Oriental Persian Rugs - Yes or No?

Today I looked into oriental rugs. Up until now I didn't like them, because when I grew up we had lots of them and I just found them really ugly, which now I realize was not just the rugs fault, but just the whole interior design as it was...but since I have a bigger piece left here in the house, it was in the living room combined with horrible dark brown leather sofas and a tiled / wooden couch table... however I've been thinking if this rug might be revived with the right constellation of furniture and decor. I have some examples that I found and I surprisingly do like some of them:

 

 Abigail Ahern's home, I love it so much! Here the rug is not a typical oriental one, but I like that it is not too big, but still it adds personality to the room! I say YES!

 This one is my next fave, when these rugs have enough area and space, they can really dominate a room in a positive way. Also unusual but lovely in this one is that everything about the house is so bright and white, so the rug doesn't seem so heavy on the eye! The white blue chairs are beautiful too!

 Ok, this one's acceptable, I'm not flippin out though. Not so sure about the curtains in combination with the rug...

 This is a very calm living room, therefore I find it's good the rug has no red/bordeaux color schemes, the yellowy/orange feel really adds to the room! Nice!

 

This is ok, but the more I look at this photo, I get a feeling like the owner only meant this rug to be a placeholder until a good one comes along. I really like the wooden chest table, could use some nice books and vase decoration though.

 This rug really fits in the room, but for me the whole concept is toooo dark and uncozy. Weird art, but again I have to say, it really goes with the room, just not for me.

 

NO! NO! Not with that wallpaper! NO!

I almost forgot, did you guys know that these rugs tell a story, that all the patterns on it have a real meaning? I didn't know, here is a nice link that shows the meaning of some schemes like running water etc.:

 http://loveofrugs.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/meaning-of-persian-rug-symbols/

 Do you have an oriental rug at home? Where did you place it, and is it more of a compromise or did you really want to get it? Or are you planning on getting one soon?
Which photo above did you like most, I'm so curious!