How do you install carpet over hardwood floors?

It will somewhat damage the floor if you get wall to wall carpeting. They will nail down tack strips along the edges of the room and they will also staple down the padding. It can be repaired down the road if you ever decide to pull up the carpet. If you did not want to damage the floor at all you could just buy area rugs that will just lay in place without tack strips. You can even buy a piece of carpet and have them cut it to size and have the edges bound so they do not fray. The problem with that is you may get wrinkles in the carpet and it does not look that great.