A New Runner for the Farmhouse Stairs

THE FARMHOUSE

File this one away under, “project I debated for so long I put it off for 7 years, and in the end it only took a few hours”. I definitely finished this one and shook my head wondering why on earth we lived with that worn brown runner for so long. But you live and learn. Let me show you the new stair runner…

stair runner, sconce, original fir floors and woodwork

Here’s the same angle, back in 2016 on the day we moved in.

Before we added a new stair runner on our old stairs at the Farmhouse. | the Grit and Polish

The original runner was actually nice carpet, but the brown color always felt so ho hum and did nothing to highlight the beauty of these dark wood stairs. When we found our new house and realized we’d be selling our Farmhouse, I knew I had to tackle this project before moving. So I searched for a new runner and read up on how-to guides. Here are a few things I considered…

Material (natural vs. synthetic)

I originally planned to use an indoor-outdoor rug, but after doing some research, I landed on wool. Personally I like the feel of natural fibers on my feet better and after finding Annie Selke’s ‘How to Choose a Stair Runner Rug’ guide, I was reassured wool would hold up to stair traffic. According to the rug experts over at Annie Selke: “Tightly woven and extremely durable and long-lasting, woven wool area rugs are a terrific option for the stairs. They can take a beating for years with little sign of wear, are easy to vacuum and spot clean, and look good as new with regular maintenance. The low profile and lighter weight of woven wool rugs makes them easy to position around stair risers and landings, and simple to staple in place“.

Color and pattern

I decided to pick an easy, non-polarizing color that would highlight the dark wood stairs, aka blue. I didn’t want anything too light or it would stain easily but I also didn’t want it to be too dark otherwise it might blend into the dark wood stairs like the previous brown runner did. I also looked for something with a bit of a pattern to help hide any future stains. This runner fits the bill nicely plus it looks great next to the office’s Hale Navy walls and the guest bedroom’s Light Blue walls.

what I selected

After looking at a million and one runner options, I landed on this blue-and-white number. It’s a favorite and one I used in our kitchen remodel. After not finding anything I liked better, I decided why mess with a good thing and ordered 4 2.5’ x 8’ runner from Amazon. They arrived in a couple days and we had it installed in an afternoon. I ended up with a little extra material on 2 of the runners but I definitely needed all 4!

how-to guides

We were in a bit of a hurry to get this runner installed so I didn’t document our process, but here are a couple of guides I used as reference: Annie Selke's install guide and Yellow Brick Home's how-to process in 10 steps. I found Kim and Scott’s blue tape trick incredibly helpful to keep the runner straight on the stairs.

Adding a new blue and white stair runner at the Farmhouse. | the Grit and Polish

flush mount light

Before-and-Afters

Here are a couple before-and-afters just because they’re so satisfying! This first before is from the day we moved into the Farmhouse back in 2016.

And these next two photos are both from this year but the first is from June and the second is from September, after we refinished the floors and added the stair runner. More on the big hardwood floor refinish soon!