We are installing Mannington Restoration right now - sort of a spare time project. So far it is in our living room; we will also be putting it in our dining room, kitchen, family room, and utility room/half bath. So far I love it. It has beveled edges - I had also been concerned about keeping it clean, but I just use a small stick vac on it - that seems to do a good job. We are a "shoes on" family; our rooms are fairly high traffic, and we wanted something durable and low maintenance.

This stuff is hand scraped, wider planks, mid/darker - the planks have varying tones throughout, which adds to the rustic look.

We paid $3.09 through an online retailer - Ecomoso is the name, I think. We shopped the local stores, found what we liked, and gave them the opportunity to match the online price...I question if you'll be able to get quality laminate for your price - I've been told that *thick* is important with laminate in order to avoid the clacky sound. Ours is 12 mm - the thickest available, I think. We also got good underlayment - another cost for you to factor in, unless the product you buy has underlayment built in. Don't forget to figure the cost of trim pieces into your budget - you need transition pieces, etc.

Have you gone to any of the manufacturer web sites? The Mannington web site has a virtual designer option. You upload a picture of one of your rooms - with the floor showing in the pic, of course. Their software will then allow you to virtually "install" any of their flooring into your room, so you can see how it would look with your furniture, etc. That was fun and helpful.

Maybe someone that has long term experience with this type of laminate can chime in. I'm not being very helpful, I know, but since we're putting in the same flooring that you are talking about, I wanted to tell you that (so far) we love the stuff!