Design Challenge: Budget Area Rugs

About a week ago,  I got an email from a friend who had reached the end of her decorating rope.  "I need a rug for the area between my kitchenette and living room area (Probably like 5x7, but I could maybe go a little bigger)," she wrote.  "I think I need something with color--my living room is mostly grays, navy blues, and white, but I also already have a lot of graphic prints, so I think it needs to be more colorful without a huge bold pattern (which is SO hard for me to avoid!)"  With those parameters, it actually seemed like this would be a pretty simple find.  Until she hit me with the price point:  "between $100-$200".

On a normal day, I probably would have just said, "Tough beans, kid.  Ain't gonna happen."  However, I recently had a similar dilemma in our own home when we were looking for a new crawling-baby-knees-friendly area rug for our living room, and much to my relief I found Rugs USA and an enormous selection of unbelievably priced rugs.  I had read a few good experiences by bloggers I trust and so I took the plunge and bought a 100% wool flat weave 9x12 rug for around $350 (including the pad).  Luckily, it is amazing and looks much more expensive than it was.

So, with my friend's instructions, I knew Rugs USA was the place to shop.  She sent me some inspiration photos of rugs she likes (here and here), as well as a couple of pieces she is buying to put in her apartment (this for a sideboard/bar and this amazing headboard), plus I know her decorating style and her current furnishings pretty well so it didn't seem to be such a daunting task.

Here's what I found:

A: Oriental Weavers Kaleidoscope Rug, $199 (4' x 5'9")

B: Rugs USA Overdye RE21 Multi Rug, $472 (5' x 8') + 60% off coupon code = $188.80

C: Rugs USA Overdye RE31 Rug, $482 (5' x 8') + 70% off coupon code = $144.60

D: Windsor Grove Rug, $399 (5'5" x 8'2") + 55% off coupon code =  $179.55

E:  Jasmine FR3 Rug, $834 (5' x 8') + 70% off coupon code = $250.20

All in all, pretty close to price point and I think pretty close to the inspiration images as well.  Whaddya think, did I succeed?

So help a brotha out--which one would you pick?

xoxo
--mel