New carpets - how much do I allow for underlay and fitting - and where to find an interesting pattern

[onesandwichshort]

We're doing up a house and so need to put flooring down in every room. I'm trying to work up a budget for this, which is already making my eyes pop out of my head. But I have now idea how much I need to allow per room for underlay and fitting - can anyone give me a clue? I last bought a carpet ten years ago and cannot remember the first thing about it.

Also, if anyone knows of interesting patterned carpets, that are not striped, I would love to see them. I have completely fallen for these ones They are stupidly pricey but now every other carpet looks dull in comparison.

Depends on the size of the house and the type of carpets

Better to work it out on per square metre basis, but you'll have to measure each room. Underlay varies from "free" - offered by some carpet retailers when you buy their carpet (although they just build the cost in to the carpet), to around £9 per sq m for top quality. Fitting can work out around £4-5 per sq m, varies depending on where you are etc.

Better quality underlay pays for itself by extending the life of the carpet (and feeling much better underfoot although that's hard to put a price on!)

Thanks fresh - those figures per square foot are the kind of rules of thumb I was looking for at this stage.

I just need to work out a theoretical budget for the carpets right now, and wanted to make sure I didn't get a complete shock when all the underlay and fitting was added on! Then I can work out what we can actually afford...