Choose a low to medium pile rug and make sure the casters on the chair are carpet casters, not hard surface casters.

This is timely as I have been redecorating my home office. I think I am going to try an oriental flat weave rug because I need some pattern/color in the room. I have one in my LR, they are very tight woven and it appears that a chair would roll over it without "grabbing".

Pris, can you change out "cheaper" chairs (Office Depot) cheap) to the carpet casters? I looked at one yesterday that is a buttery colored tan that I like really well and it was only $140.00.

I think you'll find a thin rug is going to walk, even with a pad under it, if your friend is rolling the chair around to get from desk to another work area such as a filing cabinet. When testing rugs with a thicker pile, sit in the chair while rolling it since the weight of a person is going to make the rollers sink into the rug. If your friend is going to be sitting in one spot then a dense pile rug may work fine.
We have an oriental rug with the plastic mat on top. If you get a quality mat that is clear, they don't look all that bad.

Had a wool rug in the office. It started to wear from the chair rolling after a few years. Put an indoor/outdoor rug in dh's current office last year.

I second the indoor/outdoor rug. I've always only had wool rugs, but since I put one in my dining room (small kids) I've loved it. It looks much better than I thought it would and cleans up fantastically.

I'm probably going to put one in our new office, too, for easy chair rolling.

My experience with office chairs has been with an actual business office environment. In all those the casters were replacible. I've not actually seen them elsewhere. I can't imagine the construction would be much different except in material quality. I've worked in offices that had the plastic chair mats and have never met anyone who liked them or even used them for very long. If you have wood floors I would definately put down carpet to protect them. I would also consider low pile carpet tiles as the ones that get the most wear can be changed out when they get worn.

How about a matching area rug on top of the other rug if you don't want a plastic rug protector. I had the plastic thingy in my office at work and I liked it because it made the chair easier to roll. It also kept the rug cleaner under the desk.

I agree. It does let your chair roll easier. But, if you're a "roller" like I am, you're constantly falling off the edge and sometimes have to get up to put the chair back on the plastic. It seems in all the offices I've ever had, something was always across the room. File cabinets or printer. Always something that I wanted to roll to to get something. It all depends on your working style and office set up.

We have a very flat dense oval fringed carpet with jute backing. Don't know the material but it has the smooth soft texture of an oriental.

It is covering most of the hardwood floor, without a pad, and has been rolled on in our computer room for 12 years now without the slightest problem with the carpet or rollers.

I suggested it on the conversation side of the Computer Forum also, as an alternative to those plastic pads. Hope this may help. Sandy

Here is a link that might be useful: From the computer forum

I just put a rug from walmart $50 in my husbands office and it looks great. I did add a smaller one behind /under his chair to extend that area and protect the wood floor.

I like that it is thin and neutral color. It has a rubber backing that keeps it in place on the wood floor. I thought it would look very cheap but I actually really like the way it looks and feels. bonus only $50!

Sorry the picture only shows the corner of it. 5 x 7 size

Thanks for the suggestions. He ended up ordering a jute rug from O-stock so we'll see how it works out. It was a great deal -- I had found the rug on sale elsewhere for $400 and O had it for about $270!

Our home office has just a "home depot" 8 X 11 or so short napped oriental design rug over a pad and we don't have any problem with creep using our rolling chair.

I did not post the below messaged purportedly posted by me. How is this possible?

WalnutCreek Zone 7b/8a

Pris, that is exactly why our huge organization "outlawed" the plastic carpet protectors. They determined that the were very unsafe and and people fell out of them when their chairs rolled off; some even had severe on-the-job injuries. Thus, the safety hazard was enforced, all plastic carpet protectors removed, and no one was allowed to have them.

can I see a picture of some of these rugs?

Walnut Creek, that message was posted in 2012. Maybe you forgot?

You know, Graywings, I did not realize that was an old post. And you are probably right. The more I think about it now, I do recall that the agency I worked for banned the use of plastic carpet protectors in offices.

Are creeper/roller seats ok at dealerships in general?

I'm not sure if I've ever seen (tend to try to peek around when I get parts here and there) any of our local ones have those in any of their bays.

I'm with the old pneumatic rolling office chair camp but sometimes, they're just to high.

Though, If I had the extra money, I would get:
https://leyeahsoho.com/collections/rolling-chair