Choosing a Stair Runner (Things You Need to Consider)
Now that my foyer is freshly painted, my next step is choosing a stair runner. If you are in thinking about possibly adding a runner to your stairs, today I’m sharing some things to consider.
Choosing a Stair Runner:
Things to consider in your home…
Safety Issues with Wood Stairs:
If you have a young family, wood stairs might be too slippery for you.
Normally, I don’t move to the next project so quickly but now that we’ve hit “sock weather”, we have all become very aware of how slippery those stairs can be. Just the other night, my son slid down several stairs. Luckily, he didn’t get hurt!
Even my poor doggie is very nervous every time she climbs up and down our stairs. She walks cautiously like she’s a little girl trying on high heels for the first time. So, I just can’t put her through that every day. Since goldens are prone to hip problems, I don’t need to add to that potential issue!
Wear and Tear From Family and Pets:
Like I mentioned, I have kids and a dog so obviously the stairs will take a beating!
When considering stair runner options, I made sure I looked at durable rugs.
Yeah, that’s my attempt at posing her paw on the rug sample. She refused to stand on it so the best I could do was put the sample next to her and move her paw over…
Afterward, I got this sad look from her as she moved her paw away. I don’t think she was in the mood for blog posing that day.
Color and Style:
Anyway, I quickly narrowed down my options and brought a few samples home. I knew the look I was going for because I have saved the same style of pictures for years. I either wanted wanted a sisal-look or a tone on tone trellis or diamond pattern. As much as I would love a real sisal or seagrass, I wanted something softer on our feet. I walk barefoot often and I know I would be annoyed with a natural fiber after the novelty of its beauty wore off.
I gave myself one day to decide. The next morning, I called the rug guy to measure and ordered the rug. It should be here in 3 to 4 weeks and I will post some new pictures as soon as it gets installed!
Which one did I choose, you ask?
For our stairs, I chose the top right one in the exact color of the sample shown.
(Each sample displayed a bunch of colors on the back of the board, but that one was my favorite.) The diamond one at the bottom was the softest but was a little too “carpet-y”. I wanted more of a textured look and feel. If you would like to see how it turned out, pop over and read my post, A Sisal Substitute for the Stairs.
So, as much as I love the fresh look of the wood stairs, I decided to be “practical mom” in this situation.
A this point, we still have a few weeks to enjoy the look of the bare wood stairs. In the meantime, we will all have to be extra careful with those socks…and paws…
Do you have a runner on your stairs?
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I love the look of wooden stairs but believe they are hazardous if you wear socks. I wear socks a lot in the winter. I slipped down our wooden basement stairs once and had to go to the ER. I bruised myself up badly but no broken bones thank goodness. So now I'm extra careful! I have carpet on my stairs going to the bedrooms. I would love to have stairs like yours with a runner though. So pretty. Looking forward to seeing yours done.
I think you made a great choice, Shelley! No stairs so no runner in our home….as with your pup, us elders tend toward broken hips!
Shelley, I love your choice. And you have reminded me to look for a runner–my stairs don't have a railing, and the steps are super slippery. Love the changes you've done!PS Your Golden is a beauty!
Will look perfect. I didn't think of the slipperyness of wood stairs since we don't have stairs. Will have to warn my daughter who is thinking of taking off the carpet.
Always love to see your Rosie 🙂 I am completely with you on the wooden stairs, love the way they look but they are not the safest option. Great choice on the runner. Have a great week!
We had wood and now going back to tile. Flood and the only floor messed up was the wood floor two time so went back to tile.
Oh no! Yeah, I guess that’s one disadvantage to having wood floors.
I loved this post! We are beginning the process of building our retirement home and our architect just asked us if we wanted to cover our stairs that lead to the basement family room. The rest of the house will have hard wood and we hadn't considered carpet but he suggested it just for the reason you mentioned. Old people don't want to fall! I love your choice. I think something with a textured look would be good. We haven't purchased carpet in 10 years so I'll investigate the sisal-look. I'll check in again soon to see how it turned out. 🙂
I went through the same process in our old house – I loved the bare stairs but after my dog slipped and fell down a few stairs a couple of times, they had to be carpeted. I love your choice and can't wait to hear how you like it once it's installed – I need to replace the carpet on the stairs in our current house!
Yes we have to take care of our fur babies. I'm Miss Paranoid when it comes to anyone falling down the stairs too so I would always have a carpet runner. I think it adds warmth anyway. BTW your design decisions are wonderful can't wait to see it. 🙂
That's going to look so good! I want wood stairs so much but know about the danger factor. You'll be happy with your runners.
What a hard choice! Your stairs are beautiful but I totally understand wanting a runner. Mine are all covered in carpet and I love the feel but hate the look. I'm looking forward to seeing the new runner installed! It will be gorgeous and you will love it for sure. 😉
Your stairs are beautiful but by the same token, I feel you are very wise to be adding the runner namely for the reasons you mentioned plus there is nothing worse than falling 'bottoms over tea-kettles' as its often difficult to stop the momentum. BTW, love what you chose. -Brenda-
You've given me a lot to think about, Shelley. One of the projects on our long to do list, is to replace the carpet on the stairs with wood. I never thought about how slippery they'd be. We have wood flooring on our family room stairs and it hasn't been an issue, but there aren't as many. Thanks so much for sharing. Love your runner choice.
You've given me a lot to think about, Shelley. One of the projects on our long to do list, is to replace the carpet on the stairs with wood. I never thought about how slippery they'd be. We have wood flooring on our family room stairs and it hasn't been an issue, but there aren't as many. Thanks so much for sharing. Love your runner choice.