Congratulations on your find. I must have missed this thread the first time around.
Carpet of any type, even carpet tile is hard to clean. It is warmer than tile, that's true. You say your plan to stay there is 9 to 10 years. I bought close to the bottom of the line laminate (not vinyl) that is supposed to look like wood floors and it it just now showing problems. We installed it in 2005. Like you said, the area where DH uses his rolling chair is one of the problem areas (a corner on one of the tiles had broken). Another problem area is where we had a leak. Instructions said to glue the joints in areas where water is a problem. I don't think our installer did that.
Again, congrats on the house, the sewing space, the machine space and the shorter commute.
bkay