Burning Question: Bare All?
This week’s big query is all about stairs. Namely, do you prefer them to be bare wood, plushly carpeted, or a bit of both thanks to a runner? Do you love the look of wood stairs but think they’re dangerous when it comes to kids (or just your own clumsy self)? Do you think carpeted stairs are a nightmare to vacuum? Do you adore runners or think they’re a bit too non-committal either way?
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We have (ugly) carpeting on our wood stairs, but I am nervous to remove it from a slipping hazard perspective. Not to mention, who knows what the wood underneath looks like. The carpeting is a pain to vacuum, though. Maybe a runner is the way to go??
We have a long set of stairs (14), concrete with tile over, and two little kids, so we opted for carpet, but I would have loved a runner.
Growing up we had carpeted stairs in our house and then ripped up the carpet and finished the wood below. All I can tell you is that it’s a lot harder to sneak in and out at night when you’re making ‘clunk clunk clunk” noises on wood steps… but it sure does look better. IMHO
We live in a one story, but I love the look of wood stairs, even though I hear they can be dangerous when running/quickly going down the stairs and I’m clumsy! (So it’s probably good we don’t have stairs!)
I love the look of bare wood stairs, but I have seen adults fall down those slippery stairs, and it was scary! All I can say is, no running on bare wood stairs allowed, no matter what age you are!
I don’t have a strong preference about stairs at all, although perhaps that’s because my husband vacuums them??? :)
Love, love, love my wood stairs! But we did stencil our monogram on the back of each step (that part was white) with palm trees on either side of the initial for a fun, personal touch. Stenciling was easy to do and it would be easy to change with a few quick coats of white paint.
I have recently torn up the carpeting on our basement stairs and I LOVE how fresh they feel now! One day I’ll tear up the carpeting on our main stair case; no matter how much I vacuum, they never seem to feel really clean…I’m all about wood with a runner :)
This is blowing my mind. I’ve always only had wood stairs. Growing up and in our new (old) house now. I never thought about the fact that the wood is probably more slippery. We have VERY steep stairs that I have fallen down twice already. Would a runner help to make them less dangerous?!
Yes! It would probably make it harder to fall (although carpet can be slippery too at times). But it’ll definitely be softer on the ol’ bod when you do!
xo,
s
we had hideous beige carpeting on our stairs. took it off and found builders basic stairs, ca. 1984. painted them with porch and floor paint and voila, new stairs that are much more beautiful and much easier to take care of.
To Julia, above: we had worries about slip factor and it hasn’t been an issue. We warned our kids about it and they adjusted. In the six months since we took on the project, we’ve had not a single slip at any time, and that’s from two rambunctious kids.
I love and totally prefer the look of bare wood stairs, but after a fall that left a huge bruise on my butt as well as bruising my muscle for weeks….I think some sort of carpet is needed for safety.
I’ve slipped on both carpeted and wood stairs, both are equally dangerous in socks I think. However, wood sure hurts a lot more to fall on!!
While I love the look of wood floors, carpet is our practical choice. We have to be mindful of our living siutation: we have 3 cats who LOVE hanging out on our stairs. There is wonderful ignorance with carpet, you don’t know what you can’t see. Carpet allows us to put off cleaning a little more than our tell-all hardwoods downstiars.
As for Vacuuming? Not an issue! Actually, we’ve learned that a broom works much better, so we vacuum seldom but sweep often.
I prefer bare or a runner. Of course, that’s my preference as someone who doesn’t have stairs! I have a 1940s ranch – and we’re as low and flat as you can go. If I were to buy a new house the stairs would most likely be carpeted… and I think I could deal with that. :)
Haha, I’m from Vancouver where no twenty-something in any legal trade can affor a house with stairs (make that a house – period). It would be a nice problem to have, though!
I voted that I like something fun although I don’t actually have anything fun on the stairs. We live in a three story condo (rented) and I’d love to paint something on some of the stairs but I don’t think the owner would much appreciate it. But just as I am typing I wonder if decals might be a way to go. So I voted one way but actually I have wooden stairs.
I posed this same question a few weeks ago, but it was specifically about the stairs in my own house. Overall, people seemed to like non-carpeted stairs, but the most often suggestion I got was to simply paint the entire set white. I’m planning on putting a runner up the middle for traction – we’ve only had a few weeks of bare stairs, and our dog has been slipping up and down them like a fool. I feel terrible about it, especially when the trip DOWN the stairs immediately meets our front door – ouch!
I am just going to add in that I have slid on carpeted stairs many, many times! Maybe a softer landing, but I don’t think that carpet is inherently less slippery when you are dashing around…
I like wood stairs. Something about carpeted stairs is just nasty to me. They never really get 100 percent clean. I am really not a carpet person though because I feel like it holds germs and other nasty things I don’t want to breathe every day.
