A little shinier than expected, but looks less shiny flipped around the other way (less shiny looks higher quality to me and flipping it the other way also made the design more visible, so play around with its placement). The pile was a bit higher than I thought it would be, which was a nice surprise to me. I purchased the Eco Plush Felt Area Rug Pad (.25") to go under it and added double-sided rug tape under the pad and against our hardwoods. Looks great in our son/daughter's shared room - not too masculine or too feminine. I bought the ForceField Fabric Cleaner to spot clean occasionally because it is a lighter-colored rug.