Stair runner installation diy

It was sooooo tight. It was almost impossible to squeeze a body in there, let alone an office chair. We decided to rip out the desk and that entire wall to open up the space. Then, with new floors, new trim, and a metal railing…it really felt completely different.

And this is how our staircase looked for the last four months — pretty, updated, but still a tiny bit bare. Luckily, I was home and heard the big thud and helped the poor guy up. He had a big bruise on his butt for a week!

In fact, that day I went and ordered rug samples so we could get this project moving forward. I had heard good things about rugs from Annie Selke , so I started there. My main goal was to choose a runner that was durable and would hide dirt well. Here are the ones I ordered…. Immediately, I knew that the cream sample was out. So, immediately that was out of the running. I then narrowed in on the two black ones. I liked the one with the big stripes the best, but a few people on Instagram cautioned me from using it because they have it in their home and the white parts look dirty all the time.

In the end, this fabric was the winner and I ended up finding it on Wayfair for less than Annie Selke! The only thing I was nervous about was the horizontal stripe along the runner. When installing, it can be tough almost impossible to keep that line perfectly straight the entire time.

To calculate this, measure the length of the tread the stair where you step , the height of the riser the vertical part of the stair , and the depth of the nose the curved part of the stair. Adding all of these together and multiplying that sum by the number of stairs will give you the total length in inches that you need to buy for your runner.

Because we have a landing, we had to include that area as well. In the end, I ordered four stair runners which would give me some extra fabric to work with.

This was the first time Finn and I had ever tackled a project like this, so we did a lot of research ahead of time.

We read tutorials, figured out our final supply list, and searched and searched for a good solution to add the stair runner to the landing more on that soon. We learned a lot along the way and I want to share my best tips to install a stair runner with you!

We figured out the width of our step, the width of our runner, and determined that we would need three inches on each side of the runner when it was installed. When I ordered the stair runner, I also ordered this carpet pad. Not only will the carpet pad make your runner a bit cushier, but it will also help keep your stair runner in place a must! We cut our rug pad to size making strips for the top of each stair.

I highly recommend picking up new fabric scissors for this project! To attach each carpet pad to the stairs, I used carpet tape. And the best part? I was able to follow along with her tutorial. The first step was to rip up the existing runner, and then give the stairs a coat of paint. I used a high gloss white paint that would be super durable, and only had to paint the side of the treads and risers. Then it was time to break out the rugs, some scissors, a ruler, and my staple gun this Stanley staple gun is awesome and a must-have DIY tool!

I lined up the rug at the top of the stairs and measured out the space on either side to ensure it was even. Once I knew that number, I went and made little marks on both sides of each step, as a guideline to follow when my rug got to that step.

Then it was just a matter of stapling the rug down. I started by stapling under the lip of the top stair, and then pulling the rug tightly down the riser, and staple it along the bottom. Then once again pull the rug over the tread of the stair, back down under the lip, and staple. I would start with say 4 staples under the lip to get the rug in place, and then add another bunch of staples to ensure it was secured really well.

I found that the staples were best placed near each white stripe I would try to get it at the border between the white and the grey , and would staple vertically — in line with the stripe. In the pic below you can see a few of the staples right under the lip of the top tread, and then there are some again at the bottom of the riser.

When I came to the end of a rug and it was time to staple down a new one, I would cut the previous rug right underneath the lip of the tread, and then staple the new one overtop, matching the stripes as well as I could.

Before you begin installing the stair runner, the very first thing you need to do is clean your stairs. If you follow me on Instagram , you know that I went back and forth on preparing my stairs. Here are a few options: paint the treads and risers, paint just the risers, refinish the wood, or install the runner over the stairs as is.

I decided to leave my steps as is. The most wear was in the middle where the rug would cover. I did however do some pretty deep cleaning and scrubbing. I also had some paint splatter that I got off with a razor blade very carefully. But really this step for me was just a whole lot of elbow grease! A lot of stairs start off open, and end up with walls on both sides.

If this is the case and some of your steps are different widths you have to determine what looks better. I have a newel post at the bottom and it affected the two bottom steps. I centered everything up on the majority of the top steps.

To measure and cut for the padding I first measured the width of my actual carpet runner. To measure for the depth of the pad I measured from the back to the front right before the tread starts to round off. Make sure you have the same distance on either side of the carpet pad to double check your center! Installing the stair runner comes next. Starting at the top if your rig is like mine it has a nice folded edge that you can start with. I placed this under the lip of the floor on the first riser and begin stapling across the top.

Again, starting in the middle and working my way out. I alternated sides as I moved out as well. Make sure you are starting off level, because you will be going straight down and if you start on an angle, the runner will slowly go to one side.

You can see in the picture where I began. Once you have that top edge stapled in place you will pull the runner out and use the carpet tucker to get it down into the corner as tight as you possible can. Start in the center and place one staple. Then continue using your carpet tucker to keep the rug taunt and even as you staple going out towards the edges.

Make sure you are staying straight as you work your way down. You will want there to be the same amount of stair exposed on either side of the rug. I chose to not wrap the rug around the lip of my steps, and just let it fall straight down into the crack. If you want to wrap it around the edge you would need to use the carpet tucker to pull it tight under that lip and staple along the bottom side. The biggest question I got when sharing this on IG Stories was can you join multiple rugs or does it need to be one long piece.

You can definitely join runners. To do this I used the runner until I got to where I stapled it long the back corner of the riser. Then I cut off the excess. Then you will take a new runner, cut it off so that that pattern matches up, fold the unfinished edge under and staple along the back corner. When you get to the end, just simply cut off the excess, fold it under and staple it along the top edge of your trim. Looking for more projects? Ashley is a stay at home mom to three beautiful children.

She and her husband recently settled in the Midwest after spending the beginning of their marriage in Texas what a change! Together they are raising their children, and turning their house into a home one project at a time. Ashley enjoys decorating and crafting, but her true passion lies in redoing old furniture and making things look old.

This looks absolutely beautiful! My stairs are only 34 inches wide. Do you think the runner is too wide at 31 inches?