I just purchased a chocolate brown carpet remnant from Menards, 12 x 10 for a little over $100. They were having a sale of 20% off all remnants. It is 40 Oz face weight. I replaced carpet on my stairs as I had hardwood above and below the stairs. I reused my existing pad and it is soooo soft. I wish I had done it years ago.

Don't forget to factor in the installation.

We just had our master recarpeted, it's a fairly long room, about 14' x 24', it ran us 1100.00 installed (approx. 850.00 carpet/ 1/2" pad, the balance installation), feels wonderful to walk on, so cushy.

Yes the pad is very important. DH put a memory foam, 7/16" or 1/2" pad under the new carpet in the master bedroom. It's heavenly. There is no way to tell you how much your carpet, pad, and installation will cost. You could spend $100+ a yard on carpet or $15 a yard on carpet. JUST MAKE SURE IT'S NYLON! and a Stainmaster carpet. Pad prices vary also as does installation depending on where you live.

I don't know how much our new bedroom carpet cost retail because we got it at cost since my husband is a carpet installer. Our cost for just the carpet for a 10 by 16 room was just over $900. We already had the pad and of course his labor was free (;

There are too many things that can go wrong when ordering carpet. I would not suggest buying it online. The wrong carpet could be shipped, the wrong color, bad runs in the yarn, shading abnormalities or a number of defects. Quality control isn't what it should be. Forklift driver loading or unloading the carpet could ram the end of the forklift through the roll of carpet. You would have to go through the hassle of of having it shipped back.

Shaw makes a good quality carpet at a good price. Good luck.

I wouldn't go dark, I'd go neutral. We have a dog and 2 cats. 10 years ago, we installed Frieze carpet through out the upstairs and it's wonderful. It's soft underfoot, is a neutral mix of browns, tans and creams. It cleans easy and doesn't show stains. This is similar but just a tad darker than what we have

If you plan on staying there or leaving carpet in there if you ever sell, look into smartstrand carpet. Google it. Great for kids and pets. Even bleach won't stain it. I've put it in the last three homes I've owned, and even with 3 dogs, often one is elderly and has accidents, it looked brand new when I moved out. You can get the pad that is resistant to liquids so they won't penetrate pad. It costs me about 36.00 a Sq yd installed. For one rm it wouldn't be that expensive, and it will last.

A cheap carpet would be around 14.00 Sq yd installed.

Or you can get a remnant cut to size of room and have them bind the edges. That would be really cheap. Throw out if it gets too stained.

A medium shade frieze will hide stains the best. Avoid berber, as it will unravel if a dog catches their nail, and is impossible to get clean looking.

Thank you all! Your answers are very much appreciated. You've given me some ideas to research and lots of suggestions on what to avoid.