Stair carpet runner - good idea?

mothemoneysaver

Hi

We are changing the flooring in our house and for the stairs we were thinking of having a stair runner with the white painted wood of the stairs on the sides of the runner.

However our tradesman has suggested just to carpet the whole stairs rather than having a runner, as he said stairs are often prone to cracks and this may look aesthetically displeasing with time.

I'm surprised why carpet runners are so popular if this were the case?

Spies

Are they popular? The only house I've seen them in is my grandma's. 

[Deleted User]

I think they look like you haven’t ordered enough carpet, they just look silly nowadays.

Bendy_House

Tee-hee, the folk on here!

If you like them, Mo - and I have seen ones that look lovely - then fill yer boots.

Your tradesman is too pedantic for his own good! Dearie me, as if you wouldn't have exposed stair treads 'cos of possible future cracks!

I take it you have seen the sort of thing you want - you are confident of the style and colour and stuff? Cool, go for it.

ChasingtheWelshdream

Well I have my heart set on exactly that and have lots of Pinterest pics saved. We have a large period hallway and flooring and I think it will look lovely.

Its your house, do what you want. (If you wanted green painted walls, but your tradesman didn’t like green, would you change your mind?)

Doozergirl

We have a runner.  The stairs are painted black, so the sides need dusting every week, but it is a new staircase, so not cracking at all and does look lovely.  Matches the dog.  

In our old house the stairs couldn't handle the teenage boy very
well.  A runner wouldn't
been a good idea. 

goldfinches

Doozergirl said:

We have a runner.  The stairs are painted black, so the sides need dusting every week, but it is a new staircase, so not cracking at all and does look lovely.  Matches the dog.  

In our old house the stairs couldn't handle the teenage boy very
well.  A runner wouldn't
been a good idea. 

That is gorgeous, the dog's not bad either! I have serious staircase envy now to go with my envy of your kitchen cupboards.

[Deleted User]

I love the style of the stair runner, always have !
As for the nonsense about cracked wood at the sides ..... honestly, what some people say 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
They're clearly not people that have their own sense of style. 

Eldi_Dos

In wedding venues one of the most popular spots to have photos taken is the stylish staircase and they almost invariably have a runner.

 Cannot understand why OP's been given such advice.

@Doozergirl, love the attention to detail, stripes on landing matching up with ones on stairs, really sets it off.

Martin_the_Unjust

Well I’m going with your tradesman here.

Its not at all unusual for stairs to flex a bit and painting the edges white will enable any cracks that do occur to be really obvious.

If you happy to live with them then go for it.

Eldi_Dos

Cannot say I have seen cracks developing on treads but if such a thing was to occur it would be better if they were obvious rather than covered up.