I love this rug. It is just what I was looking for after searching for a living room rug for our new hardwood floors. It is a low pile rug so if you want that soft feeling a pad is needed but that w a a fine with us bc we wanted a waterproof pad anyway bc of spills and pets. The colors worked great in our gray and light aqua room. The lighter gray in the rug even has a slight aqua look or it may be bc of the room colors it looks that way either way it works great if you have varying colors of gray and tan in your room.