*This tutorial was originally published in 2013 & updated on the date seen above
Installing a stair runner may seem intimidating, and the good news is that adding ours was pretty darn easy and we love how it looks (and feels underfoot). So here’s a full tutorial for how to install one yourself, including how to join two runners if one isn’t long enough for your stairs, how to finish off the bottom cleanly, and how to give the stairs and railings a fresher look too.
Update: For anyone asking for the rug info, here’s an affiliate link to the exact one we used.
Project Step By Step
The whole project took us about 20 hours in total, but that included more than just installing the runner itself. We also gave the whole staircase a fresher look with painted risers and darker stained railings. So here are the total steps for the makeover, but we’ll be picking up around Step #5 today.
- Priming and painting the trim and railing
- Selected your runner (more on that and the previous bullet here)
- Remove the old carpet and rug pad
- Paint the stairwell walls and ceiling (more on that and the previous bullet here)
- Prim and Paint the risers
- Stain the railings
- Measure and mark your runner placement
- Cut and lay out the rug pads
- Install the runner (including where to staple and how to keep ends looking finished)
- High five like maniacs!
How Much Did This Project Cost?
Here’s a general cost breakdown of what it took us to complete this project:
- Two runners (here’s an affiliate link to the exact ones we used): $199
- Electric stapler & staples: $54
- Rug pad: $39
- PolyShades stain & brush for the railings: $11
- Primer & paint for the risers, posts, trim, walls, and the ceiling: $0 (we had it already, but a guess for what you’d spend might be $80)
- TOTAL: $283 (or $363 if you need to buy primer, trim paint, and wall paint)
We read here that it would typically cost about $318 for a similar installation job by a pro – which doesn’t include the cost of the runners or the padding themselves (or the staining/painting/priming that we squeezed into this makeover), so this could easily been twice as much if we had hired it out.
Preparing And Painting The Stairs
Wednesday, November 6th – LATE AFTERNOON: Time to paint those risers. Since we knew it would take lots of coats, Sherry taped off the bottoms to make things speedier than having to meticulously edge each time and I applied a coat of primer (since it’s low-VOC, but not no-VOC) to block any wood bleed.
Wednesday, November 6th – NIGHT: With the primer dry, Sherry applied the first coat of paint (it’s the same no-VOC Simply White in semi-gloss that we’ve used on trim everywhere else).
Thursday, November 7th – MORNING & AFTERNOON: Sherry applied coat #2 of paint and I went in for coat #3 later, just to be sure we get a good solid white tone on each tread.
Thursday, November 7th – NIGHT: Right before bed, I applied a coat of Rejuvenate to each tread to restore the wood finish (more on that here). I worked my way up the stairs right before bed so that it could cure overnight while we were all up there sleeping. In the morning we woke up to a much fresher looking staircase. We love the look of bare stairs like this, so we soaked up this pretty sight, and then pushed onward towards our goal of a fresh new runner (we’d just prefer some extra padding with young kids in the house to cushion the blow if anyone does fall).
Painting & Staining The Railing
Friday, November 8th – MORNING: Since we wanted to get as much messy stuff done before the runner was installed (stain drips on a new carpet = the stuff of nightmares) we dove into staining the railings a deeper tone so they’d pick up some of the black in the runner (more on what inspired us to do that here). We found this PolyShades stain + polyurethane that didn’t require any heavy sanding (just a light roughing up) in a nice deep color, so we grabbed it.
Unlike stain, you don’t wipe off the excess once it’s applied. The railing on the right side of the stairs is pictured here, but I also did this to the long rail that goes up the left side of the wall (we had removed that when we painted the walls and ceiling last week and decided to just keep it off so I could easily do that staining outside).
Friday, November 8th – AFTERNOON: The first coat didn’t quite dry as dark as we hoped, but we crossed our fingers that a second one would do the trick. The first should’ve been dry after 6 hours but it was still tacky, so rather than wait an unknown amount of time for it to cure, we switched gears and started painting the newel posts, which we decided would look best white like the other stair posts after seeing some Pinterest images like that and loving them. Like the risers, Sherry taped it off so I (the less perfect cutter-inner of the two of us) could apply the primer.
