Feels and looks like an expensive area rug but for half the price! Definitely more texture than I anticipated; the cream lines rise slightly above the gray background. As other costumers noted, there is some shedding. We have had our rug about a month now and whenever I wear anything black and sit on the rug (I am on the floor a lot with my baby) i walk away covered in little white/gray specs, which can be easily removed with lint roller. The rug is thick, feels durable and looks like high quality, overall we are very happy with our purchase.