carpet colour selection

[mattbygo]

Hi all, Complete carpet novice, installing carpet for the first time. Given the presence of 2 toddlers, I'm going to go for polypropylene which sounds like the better combination of washable/wear. My question is to do with colour estimation: Is there a general trend to watch out for when looking at samples in the shop, i.e. do carpets always look lighter / darker on small samples as opposed to a full floor ? or can you generally trust the impression given by the sample... ??? Cheers, Matt

[The Wanderer]

Not sure whether it'll help you or not, but since moving out to the sticks a few years ago, we've had the salesman visiting us at home, rather than a visit to a carpet warehouse.

Seeing carpet samples laid out on the floor in the room you're looking at doing is very different to looking at them in store. We certainly bought one carpet that we would never have dreamed of buying based on a store visit only, coz it was right when we saw it in the room.