The best advice I can give you after you have selected several colors to choose from is to only look at them down the floor. They will look much lighter flat on the floor than they do holding them up vertically. We made that horrendous very expensive mistake one time., especially when holding it up vertically, which is what we wanted. When it came in and was laid throughout the house it looked almost white. We now always go one shade darker than whatever small sample color we think is perfect. A whole room laid down is much lighter to the eye than the small sample piece.

Bring large samples (12x12 minimum) to your home ... put them on the sofa and see how it looks in your room with your lighting and your sofa. If it doesn't look good, set it aside.

Once you have some candidates, slide the samples under the sofa, flat on the floor, and look at them at various times of day. If anything looks funky, remove it. In a couple of days you should have your color.

If the carpet store balks at providing samples, find another store. This is an expensive, hard to change decor item, and you need to get it right.

Well, the problem is, most of the samples are comprised of about 15 different little squares on one board. It is impossible to evaluate them in isolation from each other, and they are far too small to get an idea of how it will look on a large scale. It seems like only the cheaper carpets come with larger-sized samples. And I'm dealing with what is considered the best store in town.

Maybe I should just break down and spend the bucks for an area rug I could return if I didn't like?

Many carpet stores will order larger samples for you from the manufacturer free of charge once you narrow down to a few choices.