Friday, November 8th – NIGHT: Sherry applied the first coat of white paint (also Simply White) to the posts while I read weird Buzzfeed articles to her out loud to pass the time. Oh yeah, we know how to party on a Friday night.
Saturday, November 9th – MORNING: Sherry applied coats 2 and 3 of white paint to the posts about three hours apart.
Saturday, November 9th – AFTERNOON: With the post paint dry and the first coat of stain on the railing more than fully cured, I could go back to applying our second coat of stain. Beforehand, I had to rough it up slightly with some fine steel wool. Thankfully the second coat made it darker, just like we hoped. We were aiming for it to pick up on the black stripes in the runner as well as the dark espresso console table and the oil-rubbed bronze light fixture nearby in the foyer.
Planning And Marking The Runner Placement
Saturday, November 9th – LATE AFTERNOON: With all of the messy stuff done, we could finally turn our attention to the runner. Thanks to a couple of helpful tutorials (like Rhoda’s and Jenny’s) we had some goods tips to go off of – like when Jenny mentioned that she wished she had measured to keep hers centered so the stripes aligned all the way down. Thanks to her post, we decided to create some tape guides to follow so we could make sure the runner didn’t shift from side to side as we move down the staircase (which can be especially obvious when it has stripes). In order to be centered, our guides needed to be set 4″ from each side of the wall, so we marked that line with some tape.
We read that if your stairs widen on one side at the bottom like ours do, it’s recommended that you center them on the narrowest part of the staircase, which means the part up top (if we had centered the runner on those few wider steps at the base of the stairs, it would have rubbed against the right wall on all of the upper steps and looked a lot less balanced).
Adding Your Rug Pad
We also wanted to use some sort of padding to keep the runner from sliding and to add some extra cushioning, but we wanted to be sure to go with something that wouldn’t adhere to or damage the wood stairs, just in case we want to go runner-less again sometime when the kiddos are older, so we got a standard 5 x 8′ rug pad at Target and discovered that cutting it in half made it just about the perfect width.
We took the time to cut individual pads for each riser (long enough to wrap around the nose of them) so that we could get this all done for the cost of just one rug pad instead of needing to buy two. We didn’t adhere these at all, knowing that stapling through the runner on top of them would hold everything nice and firmly.
Starting Your Runner Installation
Sunday, November 10th – MORNING: We took Saturday night off to do something fun, so Sunday was crunch time. Less than 24 hours ’til posting time. Yikes! We started off by using an electric stapler like this one to set the edge of the runner right under the nose at the top. Our runner had a pattern all the way to the end and the rolled edge was barely noticeable, but had it been more distinct, we would’ve cut off the edge and rolled it under so the pattern would look seamless instead of having an obvious border at the top.
We noticed the first staple that we shot through the runner was more visible than we’d like (since it was a slice of silver on a black stripe), so we took a second to color the tops of a row of staples with a black Sharpie (a trick Sherry saw on Pinterest for making decorative gold staples). Then we were sure to staple only into the dark parts of the rug so they’d blend in. Worked like a charm.
With a row of staples in at the top, we then pulled it tight along the riser and Sherry stapled a row along the bottom into the riser, not the tread. We wanted to avoid stapling into the tread since that’s where people would be stepping and we didn’t want the staples to “surprise” any bare feet (even though they generally sink into the rug and aren’t pointy or anything).
Sherry had been firing a staple into each of the big stripes (the pink ones in the diagram below) but we found it wasn’t enough – at least at the top under the nose, where it seemed to sag a bit between staples. So she went back and did another row of staples up top (the blue ones that you see below). Here’s a sense of where we put staples and in what order:
How To Adjoin Two Runners Seamlessly
One runner wasn’t enough to get all the way down the stairs, so at some point we knew we’d have to join the second one as seamlessly as possible to the first one, so we wanted them to meet under a tread nose where the joint would be least visible. First we snipped off the end of the first one so it would wrap just below the nose.
Then we stapled that one under the nose, just like we had done on all the steps before it.
