Introducing the Runrug Measuring Guide

When it comes to first impressions, your entrance way sets the interior design ‘tone’ for visitors to your home. So an attractive hallway and stair runner will make them feel warm and welcome.

However, stair and hallway runners are not only a good aesthetic choice for your furnishings; they’re also a practical and comfortable option for homeowners with hardwood floors.

A well-fitting carpet runner can create a warm padding underfoot during the winter months as well as protect your floorboards from everyday wear and tear.

For carpet runners to be of good use, it is crucial that you measure your stairs and landing correctly, in order to fit a safe section of carpeting that will not slip.

This guide is designed to help you do just that, to measure your carpet and hallway runner requirements as accurately as possible.  And here it is!

Step 1: Measure the Stairs

1. Length

You don’t need to measure every step. Just take one step and measure the tread and the riser.

Add these measurements together and then multiply by the number of steps in the staircase.

2. Width

Measure the width of one step. You should have a 5cm gap each side of your carpet runner, so subtract 10cm from this measurement and you’ll have the ideal width.

3. End Measurement

Add 10% to the total length to allow for errors and adjustments.

Step 2: Consider the Top Step

Once you reach the top of the stairs, you have two options:

1. Your carpet runner ends at the top step – when calculating the length, don’t include the top step. Instead, just add the length of the last riser.

2. Your carpet runner continues into the landing – Measure the length of your landing and add this to the length of your stairs.

This is all you need to measure a simple staircase but if you have a half landing, winder, bullnose, or would like your runner to begin in the hallway, follow these steps below.

Step 3: Measuring a Half Landing

A half landing refers to a larger, square step in the middle of the staircase. Usually, these are a feature of staircases that change angle at 90°. If your stairs do not change angle, you can ignore this step.

1. Measure the width of your half-landing step.

2. Then measure the length of your half landing step, not forgetting to include the drop over the step to meet the rest of your length of carpet.

Step 4: Measuring a Winder Staircase

Winder staircases are stairs which gradually turn at a 90° angle but have no half landing step. Again, if you do not have a winding staircase, you can ignore this step.

1. Firstly measure the width of these steps at their widest point.

2. To measure the length of the step, take your measurements at a 90° angle from where you measured the stair width, including the length of the riser below it (see diagram).

Step 5: Measuring a Bullnose Staircase

Bullnose staircases refer to stairs that have a rounded bottom step on one or both sides.

1. Measure the width of the bullnose step, around your skirting board.

2. Measure the length of the bottom step including the riser below it.

Don’t forget, here at runrug.com we cut and bind all of our lengths of carpet in-house, which means that we can customise a length of runner to fit your hallway’s exact requirements.

So get measuring and choose your favourite carpet runner design from our extensive and great value collection!