The only time you really have to watch yourself on wood stairs is when you’re wearing socks!!
Bare hardwood/floor.. carpet gives me the creeps..
Ouch Meredith! Yes, put a runner on those bad boys before you break your neck!
We have fully carpeted stairs in our (rather old) house, but we went with a textured pattern that’s different from the rest of the house’s carpet to set it apart. I love it!
You have to have SOME sort of padding like a runner….Have you ever worn backless heals down a bare staircase? CLIP CLIP CLIP CLOP soooo SOOOO SOOOOO loud!
We put in cushy carpeting on our stairs when we first moved in, and while I like it.. it is a real pain in the butt to vacuum! I’d prefer hardwood stairs, with maybe a runner.. but this was a cheaper option at the time :)
I love the look of bare wood stairs plus they are easier to keep clean. They may be more slippery, but… everyone in our household has fallen way more often on the carpeted stairs that we have now, kids and adults included. Likely, it is because we feel that we can be more carefree going up and down. Ripping up the carpet, and refinishing the stairs is on the long, long, long project list.
Thanks Sherry, I can tell you what I’ll be doing this weekend! I will be buying a runner and I won’t be falling down the stairs! my backside thanks you
i love wood but if you have a kid that makes me a little nervous so a nice runner is probably the best way to go.
We live in a ranch, but the stairs down to the finished basement are carpeted. And good thing, my 8 yr. old daughter just slipped and fell down them & sustained only a small bruise. I hate to think what could have happened if not for the carpet cushioning!
For the past two houses we’ve owned, we have had wood stairs. But we also have two dogs and were worried about them slipping and falling. For a sleek modern look, we purchased FLOR tiles in colors that complemented our decor and just carpeted the treads of the steps, securing them with this special tape that is not supposed to mess up the wood underneath (pine in one instance and bamboo in the other). We’ve received tons of compliments on it. For one house (very urban modern and colorful), we cut the tiles so that there were two different colors on each step, and for the other house (which has more of a classic feel) we stuck to one color per step, but a few different colors on the staircase as a whole.
Hi guys, unrelated question. I just saw the SUPER CUTE week 9 week video of Clara! What do you guys use to record her videos? Thanks!
Hey Shunta,
We use a Flip Mino video camera. So small and easy to use!
xo,
s
We have bare wood stairs and haven’t found them to be too slippery – I guess you just get used to whatever you have. I love the ease of cleaning them and carpet just never seems to ever feel really clean. I have seen pics of stairs covered with natural sisal and I love way it looks, but I bet you’d have to change the sisal every couple of years. Does anyone have experience with a sisal runner and/or sisal area rugs?
I used to love the easy to clean bare steps, but after slipping and falling down a friends set of stairs, I will definitely use the runner.
Hello. My name is Clumsy, CEO of Break-A-Leg, LLC.
PS- hitting your head on those hard steps and then the hardwood floor hurts. And it really hurts your bum. If it means I’ll make it to another Birthday, I’ll take the small amount of added cleaning.
We have painted wood stairs (black treads and white risers). I like the graphic look of the stairs as is, but we have considered adding a runner in a fun pattern or stripe. My concern is the cleaning: our stairs do seem to get really dusty, and it’s nice to be able to simply wipe them off with a damp cloth as needed.
I HATE our carpeted stairs! It doesn’t help that they are a light beige colour and show every piece of dirt. I would prefer all wood stairs!
Definitely wood with a runner for me. I am redoing steps now so they are only wood for the time being. I was in a hurry going downstairs and completely bit it. Fortunately I only jammed my shoulder and wrist as I caught myself so avoided hitting my arse on the steps and breaking my tailbone…
So my recommendation is have the runner or slow down!
What a GREAT “burning question” — you’ve got me thinking. I’ve only ever had carpeted stairs – which I think are functional — but kind of bo-ring (and let’s face it I don’t clean them as often as I should). But my grandparents used to have some bare, extremely clean and slippery stairs — and I’ve always been deathly afraid of falling on them…even though bare stairs are truly gorgeous. Hmmmm….are there bare non-dangerous-for-the-clumsy stairs out there? :)
I have a measly 2 stairs down into my recessed den and they are carpeted. I hate them! Impossible to vacuum but at the same time I’ve slipped down them twice since I’ve been pregnant and without the carpeting I would have been much more badly injured. Plus my daughter has bonked a couple times and the carpet is good padding. If only there were an easier way to get them clean…
We just pulled out carpeting on stairs going to our second floor. Then we had hardwood oak stairs put in. They had to rebuild each step and it was about $100.00 per step. The steps are absolutely beautiful and worth every penny and will last forever. However, having non-carpeted stairs is a little hard on the knees joints, especially coming down the stairs.