I didn’t get a good picture of the next part (picture us sweating bullets and using all available hands) but we just lined up the edge of the new runner as flush under the nose as possible. Our goal was for the edge to catch your eye as little as possible, so by tucking it under the nose of the stair, it seemed as hidden as we could get it. Can you see the seam in the photo below?
You really have to look for it, but it’s under the nose of the the step there on the bottom. The line where they meet is a little more defined than the underside of the other steps if you’re this close (Sherry was about a foot away when she snapped this photo) but if you’re standing up you really can’t detect it at all, which is a relief because during this “joining of the rugs” we were both really nervous that it would be bulky and obvious.
Finishing Off Your Stair Runner Installation
The other tricky part was the very end, where we also had to cut off some excess runner, leaving about an inch that could be rolled under.
By rolling it under and stapling it like this, it meant that our cut didn’t have to be perfect and the edge would look more finished (and would be protected from fraying).
I’ve kinda broken from the timeline structure that this post started with, but despite the many steps to installing the runner, it only took us about three hours. In fact it was the fastest step of the whole stairway makeover process (removing those old staples and painting the ceiling while balancing on a ladder were waaay more intense). So to anyone wondering if you can install a stair runner, we’d rank this task as simple and straightforward. Especially if you spring for an electric stapler, which really made things easy.
We’re both pleasantly surprised at how soft the runner is (since some flat weaves can be scratchy). As for the light color, we’re a no-shoes household, so that should cut down on lots of potential dirt or staining (we’ve had light colored rugs like this in rooms like our living room and kitchen for years without any issues). We also hear that Dash & Albert rugs hold up well (Sherry’s friend with two young kids has a white and brown one on her steps and is really happy with it) but we’ll keep you posted either way!
Oh and this photo shows why we opted not to stain the vertical newel posts on the railing that you see below on the left (and painted them white instead). Since we knew the railing on the right would just be a clean dark stripe on that side of the stairs (with nothing vertical going on) we thought something dark on the left going down to the floor might look unbalanced.
We’re really happy with how it turned out. The color scheme and pattern of the runner are still pretty classic and not too wacky, but the high contrast elements still make it interesting.
We especially like how the dark stripe in the runner and the new railing color ties into the light fixture and the console table. If only there weren’t all that blue trim winking at us from the dining room…
Oh yeah, and to complete my timeline…
Sunday, November 10th – EVENING: Finally finished sizing pictures and writing a super long post about the previous week of stair projects. Poor Sherry’s gotta proofread this sucker in the morning. Sorry honey! But the good news is, we made it!
What did you guys do this weekend? Any runners going in, or old carpet coming out? How about using dark stain on something to accent it? We’re really having fun with contrast these days, which is admittedly something that used to scare us. Change is good.
Update – Wanna know where we got something in our house or what paint colors we used? Just click on this button:
Note: this project was originally posted in November 2013
*This post contains affiliate links to products we have purchased and loved *
Holy Moly! Makes me want stairs!!! Love the black and white………..so classic
Just beautiful! Nice work.
It looks awesome and so chic ! One question though : how will you keep the bottom of your runner clean when you will mop your lobby ? Did you seal it in some way ? Take care.
I think I’ll just do that part by hand with a wet cloth so I don’t get it on the rug and use a vacuum to grab anything against it (so I’m not getting the runner wet).
xo
s
What a satisfying end result!
Unrelated question: where did you find the huge basket under the entry console table? I’m looking for something similar for mine.
HomeGoods! It’s my pillow and basket haven (although I’m forbidden to get anymore by a certain husband of mine…)
xo
s
Wow! Looks great. I can’t believe how far the entry has come, it looks amazing :)
It’s really a beautiful job, I love watching the transformation.
I’ll be honest, when you guys first mentioned the darker railing I was nervous… but it looks phenomenal! The wall color is perfection, too, by the way. Great job.
Thanks Brad!
-John
it really is amazing how this fresh and zingy space elevates the whole house. looking at the b4 pic with the tired balusters and the skanky carpet and still unable to rid myself of the image of all that confining blue trim reminded me of what a downer it was. now it’s airy, textured, poppy and alluring people up the stairs.
and, coloring the staples with the sharpie, genius. great post, thank you.
