<p>Well, I can’t win with DH agreeing with the designer on this. We are going with a velvet textured nylon (Massland) in a floral black and gold pattern. The black picks up the black in the red and black oriental in the foyer. The gold seems to jive well with the hardwoods. </p>
<p>Now we are teetering on replacing the rug in the dining room with an absolutely gorgeous Indian rug made of wool and silk. My DH and I are just in love with this rug. The store is bringing it tomorrow so we can see how it works in the room.</p>
<p>Rugs, rugs, rugs. Did not anticipate it would be so complicated.</p>
<p>Our designer just really frowns on wool on stairs unless you also have a back stairway where most of the traffic will be. She thinks wool with take a beating on our stairs.</p>
<p>I’m really surprised. Had assumed wool would be more durable than nylon. I l love the look of the wools but am okay with our direction on this.</p>
<p>I’ve never been into the rods on the stair runners.</p>
<p>I am trying to say this in the nicest way possible and don’t want to offend anyone. If you can afford wool, and asked about wool vs. synthetic and the designer recommends synthetic, I would be interviewing other designers. This is a big purchase and, as you point out, sets the tone for your home.</p>
<p>Rods are not for everyone and not even appropriate on all staircases :)</p>
<p>edit: I feel bad about saying anything negative about synthetic rugs because I would probably never say that to anyone in real life, but this is a message board and this is an advice question. </p>
<p>IMHO there is always a tension between what is “nicest” and what is serviceable. Many think it is okay to have something “nice” and let it wear naturally. It doesn’t have to be new looking forever. ymmv - whew!</p>
<p>edit 2: I am not sure that is even true about the wear. I have wool rugs almost 100 years old. I think wool wears pretty well.</p>
<p>obviously I get more than a little overwrought on certain subjects :(</p>
<p>Please know the store attracts a good many Manhattanites. The designer helping me is leaving tonight for Montana where she will handle the rugs for a client’s new vacation home. And I have made it abundantly clear that doing wool vs synthetic on the stairs is not a biggie in terms of expense (really, truly!). </p>
<p>She is just quite adamant that the nylon will wear better. Also, in wools I tend to like the textural rugs that she says will get snagged by my dog’s paws. She says that we can do wool on the stairs but that she will insist we purchase extra carpet for replacing the first and top stairs, which she says wear out soonest.</p>
<p>I do like the look of several wool carpets. This is the advice I’m getting and I’ve seen homes she has done and they are wonderful + DH agrees with her. So I think I’m okay. </p>
<p>Also, the stairs are not a huge enough investment that we can’t change.</p>