I purchased this in an 8x10 and love it! Make sure you click on the size to want to view what it will actually look like. With the larger sizes there are a lot more stripes. It made me a little dizzy to look at it but once we got our coffee table back in the room it was just fine. The silver is really a dusty blue, which is still gorgeous. Yes the cream is raised a little higher than the blue. Yes it smells but that's because it's wool.... Kinda what you expect. Yes it sheds, but that's also what you should expect with a natural fiber. This is a high quality rug for a great price!