Carpet

• 1). Use a tape measure to get the dimensions of your floor.
  
  
• 2). Use a pencil to sketch a drawing based on your measurements. Make the drawing to scale by allowing each line on the graph paper to equal a set distance, such as 1 foot.
  
  
• 3). Section the drawing into common shapes, such as rectangles, triangles, squares and circles. If the room is made up of only one shape, such as a rectangle, you won't have to section off the drawing.
  
  
• 4). Find the area of each shape in square feet. Follow these formulas:
  
  Squares and rectangles: length x width
  
  Triangles: 1/2(base x height)
  
  Circles: (Radius squared) x 3.14. For example, measure the length from the center of the circle to its perimeter and then multiply this number times itself. Multiply that product times pi (3.14).
  
  
• 5). Add the areas of each shape to find the total square footage.
  
  
• 6). Repeat this process for additional rooms, if necessary, and add the square footage of each room to arrive at the total square footage of your project.
  
  
• 7). Add 10 percent to the square footage total in order to account for overage, which is extra carpet that may be needed because of making seams and cutting various angles. For instance, if your total square footage equals 50, multiply 50 times 0.10 to get 5 square feet. Add 5 to 50 to get a total of 55 square feet of carpet you will need for the job.
  
  

Paint

• 1). Measure the dimensions of your walls and find the square footage, just as you did for the carpet.
  
  
• 2). Measure the dimensions of windows, baseboards and molding that may be on the walls where you plan to paint.
  
  
• 3). Find the area of the windows, baseboards and molding by multiplying length times width.
  
  
• 4). Subtract the square footage of windows, baseboards and molding from the square footage that you found in Step 1.
  
  
• 5). Add 10 percent for overage, as you did in measuring for carpet.