Mar 30, 2025

Stair Runners, Carpet Runner & Staircase Runners

Stair Runners, How Wide Should They Be? What Kind Should I Buy?

Are you Confused? Well, these are all search terms for the same thing!

You might be looking for a piece of carpet to go down the middle of your stairs this would be one of these terms!

We are talking about stair runners carpet runners stair runner rugs, and the like all the same meaning and do all the same things, and we love them for it!

Stair-Runner

Stair Runners

Stair runners come in many sizes, colors, styles, and materials!

Let's start with stair runner sizes. Stair runner size depends on how wide your staircase is.

Some staircases could take a 24-inch carpet runner

Some staircases need a 5-foot wide stair runner rug, but these are some extreme cases; at least the 5-foot wide one is

Wide-long-stair-runners

The Most Popular Width Stair Runner

1/ 28 inch stair runner is by far the most popular stair runner width, and the reason for that is that many staircases are 33 inches to 36 inches wide at least in the part of the world where I am, and a 28-inch stair runner fits just perfectly at that width.

Let's do some math- If you're Staircase is 36 inches wide minus a 28-inch carpet runner, that equals 8 inches, and that means that your stair runner would reveal 4 inches of your beautiful wood staircase on each side, which is absolutely perfect!

Here is an Example of a 28-inch staircase runner below with a 4-inch reveal 28-wide-stair-runner-sold-by-the-foot

Second Most Popular Size Carpet Runner Width is 32 inches wide!

A 32-inch wide stair runner rug is great for 46-inch wide staircases with spindles attached to one side on the stair treads. Let's give a few examples here; visual works great in this case

wide-stair-runner

This Stair Runner Rug is Anderson Tuftex Marrakech Indigo

On the above staircase, we have a very wide staircase, and we decided with the client that a 32-inch wide stair runner would work out best in this situation, seeing that the client wanted to show off the beauty of the hardwood stairs, but also showcase this beautiful Anderson Tuftex Stair Runner.

Length of a Stair Runner

Now let's Talk length, How long does a stair runner come?

Well, that's a Good Question. Some Stair runners come 50 ft long, so you can install them in one piece; some stair runners come in many pieces and have to be spliced together, so to speak.

I personally like full-length carpet runners and stair runners. As a DIYer, piecing stair runners together is not that hard, but installing a full-length Stair runner has less chances of fraying and less chance for you to make a mistake.

A typical Staircase has 12.5 stairs, and each stair is usually around 18 to 20 inches from tread to tread, depending on the nose of the stair

(that's why we always measure)

How-to-measure-a-stair-runner

Let's do some math

Let's say a typical staircase has 12.5 stairs, including the top riser (hence the 5)

And each stair measures from tread to tread 19 inches (12.5 x 19 = 237.5). Divide that by 12 = 19.79 ft. Round that up to 20 ft, or even better, 21 ft Now you know how long your stair runner should be, and with that little bit extra, you won't be short!

Stair Runner Ideas & Colors

Wow, there are literally thousands of stair runner ideas and colors, and we don't have enough time to show you all of them, but let's talk about some super popular carpet runner ideas and some stair runner fundamentals

Popular Stair Runners Ideas

1. Herringbone Stair Runners are all the Rage

Herringbone-Stair-Runner

2. Geometric Patterned Carpet Runners

Geometric-stair-runner

3. Stain proof Carpet Runners

Stain-proof-stair-runner

4. Berber Stair Runners

brown-Berber-carpet-runner

5. Cheap Stair Runners

Cheap-stair-runner

Stair Runner Materials

Last but not least, Stair Runner Materials

Stair runners and carpet in general come in many different materials such as polypropylene, Tryexta, polyester, nylon, and wool.

Polyester tends to be a fast-wearing carpet, in some cases, a great carpet for flippers and stagers, not so great, but it can look amazing!

Polypropylene is your Typical Berber carpets, which have a very good wear reputation, but can show pulls with certain vacuums, and is used for stair runners

Tryexta, Also Known as stain-proof carpet fantastic for stair runners and really a great carpet for any room.

Nylon Carpet is amazing and one of the best-wearing carpet stair runners out there. Highly recommended for foot traffic, especially on stairs and staircases

Wool carpet is a favorite being that's it hypoallergenic and all-natural. It's a very popular and expensive carpet for stair runners and absolutely beautiful!