Stunning!
I would love to know where you purchased the runner.it looks fabulous!!!
If you click the link in the bulleted budget breakdown (the one before the rug price) you’ll see that info. Hope it helps!
xo
s
It looks awesome! You guys have given me hope that I can get mine done (finally), though I’m still trying to find the perfect runner.
This weekend, we did some painting (repainting a small rocking chair for my daughter’s room.– Bright Purple.)
I always want a little bit more color. I think I might have left the front balustrade/post wood toned to match the handrail, but I like how the back one blends into the wall.
Looks a lot less 80s!
And in strangeness, as my folks were hanging out with John’s folks this weekend, I had a dream that I ran into J, S & C in an elevator and Clara dropped her hat. I picked it up and ran after you, but you didn’t want it since it had been on the ground. Very strange.
So funny!
xo
s
It looks amazing! I love it! And, I have to say, great minds think alike. :) My stairs are so similar although you guys did it better. We had no idea what we were doing but wanted it done NOW so we didn’t plan ahead as well with the rug pad. Great job!
http://www.charmingdoodle.com/2012/03/winning-runner-revealed.html
That looks gorgeous Elisa! I LOVE it!!
xo
s
It looks amazing! I was wanting to paint the risers on my staircase also, and was wondering what brand of primer you used? And how smelly is it? Im pregnant and would have the hubby do that part but may wait until after the baby is born if it’s too smelly. Thanks so much!!
We generally seek out low-VOC primer (we haven’t found any that’s no-VOC and truly block wood bleed – although some say they do but we have experienced bleed and then had to redo it). Our favorite is Smart Prime by Zinsser. Hope it helps.
xo,
s
This looks really cool but looking down and up is almost… too busy? Too stripey? What I am trying to get at is that the picture made me a bit dizzy and the stairs look almost indistinguishable? Is it that way in real life? I feel like I would misstep and fall if I wasn’t paying close attention…
In photos I think graphic black and white stripes will always read a lot crazier than they do in person. Thankfully they’re just as easy to navigate as they were before, and even Clara and Burger have had no issues on them (even sleepy Clara after a nap yesteday) so I think it’s just the photos making them more intense :)
xo
s
Looks absolutely amazing! Such a freshened up staircase!!
What was this about? https://www.younghouselove.com/2013/09/page/7/ seems like you guys wasted your Saturday night. I’m so confused.
I mean Friday night.
The skinny posts had already been painted, but see the thicker newel posts on each end? They were brown wood (see the photo above that one) so we painted them white. There are two downstairs and two at the top of the stairs next to Clara’s room that you can see in this pic).
xo
s
Love love love it! It goes great with the Moravian star ceiling light, the floor, everything! I’m loving the black and whitelook!
When I’ve used the PolyShades stain + polyurethane in the past, I had troubles getting an even coat. Any tips on how to apply this evenly?
Did you use a fine grade (000) of steel wool between coats? That seemed to help with ours. Also waiting for it to fully dry between coats, and trying just to apply a nice even layer seemed to do the trick. Hope it helps!
xo
s
This looks so nice I’d be afraid to walk on it! I’d be climbing up the sides so I only touch the wood.
Also I am interested in no shoe households – this has never been my experience growing up or as an adult. I personally enjoy wearing shoes around the house – they keep my feet warm and often from smelling. lolz Maybe I’m weird!
That’s so funny, Robin! I live in Canada, and I don’t know of anyone who wears shoes in their house. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to keep the floors clean if you’re wearing them indoors! I guess it’s all about what you’ve grown up with :)
Looks amazing :) I think I’m gonna suggest to my mum to paint her stair’s risers white – It looks gorgeous :)
Looks great! I might have missed it, but did you ever consider staining the treads the same color as the railing? Just curious!
Since the entire upstairs of our house are hardwood floors that match the tone of the stairs (which run right into them at the top there) we didn’t want dark stairs that run into a mid-toned upstairs hallway, so we went with dark stripes in the runner, the doorknobs, and the railings (as well as the console table and the chandelier in the foyer) so they all tied together. To us it’s like putting a dark wood console table on top of a mid-toned wood floor – it seems to be compatible even though it doesn’t match.
xo
s
This is one of my favorite projects you guys have done! Turned out fantastic!!!
