I agree with sjhockeyfan325. I will add that overstock is a good source for decent quality, reasonably priced rugs. So I would suggest looking there as well.

Our friends have stained concrete floors and both went with bound remnants. Much cheaper, but neither add any WOW to the space. Just kind of ho-hum, ya know?

Is there a reason you want to cover the entire area? Normally, you would just do the seating area(s), which would call for 1 or 2 smaller rugs.

We probably wouldn't cover the entire area, but most of it. As it's a relatively large space, I thought maybe a carpet remnant would be cheaper? I also thought that perhaps a carpet would be soft for kids to play on (but I may be wrong!). I've never lived in a home that doesn't have carpeting in the living room, so rug shopping is a first for me!

I wouldn't say a carpet remnant is necessarily softer. A good rug and pad can be thicker than you'd think!

There are so many choices of carpeting, it just depends on what you want. I know many here bought rugs online, usually they order a small size to check color variations, then order the size they want.

Remnants can very economical. They are usually the rugs on sale so maybe you can get a higher quality that you would not normally get.

No easy answer. You know your budget, you just need to shop around.

That's the way I was going to go originally when we decided to put down a rug. I had my heart set on a pretty Freize to match our upstairs but I ended up finding a rug I loved did that instead.

One thing to keep in mind is that you don't have to limit yourself to just the remnants. Most carpet stores can and will sell you a piece of any carpet in the size that you need for almost the same price.

I've done both and loved both. I had no preconceived ideas. In the first case, I went to a store that sold both rugs and carpet remnants and ended up finding just what I wanted as a remnant and it was bound, so it was basically just a rug I loved. Years later at another house I bought a wool oriental rug on sale, great buy and I loved it. I was just out shopping with a friend, not even for rugs, just boppin' around the housewares at Macy's. Loved that one too. So it just boils down to shopping around for what you want at a good price that you like.

Google your local carpet remnant place. We got our living room rug at one (ours did come pre-bound but they had a ton of options that you could cut to size and have bound) and it was only 150. Yours is much bigger, but you can't beat the cost.

And what is best: they had hundreds to choose from so you could see all of your options instead of having to order (and then possibly return). Also, it was a family business that's been around for years instead of some national chain.

As previously mentioned, you must bind the edges, or you will pick up carpet pieces and so will your vac.