Fresh Fibers: How Much Does It Cost to Carpet a 10×12 Room?

In the flooring world, classic hardwood and trendy options like luxury vinyl plank tend to steal the spotlight. But soft flooring still accounts for 33% of the flooring market, a sign that many homeowners are keeping warm, fuzzy carpets within their purview. If you’re looking to refresh a den, small upstairs bedroom, or newly arranged home office, one of the first questions you’ll likely have is: how much does it cost to carpet a 10×12 room?

This carpet guide rounds up price estimates from across the web, details your main cost considerations, and gives you the budgeting tools you need for a quick but impactful carpet swap in your home. You’ll be happy to know, it’s one of the more affordable flooring options you can go for. And in a space this small — you can update your carpet on the cheap.

Renovating? Check your home value first

How much is your home worth today? In as little as two minutes, HomeLight can provide you with a preliminary estimate of value in preparation of your plans to renovate, remodel, or make repairs.

Input Address

Carpet installation cost breakdown

The right carpeting can add coziness, comfort, and a little warmth under the feet. Fresh carpeting in modern style will also transform a room made dingy by dirty, years-old fibers. Expect to pay between $3 and $11 per square foot for the luxury of enjoying brand-new carpet in your home. In a 10×12 space or 120 square feet, that amounts to a project totaling approximately $360 to $1,320, depending on the carpet material, style, and the addition of padding underneath.

Carpet

Naturally, the carpeting itself makes up a large chunk of your budget. How much you pay depends on the type of carpet you pick. Actual carpet prices from Home Depot indicate you can find options for as low as $.61 to as high as $1.75 per square foot. For a 10×12 room, that works out to approximately $73 to $210 budgeted toward the carpet material. Factors that impact the cost of the carpet include fiber, cut style or construction, and pile height.

Padding

Don’t be tempted to skimp or skip on the padding below your carpet just because you’ll never see it. “Padding matters. It feels so nice to walk on a nice, thick pad in bare feet, so it’s worth it to splurge on great padding,” says Shannon Watkins, a top real estate agent in the McDonough, Georgia area.

If you’ve ever walked on a carpet covering concrete with no padding in between, you know how hard it is on your feet and your knees. But padding isn’t just nice to walk on—it serves as added insulation to keep heat and cold from seeping through the floor, dampens sound, and reduces allergens, too. Carpet padding costs between $0.75 and $2.00 per square foot, which amounts to a range of $90 to $240 for your 10×12 project.

Installation

You’ll also need to account for any labor costs associated with the carpet installation. Home Depot offers free services in some locations with a minimum purchase of $699. But other companies do charge for installation, either per project, room or square foot. Generally, you can expect to add between $0.50 and $1.50 per square foot for professional installation. This translates to a cost range of $60 to $180 to install carpet in a 10×12 room.

And it may be worth it to pay for installation rather than opt for free installation, depending on what services the installers provide.

“Always ask questions before contracting with a carpet company, because they don’t all offer the same services,” advises Watkins.

“One might have the lowest price, but you’ll be doing a lot of manual labor because they require you to completely empty out the room before they arrive. Another might charge a little more, but they handle moving the furniture and replacing it for you.”