Love the rug that my fiancé picked out!  We have a very specific color theme in the room and the rug goes perfectly.  It's nice and soft and the pile height is perfect - not so high and plush that its awkward, but it's not super flat either.  I really like that the design in the rug has a little higher pile height than the rest of the rug without being "over done".  I haven't noticed any issues with shedding or loose threads.  I do wish there was an interim size available between the 5 x 7' 6" which we purchased and the 8 x 10 which was the next size up.