So, you’ve decided to brighten your home with a brand-new stair runner! A fantastic choice! Stair runners can be a great way to make your interior stand out, adding a touch of your personality and design taste to make your house feel like a home. They also have a range of functional benefits, such as introducing coziness underfoot, protecting your stairs from high footfall and muffling the sound of people walking on your stair treads.

However, many homeowners think they can’t install a runner in their home if they have a non-linear staircase. We are here to tell you why this isn’t the case! Whether you have a curved, an L-shaped or a winder staircase, fitting a stair runner on curved stairs takes extra steps, which, if you’re not prepared for, can leave your new stair runner looking shabby and unprofessional. When done right, the results are stunning. After all, a well-fitting stair runner for curved stairs from Runrug adds refined style that your family can admire for years.

This guide will reveal how to fit a stair runner on curved stairs, outlining all the tips and tricks for measuring and installing that you’ll need to know. We’ll also highlight the pitfalls you must avoid to get the best stair runner finish possible.

Table of Contents:

• The problem with patterns
• Tools you will need
• How to measure stairs with a turn for carpet
• How to fit a stair runner on curved stairs
• How to install a stair runner with a turn
• How to measure and install a stair runner for an L-shaped staircase

Before installing your carpet runner on curved stairs, you must first install the carpet for any straight stairs you have and then tackle the curved staircase afterwards.

For instructions on installing carpet runners for your straight stairs, read our helpful guide on How to Fit a Stair Carpet Runner. Our underlay and gripper packs are recommended when fitting your stair runner.

3. Measure the width of the riser to get the final measurement. Always allow extra carpet in your measuring to avoid mistakes and wastage. You should have a 4-sided shape that looks like a square at the bottom and a triangle on top.

4. Cut the separate pieces. Once you have your measurements, cut the pieces or order them from our website. We can produce one piece of runner for your straight stair steps (one long piece) and then separate pieces for each of your winding steps.

How to Fit a Stair Runner on Curved Stairs

Knowing how to fit a stair runner is easier than you might imagine. Now you have your separate pieces, you must fit them on your curved stairs to ensure they have the desired effect.

Instructions:

1. Position roughly. Take one piece of carpet and position it with staples to stop it from falling to get a rough idea of how it will look. Repeat this for all your curved stairs.
2. Square off the risers. When positioning your carpet runners, the carpet on the risers must be as verticle as possible.
3. Positioning the carpet runner on the step treads. The carpet runner on the curved step treads must be at similar angles.
4. Inside and outside edge. Position the carpet runner on the curved steps aligned with the inside edge (rather than the outside edge) to achieve step 3 as accurately as possible.

How to Install a Stair Runner with a Turn

When you’re happy with the alignment of your curved stair runner, you will have to install it. The steps for installing a carpet runner for curved stairs are the same as those for straight stairs. Here is our helpful step-by-step guide on how to install a carpet runner on stairs that turn.

Instructions:

1. Install your grippers and underlay (if using them). Grippers and underlay keep your stair runner in place, and underlay helps protect the surface beneath your runner. Ensure your grippers are slightly shorter than the width of your runner (1.6" - 2" on each side).
   Install your grippers at the bottom of each riser and the deepest point of the tread. Then, apply underlay to each step tread, again slightly shorter than the width of your runner and secure with your staple gun or hammer and nails.
   
2. Install your stair runner pieces. Now it’s time to install your stair runner pieces using the staple gun or your nails and hammer. Note that you’re trying perfectly to line up the inside; the outside edge will always be a bit off-kilter, but you can easily hide this with stair rods.

How to Measure and Install a Stair Runner for an L-shaped Staircase

If you have an L-shaped staircase with a sub-landing or a 90-degree turn, your stair runner’s measurement and installation process are slightly different. You can utilize two different methods.

You can install the runner on the stairs to the sub-landing and start a new piece for the next set of stairs; this is the simplest method. Or, you can perform a miter join with one of our runners, which will create a right angle, similar to the above, allowing the runner to flow across your small landing and back up the next set of steps.

How to Measure and Install a Mitre Join for Your L-shaped Stair Runner:

1. Measure your join. If you are attempting a miter join on the sub-landing of your L-shaped staircase, you will need two stair runners. Measure them like a regular straight stair runner but for both stairs. Fold the runners together as they lay on the sub-landing of your staircase and create a triangular join to determine the best place in your pattern to place the 45° miter cut.
2. Cut the runners. Cut both runners diagonally at a 45° angle where you want them to join.
3. Attach the runners. You can use a carpet adhesive to stick the two runners together. Cut a piece slightly longer than the length of the miter. Then, place the runner rugs on top and line up the edges where you want them. Use an iron on the hottest setting to iron the rug sections for up to a minute to get the glue adhesive strip to melt and bond to the runners.
4. Tidy up the edges. Push the edges of the joins together if there has been any slippage (be careful as the runner will be hot!) and trim excess fiber from the joint.
5. Finish. Don’t forget to flip over, iron from the other side, and trim the carpet adhesive so it is invisible.
6. Install. Install your stair runner with a 90-degree turn like a regular straight stair runner rug.

Discover Stair Runners at Runrug

Whether you need a stair runner for a 90-degree turn or require a stair runner on curved stairs, you should now know how to measure, fit and install one on a winding staircase.

For a wealth of stair runner options, including curved stair runners, browse our stair runner collection at runrug.com to achieve your perfect interior design stair feature.

Still Undecided about Stair Runners for Curved Stairs?

Here are some of our happy customers with their Runrug staircase runners on their curved staircases for inspiration!

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