Before / After DIY Stair Runner
I have a dog name Hugo. Hugo has a huge fear, among many things, of our stairs. When we all go up for bed at night, he stands at the bottom and barks, yelling at us that he needs a ride. Sometimes he gets frustrated waiting for us and boldly attempts to go himself, which painfully ends with him slipping and sliding and thumping down on the hard tile floor (I swear I AM a good dog owner).
The last time this happened about a week ago, I said enough is enough and ran out to Home Depot to get a quote on putting in a stair runner. They threw out a number....that number was $1,500. For some beige poly blend. I ran out of there and FAST (but grabbed a hot dog first, those are GOOD!). $1,500?!? Have you seen our old floor tile yet to be ripped out? I have other things to save up for.
So I did what any industrious DIY'er does. I hit pinterest. And pinterest delivered.
Found on Pinterest thanks to a fellow friend and pinner.
Nice, right? Click on above image for the full instructions on how this was created but in short:
All I did was buy 3 runners from Wayfair, 3 rug grip pads, some carpet tape (about $300) and called in for reinforcement from my trusty contractor, Jim ($200).
Can this be done yourself? YES! But I decided to spend the $200 on peace of mind and to lessen my risk of staple gunning my toe to the staircase.
So for 1/3rd of the cost of the Home Depot quote ($500-ish ALL-IN), I got better carpeting, quicker turnaround time and an overall better result.
Materials Used:
3 Dash & Albert runners (2'6" X 8') that we were able to cut and piece together (no visible seams)
3 same size grip pad runners (which were cut up so I probably only needed 2)
Rug pads were cut into strips and then secured down with tape.
Cutting and prepping the rugs and pads.
From Erin Gates' Elements of Style
The beauty of this hack is that the sky is the limit with what type of fun print you want for your runner...stripes, prints, texturals, sisals, solids. I briefly contemplated leopard, then remembered I have a husband (shoot!).
I also put in a new rug for the landing that complemented the heavy stripe a little better and hung black framed artwork to anchor that wall and play off the black stripe.
Also, I DO recommend stapling in less visible areas of the print (for me it was the black stripe) so an all white look may NOT work so well for this.
Most importantly, Hugo is quite pleased. Although the commotion of workers and staple guns caused him to have yet another anxiety attack, he has yet to fall down the stairs once. Here's to many successful trips up and down on all four paws.
XOXO