Carpet Runner on Stairs

Did you grow up watching Disney movies? I can still sing the entire soundtrack to so many of them: The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Aladdin…. Whenever Jasmine and Aladdin boarded that magic carpet, I could imagine flying along with them. A magic carpet- how cool would THAT be? It definitely would get good gas milage- and be very eco-friendly. (wink)

Magic Carpet… Runner

As much as I would like one, I don’t have a magic carpet. (If you know how to make this happen, PLEASE let me know!) Something new in our house, though, IS a carpet. On the stairs. (To my mom it probably feels like a magic carpet- she’s been wanting us to have carpeting on our stairs in our last TWO houses. So after 13 years, her wish has come true.)

Unlike Aladdin, this carpet can only take you from upstairs to downstairs. (But let’s totally sing “A Whole New World” while we “travel” from floor to floor, ok? ) 

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Solution for Ugly Stairs

Our stairs have looked a bit… ahem, rough, for the entire 6 years we’ve lived in this house. They were carpeted when we bought it, but we had that removed before we moved in (intending on sanding and staining them soon). We actually lived with the steps like that for over a year…. (classy, huh?) Then I painted the risers white. I tried to see what sanding them would be like. I quickly realized that wouldn’t be an easy or quick fix. So, I gave up the idea of having them stained. We picked a brown color that matched our flooring, painted them and called it “done’ for the time being.

(I am a lazy DIY-er….and one who likes immediate gratification on projects.) While they looked better than when we first moved in, they still looked a bit…sad.

Poor, tired, overworked stairs. We appreciate you, really. Yes, we “walk all over you”, but it isn’t done with a malicious intent. It’s just…the life of a staircase.

But that doesn’t mean, you don’t deserve to have a little fun.

Stripes on the Stairs

I had been eyeing a striped carpet runner that I saw on @claytonmakes account on Instagram. It made their stairs so fun and happy looking. I decided that was just what our stairs needed. A little digging and I was able to find out that it was a Dash and Albert carpet. To get what was needed to cover the steps, I would need to spend around $270- more than I wanted, especially for an experiment. (I didn’t know if a runner would hold up on our stairs….) But the website had a “Deal of the Week” clearance section and I was able to find this apple green and white striped carpet for about $60. A new look for our stairs for $60? Count me in!

Staples in Carpet Runner

At first I was a little worried about the seeing the staples, but after living with the carpet for a couple weeks, it really doesn’t bother me. You don’t notice them really and life marches on- literally (we are marching up and down these stairs all day long). Who has time to stop and notice?

The next time we put a carpet runner on the stairs, I might try and pick a color scheme and pattern where the staples would be a little more camouflaged. Young House Love. did just that! They have a tutorial that I would highly recommend reading for putting a runner on stairs. It’s even a “Dash and Albert” runner (just a different pattern than the one I found on clearance). Knowing they used this same type of rug and have been pleased with how it has held up makes me feel really good about this $60 project. They even offer some tips for making the staples practically invisible! (Really, you can’t see them!) Check out their tutorial and tips here.

Saying “goodbye” for now, friend….I’m off to travel on my magic carpet. This new carpet runner does take me to one of my favorite places….my bed, so in that sense it IS magical. And each morning I descend those stairs, “A whole new world” awaits me…. Let me know in the comments where you would want a “magic carpet” to take you.