Thanks Samantha!
xo
s
Hi, I’m a reader from the Philippines and thank you so much for the mention on your blog. A little help can go a long way.
My heart got a little “kilig” (Filipino word) with this gesture by one of my favorite blogs.
Sending my love from the Philippines!
P.S. I would have gone up and down on that staircase until I’d get tired, because it’s that amazing. :)
Oh Isabelle, we’re sending you so much love! We can’t even imagine what it must be like, but there are so many people over here who are keeping you guys in their thoughts right now.
xo
s
Such a great runner.
Yay! It looks great :) You have inspired me to finally finish ours…we ripped up the carpet and padding and the thousand staples in August 2012 LOL. This is just what I needed for encouragement to finish this looming project. I am having a hard time choosing a runner (also from dash and Albert) and hope to choose one ASAP. I am so happy that the installation was way better than the demo! Once again, you guys never cease to amaze me :)
LOVE this update!! Your hard work certainly paid off! Do you think that poly-stain you used would work well on a Oak bathroom vanity, or Oak kitchen cabinets?
We heard from someone who said it was great on furniture so I’d say yes! I definitely recommend the satin finish (semi-gloss generally shows more imperfections so satin might be easier to apply).
xo
s
What a difference, it looks GREAT! All that staple-removal was worth it ;-) My weekend was 100% fruitless but it was the hub’s b-day so I had to give him a break!
Love the classic yet high contrast look and how it ties so many things together. Your house is really coming along and feels more like ‘you’ with every project. Keep up the good work! I love following along.
Looks fabulous! YOur attention to detail is to be commended.
Ever wonder what the previous owners/residents would think about how wonderfully the house is changing?
We’d love to hear from them! In our last two houses we have heard from the previous owners and it was so much fun, so here’s hoping!
xo
s
I think it would be interesting for y’all to contact the people who purchased your previous 2 houses and crash them to see what changes they’ve made to your changes!
We’re actually in contact with the new owner of our first house and hoping to crash early next year (giving them time to get settled). I can’t wait! Bringing Clara back there is going to be so special.
xo
s
This looks really good! We spent the weekend taking care of a 3 year old and baby with the flu and during their many naps we took a dresser and turned it into a TV stand by removing the top drawers and adding a shelf there instead. And then we conquered our cord clutter!! We won. :)
Oh no! I’m so sorry Rachael! Hope the little one is feeling better!
xo
s
KUDOS! It looks beautiful :)
The whole time I was reading this post I was thinking “hmm, I’m not sure I would have stained that,” or “hmm, not sure I would have painted that,” and then BAM! It looks great in the end. I guess that will teach me not to question you guys! Haha. It really does look awesome, and I’m so glad you did this post. I will definitely be pinning this for my own stair runner adventure in the future. You guys answered a lot of my questions. Thanks!
That looks beautiful! I’m in love with that runner and the new dark stain!
Well your handwork paid off because the stairs look great! I love the white risers and the classic look of the rug.
It looks incredible! I love the look of your entry. Looks so bright and fresh!
Good job!
Looks awesome. I think all the painting you did really made the transformation as well.
This week my husband and I worked in our soon to be baby boy nursery! Getting those closets organized and clearing out the room of unneeded furniture. Not done yet, but I can picture how it will turn out now. 24 weeks and counting here.
Excited to see your inspiration for the bun’s nursery and how it comes together in a few months.
Ok–Since I am at work I quickly read through the post–Looks GREAT!!! Now I need all the details on how you achieved such a wonderful look. I have ugly oak handrail and post that I have been wanting to paint for years just too scared. Did you sand each post and the risers? Maybe you mention in the post that you are going to provide the deets in another post I just can’t read it all until I get home.
You guys are great and I have learned so much from you!
We didn’t sand the posts or risers since they were sort of matte and not too glossy or shiny, but if yours are super click, I’d sand and then use liquid deglosser before going onto the priming step.
xo
s
Our stairs need a complete makeover and even though you guys make it look easy, it still looks like An overwhelming project to start so I think you should come visit, I’ll supply you with food, drinks, and lively conversation while you make my staircase look as good as yours. What do you think?
