so very important to those on a tight budget.

One very cheap way you can carpet a room is by using

carpet samples. This is actually considered new

carpet, as samples aren't considered to be used.

You can buy samples of carpet for .25 cents a piece

at closeout sales or at your local hardware or carpet

store. Depending on the size of the room you are

looking to carpet, how many samples you'll need

will vary. You'll also need staples as well, which

cost around a dollar or so. Most of the time,

you can expect to pay a dollar or so for each square

of carpet, which is still considered to be cheap

carpet.

Keep in mind that using samples or square is a very

unusual style and you have to think about the resale

value of your home. If you have a trailer or mobile

home, then the style is probably going to be unusual

and cheap to start with. If you have an expensive

or mid priced home, then you may decide to use

cheap carpeting in the basement, playroom, or in

a children's playhouse.

If you are doing a children's playroom, using

multi-colored carpet is perfect. It is very colorful

and if a spill stains one of the squares of carpet,

you can quickly and easily pull it back up and

install a new one. This is a great advantage to

doing a playroom this way.

Installing your cheap carpet

The only things you'll actually need when you

install carpet samples or squares in a room is a

carpet knife and a staple gun. The 5/8" staples

seem to work the best for squares and samples.

All you need to do is put the carpet peice in

place and staple in two or three staples along each

side. Make sure you wiggle the head of the

stapler down deep between the fibers, or between

the border and the fibers, so you can hide the

staples as much as possible.

If you are carpeting a basement floor, you can

use carpet tape instead of staples. With either

case, this is best to do when padding isn't that

important. You can use padding as well if you

don't mind the complications, although without it,

its pure simplicity.

You may also choose to lay out your pieces of

carpet first, then decide where each individual piece

will go. When you reach walls, heating sources, or

other obstacles, you can quickly and easily cut the

pieces to fit. If you happen to make a mistake, it

will cost you around a dollar, instead of costing

you a fortune. When you make a mistake, all you

have to do is start over a new piece of carpet.

Before you begin to put the carpet down, you should

always estimate how many pieces you will need,

and then call around to find a store that has

enough samples for the room.

Although the samples will range in size at different

stores, the average is 18 X 18 inches. If you

use pieces that are the same size, you'll find

things to be much easier. Even though you may be

paying a dollar a piece, it rounds out to less

than .50 cents per square foot to carpet your room

of choice - which is really cheap carpet!