Olefin is almost as good as nylon and is virtually indestructible and cleans ok. The one thing to beware of about olefin carpet is that it is naturally attracted to oily soils thus earning the nickname "oil loving olefin".

I have heard good things about smart strand carpet but I have not been exposed to enough of it to recommend it. I would say in summary that you can't go wrong with 100% nylon."

My input: make it a 6 strand nylon for the best wear and appearance. Also, the carpet salesman said that some vacuums can't deal with the smart strand fibers very well. As far as wool goes, unless this home and neighborhood "demand it", I would not spend the money on it since they are looking to move in a few years. The expense of choosing wool would be, in my opinion, reserved for a "forever" house (unless, again, the house or neighborhood demand it).

My husband has been installing carpet for 38 years. For as long as I can remember his advice has always been "100% nylon and stay away from polyester even if the salespeople tell you it's 'better' than it used to be". He installs a good amt of wool carpeting also, in the higher end homes, but it's a very expensive investment. Wears like iron :) Pad depends on the type of carpet but thicker isn't always better.

Many thanks to all who responded. They would much prefer wood floors with area rugs, but don't have the time or funds to install wood floors. Right now the second floor is subfloor plus carpet, so replacement is the current option.

I appreciate your advice, and I'll pass along all of this information.

From what I've read, the main drawback to olefin is that it will crush, so you want to buy it looped, which is what the OP is using. Otherwise it has some really good properties.

I wouldn't invest in wool for five years. The new owners probably won't even appreciate that they paid more. I was leery of Smartstrand. I went with Anso nylon and found a pattern that was just as soft to the touch as Smartstrand.

I had a nylon in my living room at the old house and the cat had a lot of vomiting issues and the combo of cat food and stomach acids caused horrible staining...we even had a guy in to re-dye the spots and we got another year out of the rug, but it had to be replaced...it was really bad.

Our looped olefin crushed badly and we replaced it after a year. It is the nature of the fiber. I do not have the soft Smartstrand, just the regular. It's been in about 4 years and still looks fabulous.

Our Smartstrand is about 7 years old, one of the first lines they made. We, along with others who first bought it, have had trouble with the fibers separating from the backing. Its my understanding that they have fixed that issue. As far as staining - you can get just about anything out of it - even computer ink that did not absorb into the photo paper! Yikes! Just repeated rinsing and blotting, it all came out.

When carpeting new construction in Scotland a few years ago a popular choice is 80 wool 20 nylon blend. Stanton Carpets offers some choices.

http://www.stantoncarpet.com/ProductBrowse.aspx?PatternName=&MainColorName=&TypeName=CARPET&LookFeelName=&CollectionName=&FiberName=80%%20WOOL/20%%20NYLON%20NATURALLY%20GREEN&SearchStr=&SortOrder=Asc

I've been told that 100% wool is worth it and lasts forever. I have 2 large wool rugs with lots of color and they look great 20 years later. I've had them professionally cleaned at a carpet cleaner place twice and they look great! It seems that these days, you can find 100% wool rugs at decent prices, too.

Do SmartStrand rugs come in patterns? Looking for an area rug for my dining room - but don't want solid. I laughed at CLT3's post about the dog puke. We are in that same boat!