This weekend we went to our middlest’s soccer game, dinner with friends, and a little Christmas shopping. Oh, and I finally blogged our master bedroom makeover. http://www.andthen-shesnapped.com/2013/11/master-suite-before-and-after.html?m=1
Haha, sounds like a plan. And I love the master bedroom!
xo
s
Gorgeous!!! Almost inspires me to tackle some very ugly carpeted basement stairs ;)
It looks fabulous! What brand of electric stapler did you use? $34 sounds like a great price. Were you happy with it? Any complaints? I want one for upholstering chairs.
It was actually $30 from Lowe’s (the nails were $4). We have no complaints (it was very easy) and we got the Bostitch 5/8-in electric staple gun.
xo
s
I LOVE this look. However, two things I noticed would keep me from ever attempting this look. How would you combat these two concerns: 1- keeping the white areas white after years of foot traffice. 2- at the bottom of the stairs where it meets the floor. Will that be covered with a half round? Wouldnt that seam as well become filthy after lint and dust shift around on the floor or even from the brushing of a broom against it during routine cleaning?
Wow! I just realized how much of a germ-a-phobe I am!
Haha! As for the bottom, yes we can add quarter round there to keep it clean. We have many rooms with flooring that we clean and rugs right on them, so we just clean around the rugs and don’t seem to have too much of a problem. As for keeping the rug clean, someone just commented a little while ago that with two dogs her D&A runner is holding up beautifully, so that’s nice to hear! We’re a no-shoes household, so that should cut down on lots of potential dirt or staining (we’ve had other light colored cotton flatweave rugs like this in rooms like our living room and kitchen for years without any issues). My friend with two young kids has a white and brown one on her steps and is really happy with hers too, but we’ll keep you posted either way!
xo
s
FABULOSO!!! You both deserve time off for that project!
Looks great! I finally started painting last night, after moving in August. I splurged for the Benjamin Aura paint, and was able to do a lot of cutting in and rolling on some walls. So far, so good, but after two hours I needed to call it a night. What a difference quality paint makes! It’s also my first foray into matte finish, so we’ll see how that goes…
LOVE it! I think this looks great and is such a nice upgrade from what was there!
I really like how this looks, but am curious if you considered staining the actual steps the darker color to match the railing and banister?
If so, why did you choose not to stain the step itself?
Since the entire upstairs of our house are hardwood floors that match the tone of the stairs (which run right into them at the top there) we didn’t want dark stairs that run into a mid-toned upstairs hallway, so we went with dark stripes in the runner, the doorknobs, and the railings (as well as the console table and the chandelier in the foyer) so they all tied together. To us it’s like putting a dark wood console table on top of a mid-toned wood floor – it seems to be compatible even though it doesn’t match.
xo
s
OK, I can’t take it…you guys just get better and better. I am in love with this look, even more than your inspiration photos. I have been dying to paint my railings black, but wanted to wait until your post, and so glad I did…the stain seems like such a better option. Did you sand the risers or just prime & paint?
You’re so sweet Tina! So glad you like it! I’d sand them if they’re glossy or slick (and then wipe them down with a deglosser). Ours were sort of matte and chalky so we just went right to primer.
xo
s
This looks amazing ! Thank you for showing exactly how much time is involved in these projects. You guys are trucking right along. Hope you rest a few minutes and enjoy all your hard work.
Thanks Kirsten!
xo
s
LOVE the contrast the ebony railings brings, gorgeous!
I always wonder if the seller’s of your homes ever check in and have pangs of jealousy or despair, wondering “why didn’t I think of that?!”?
Aw, we’d love to hear from them! We heard from the old owners of our first and second house and it was so much fun to see their old photos and hear how they used those rooms!
xo
s
Wow – looks amazing! Great job, you guys and like always – you’re an inspiration! Not to mention, the comments section is so helpful, too. I figured we wouldn’t be able to DIY our own stairs + runner because we have a landing in the middle – guess it’s time to start shopping for runners!
Good luck Danielle!
xo
s