Carpet and pad prices have steadily increased about 12 times in 24 months. Rubber and foam pads still require petroleum for their creation. But, even with the increase in price, carpet is still a less expensive floor covering than almost any other installed flooring.

But since we are experiencing an economic crisis, as true Americans, we find a way to go forth and conquer our problems. The new do-it-yourself carpet-installation market is big. Remember carpet squares you could install yourself by gluing/sticking the squares to the floor? The result was fine for a recreation room, but not so fine-looking for a living room. Well, that has changed.

Companies like Milliken and Interface are making a type of carpet square that is easy to install yourself and looks almost seamless when complete. And they are not called carpet squares anymore so don't make yourself sound uninformed. Say "modular carpet," instead. If you watch "Trading Spaces," you might have seen this modular carpet installed by a woman and a 12-year-old.

Remember the shag? It was a fad and it was not the most attractive carpet in the world, but hey, it's back! The idea that there is a generation out there that has never seen shag and is vulnerable to "new" gives the designers an irresistible urge to reintroduce shag as the latest and greatest.

Well, let's give them a little breathing room and see what it's all about. The old shags were usually poorly made, with much air in the fiber giving it that puffed-up, long-pile, shag look. The "new" shag is more of a long-pile version of the frieze carpet. Friezes are good. The new shag is made of a much tighter twisted fiber and from advanced nylons not available the first time around in the '70s.

Author Rosemary Sadez Friedmann is an interior designer in Naples, Fla.