Our Stair Runner Reveal!
We had our sisal stair runner (gifted by Annie Selke) installed a few weeks ago and I’m excited to finally be sharing all details!
When we initially renovated our home, we had the treads of the stairs sanded and stained to match the white oak floors throughout the rest of the house. Given that the wood species of the treads are a red oak, the stain wasn’t a perfect match and the whole look of the staircase just fell really flat for me. I knew adding a stair runner would be great way to add some dimension and interest to this little space.
I went back and forth between choosing a colorful runner or keeping it neutral but ultimately I decided it would be smarter to choose something that could evolve with the design of our home. Who knows if we’ll eventually add wallpaper, wainscoting, or even paint in the future?! I wanted to be able to keep my options open.
After testing out multiple rug samples, I decided on Annie Selke’s Corden Woven Sisal Custom Rug in the color “Natural.” I loved how the thick weave gave so much dimension and the color complimented the tone of our floors while adding some necessary warmth.
I love sisal rugs because they are easily cleaned and are extremely hard wearing which is ideal for high traffic areas like a staircase! Sisal rug’s are also coarse enough to cut down the chances of slipping but still feel soft enough for bare feet.
To figure out the length of our stair runner, we measured both the tread and riser and then multiplied the total inches per stair by the total number of steps.
For the width, our stairs are three feet wide so I went with two and a half feet wide runner. This allowed there to be three inches of “breathing room” on either side of the runner.
Sisal material is really thick so we chose to have our stair runner professionally installed. I learned that some carpet companies will install stair runners for you even if the runner is purchased elsewhere. This was a huge win for us!
For comfort, we also had them install extra thick padding on each tread for a luxuriously cushioned feel on each step.
The sisal stair runner material added all the warmth and texture our staircase was so desperately needing and now this little space that felt so stale to me now feels fresh again! I now have my eye on these brass stair rods which I think would elevate the look even more - what do you think?
