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?
We’re excited to hear where you stand on the issue. In fact, we whipped up this handy little poll to keep everything tabulated:
[poll id="20"]
We’d love to hear more about why you voted the way you did, so feel free to comment away with more details.
Image courtesy of Ideal Home.
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We have ugly shaggy carpeting, which has to go, but underneath is just yucky wood, not hardwood. So I saw a how-to on dealing with this situation – remove carpet, use molding to finish the ugly sides, sand stairs, paint out the stairs, molding, banister, and install a runner (something with texture like sisal) up the middle. My older dog cannot handle slippery stairs, I am a klutz, and our younger dog moves so fast she might take a serious slide on all wood stairs, so I like the sisal in the middle idea. Seems like it would suit our budget as well.
I have fallen down carpeted stairs MANY times. And yes, they are a pain to vacuum. I would never buy a house with stairs ever again. On someone’s blog recently they showed some stairs that had been painted 2 colours – the top part (the step) was painted black and the underneath was painted white and it looked AMAZING! Was a real feature of the home, looked very stylish. It was still not enough to make me want a house with stairs again though.
I read somewhere recently about someone’s grandmother who when she was newly married couldn’t afford to buy stair carpet so made a runner using rag rugging. How cool is that?
We have hardwood stairs and while they do look lovely they can be a bit dangerous. I would love to add a nice runner.
Our stairs are bare and it does make it easy to clean. However, with a toddler and another on the way, I would love something to help with the traction so no one slips. However, to put down something nice is hard to find. Some just aren’t very attractive. You should do a post about alternatives to those or what would work best when you have children or not even just children, to help prevent slipping.
I have carpet on my very very steep stairs. It’s a pain to vacuum, but worth it for the increased safety. My neighbor said before the previous owner flipped the house, the stairs were hardwood – I can’t imagine how dangerous they would have been. The treads are extra shallow – my size 7 feet hang over the edges – and there’s an overhang that you have to duck to avoid hitting. I recently had the house appraised and the appraiser said she had never seen such steep stairs!
For awhile growing up, we lived in a townhouse with three flights of white marble stairs. They were beautiful but I remember my mom constantly complaining about how quickly they showed dirt, dust and pet hair – she had to sweep nearly daily, as there were no outlets for a vacuum.
Kids and stairs: When we moved into our home (small with a converted attic as the second bedroom), we had fully carpeted ‘floating’ stairs (no kickers). I kept the neutral, no-style carpeting because I believed it was safer for four year old feet. Well, time passed and the upstairs bedroom became my daughters’. At that point, the down side of carpets and children became evident: paint, mud, spills, drips, and so on made it next to impossible to to keep that carpet looking half way decent. Finally, I tore off the carpet and painted the steps several shades of blue. I left the paint matte, which makes it a bit harder to keep clean than gloss, but also less slippery. My compromise.
Sheesh.
This is yet another project to add to my husband’s honey-do list.
We have a charming lil Colonial with a hardwood staircase. And two kids under 3.
No one has fallen yet, but this post was a swift kick in the head to get thee to a carpet store…
When we moved into our house, we had horribly nasty green carpet on the stairs, so we ripped that out just to find even nastier lead paint underneath. We ended up sealing the steps and then painting them. Just for fun, I painted the words “Giggle, Laugh, Dream” starting on the 5th step’s toekick and ending on the 7th. I LOVE it, and we get many, many compliments when guest come over.
We recently took the runner off our stairs to refinish the wood and replace with a new runner. I’m loving the bare wood, but know it won’t be a nice come cold winter. I really like the look of the striped Dash & Albert runners. Has anyone used these as stair runners? I’m wondering how well they would hold up and ease of cleaning. Do you use padding underneath? Would love to know.
Anyone have answers for Marcie? We’re sure if you call Dash & Albert the phone reps can help you out!
xo,
s
Having fallen a number of years ago down hardwood stairs in a 150 yr old farmhouse which prompted a trip to the emergency room for a cracked elbow, I vote for a runner at the very least which provides some traction.
It may be a pain to vacuum a runner or fully carpeted stairs (which I have in my current home), but the alternative of possible broken bones or death due to slipping and hitting a hard surface trumps looking at pretty wood.
We just ripped up some grimey old navy blue carpeting and painted our stairs. They have a brown tread and a yellow and white (hand-painted) pattern on the riser. Check them out! http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=30650276&id=82800258&ref=fbx_album
Someone please help! My husband and I just bought our first brand-new home but I don’t know what to do about the carpeting on the stairs…I’m not looking forward to the yucky, worn-in look, especially with my husband’s friends coming over (all soldiers and all likely to track in dirt with those boots!) Is there some way I can protect the carpeting with a runner or stair treads? I haven’t found much about this, besides the CarpetSaver which I’ve heard is not that great.
Am I just going to have to suck it up and live with it, or is there a way to protect the carpeting? I wish I could rip it all up but that’s not an option right now :-/
I love your blog!!
Anyone have advice for Nicole?
xo,
s
We have bare wood right now but I’m looking forward to the day I install runners. The staircase is an integral part of our 3-story row home, so it’s not like we can avoid using them. But both the dog and I have slipped and fallen down the stairs (biggest tush bruise EVER!).
You are going to want something on the stairs, whether it’s a runner or carpet, for when the baby starts getting mobile. While wood stairs are great to look at, they are slippery for your little climber/walker.
My sister in law has wood stairs and I’ve fallen down them so many times in my sox that I need something to keep me on my feet.
My Husband, myself, and my three-year-old have all fallen down our carpeted stairs on several occasions. I think if you are the least bit clumsy or wear socks most of the time it won’t matter, so I say go for aesthetics.
Where did you purchase the runner you have in the photo?
Thanks
Hi Annette,
The photo is just one we sourced from Ideal Home, so unfortunately we can’t tell you where the runner came from. As for our house – we don’t have any stairs! :)
-John
Well, there’s my preference because of my lifestyle, and then there’s my design preference. My vote (lifestyle) is carpeted. I’m a klutz, and I have two large dogs who are getting on in years – they can barely navigate our laminate floors, much less able to navigate wood stairs safely.
(Repairing doggie ACLs are not cheap. You don’t wanna know how I know.)
Personally? It would be so much nicer to have clean wood, or maybe a runner. I hate dragging that vacuum up the stairs to get the copious amounts of hair the furry ones leave!
I love love love the look of dark wood stairs with a white kickplate. I think they look so classy and timeless. Our current stairs are carpeted and I hate it! Such a pain to vaccum and never look clean. My dream house will have wood stairs. :)
I bought a ranch house to avoid this problem altogether! :)
For adults, I think the most important thing is a handrail on each side of the stairwell. I am going with hardwood stairs and a sisal oval mat tacked onto each tread. I’ll get a few extra mats in case they get stained. Also, I think I’ll arrange to add extra down lighting to the stairs. Especially important with older adults. For kids, I like the carpet — and baby gates at top and bottom.