We are going to put a runner on those stairs. Question: can a person pick out any carpeting and have the edges bound by carpet people and thereby make a runner? Other than that, where does a person find stair runners (other than cheap runners by the yard at Home Depot, and I DO LOVE Home Depot!)??
Thanks for any input.
Holly
Hey Holly,
We do believe that many carpets can be bound to create runners. As for finding fun runner options, we love the ones at http://www.dashandalbert.com. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I would love to see a post of different options – I have stairs that need something – but I have never been able to decide on what. I like the monogram idea – I’d love to see that.
I’m not convinced carpeted stairs are really less slip-prone. I’ve fallen down the carpeted stairs multiple times. Or maybe I’m just really klutzy? Either way, I hate cleaning carpet on stairs, so I’d prefer wood.
There are lovely wood floors in our news house, but they do scare me. I’m waiting for someone to take a spill and hoping it won’t be a little one.
We had fully carpeted steps in our rental and I hated it! My husband and I just bought a ranch so the only steps now are to the basement and they are in need of an overhaul, painted some weird gray color. I think it was on sale because the entire basement is this color. :) But definitely like the look of bare wood. Might end up painting them a cream color until we can get some new ones!
We have carpeted stairs, but the teal carpet is not our style and was in the whole downstairs when we bought this old house. We have ripped up most of (still have the playroom and sunroom to do) and the stairs are next. It is nice b/c it is comfy cushy, but the color does not match at all and I love the look of wood stairs. I wouldnt be opposed to a runner, but that would cost more money,lol. I was in a home years ago that had what was maybe a sisal runner on the stairs with maybe a black border. It was gorgeous- I loved the look. I hope the wood under our carpeted stairs is in good condition. I would love to paint the bannister rungs and side a crips white to break up all the dark wood- we have a lot of it in our house.
We had beautiful wood stairs that we refinished ourselves. When trying to sell the house we rented it for awhile to cover the costs of two house—the renter (the renter!!!) put adhesive (adhesive!!!) carpet ovals on the treads. AAARGHHH!! You can imagine the work in removing them.
I voted for BARE stairs b/c I love the look but I desperately want to rip up the carpet and replace with wood. We just aren’t quite there yet with making the change- I can’t commit to the time or money knowing everything else we still need to do.
If we do end up ripping up the carpet I would want a runner for sure to ease my fears of slips and falls.
Buy, boy, let me tell you are the stairs a witch to clean- I have to vaccuum every other day b/c we have a shedding black lab and that is BY FAR my least favorite chore.
I’m struggling with this exact dilemma in our new house right now!
It has carpet, but it’s in bad shape. I’m not sure if I want to convert it to wood or just replace the carpet.
As a rule, I’m not a fan of carpet, so of course I automatically lean towards wood, but I have a three year old, so obviously there would have to be some strict rules enforced about running on the stairs.
Oh, what to do!
This is a very timely post because my husband and I just had our downstairs oak floors sanded and refinished. Our stairs and 2nd story are all carpeted in this horrible white carpet that is about 15 yrs old–including stains and all! Ick!
Our next project will be the stairs. We have a lovely switchback staircase, and would love to do the wood treads to match now that our first floor looks so amazing! We found these unstained treads at Lowes–http://tinyurl.com/2un7dxv– wondering if anyone has had any experience doing this themselves? DH is extremely knowledgable when it comes to carpentry work, so we were thinking about giving it a shot. Plus, the estimate we got from a flooring company was ridiculous! We would be saving for a VERY long time if we had them do it.
I voted for hard wood. I love the look… but also I’m one of those weird klutzy people who trips on carpet ALL the time. Judging by my track record, I’m more likely to trip on carpet than to slip on hard wood. So, to me, hardwood is the safer option!
When we refinished our hardwoods, we refinished the stairs and the railings…they look beautiful, but they are really slippery. I have definitely fallen twice myself. We love the Alto Steps stairs treads by Liza Phillips Design, but can’t get ourselves to part with the money to buy them. They are just so awesome and stylish though. =)
Our house had ugly, dirty, sea-foam green carpeting on the stairs and upstairs landing. We ripped it out and got the hardwood underneath refinished. All along I thought I wanted a runner or carpet treads (our stairs make a right angle–runner gets tricky). After comparing the ease of wiping a Swiffer cloth over the stairs vs. vacuuming the carpeted stairs…well, that made my decision. I added a pretty $25 runner from Lowes to the landing and the stairs are bare–and SO easy to clean.
I just removed a hideous purple runner from our stairs. Not only was it ugly, it attracted dog hair like you wouldn’t believe. The bare wood is so nice to look at and not as slippery as we thought it might be. It is a little louder, but it gives it that old house sound.