"If you want solid, why not go to a carpet store and have rug cut to the size you want and bound? I don't think it costs very much, and you might even be able to buy an inexpensive remnant and have it cut and bound to your dimensions. You'd get exactly what you want." I guess I am thinking that a cut piece of carpet is different than a rug? I guess I am thinking that solid color runners would be softer than just plain 'ol carpet. Carpet looks like carpet. I dunno if that makes sense. I ended up ordering the Cindy Crawford ones in vanilla, which is off white diamonds on off white rug. So I think the pattern will be pretty subtle. I'll probably know in a week or two. Can I use Scotchguard or a similar product on my new rugs? I just bought an 8x10 area rug from HomeGoods for the living room also. My main concern for stains would be from the dog. We do always keep Nature's Miracle handy.

Fun project for a fun couple. Turned out we have a coupla of other common interests that have nothing to do with building or design that we talked and laughed about. A little tough with a 1400SF program given all the requirements especially the gourmet (large) kitchen as cooking is a serious hobby for them. I'm hoping Mrs. ARG and I will be invited to the first big meal served!.....LOL! When programs are probably too small to accommodate all the needs/wants I try to set it up with easy expansion options like here with the noted 4' expansion. We've had other communications since and the MBR wing might be expanded too. I've done this before as an illustration as to the thinking process to those who write "I need a program to design my house"......no you don't. Not really when starting. Computers are great for later and fine tuning, like for the 3D stuff, but best to start with ideas that are unencumbered by how long a wall is or the width of a hall or the size of a window or the depth of a kitchen cabinet (I love the latter as in one program all the EXACT sizes of the cabinets are on the "first draft" drawings!! And I draw these at a relatively small scale, usually 1/16" or 1/20" equals a foot so it's easier to keep the "big idea" in mind. The drawings below are about 5 1/2" across. There were probably 50-60 of these overlays but here's one of the first ones, just freehanded out but to a scale so I can keep tabs on the house size: And then a little later overlay: I liked the stair running parallel to the homes' cross circulation which I normally like to do but here it was impacting not only house size but my idea for easy roof framing to accommodate the attic storage likely needed in a very small house and that works best with attic stairs running parallel to the roof framing. So I abandoned that idea (and VERY reluctantly....it hurt.... but my design Profs. at Va. Tech always stressed to not be afraid to give up on what at one time seemed like a great idea. ) and went here: Still 226SF over budget so I cut down the 58' length to 54' but noted it as a possible option on the final. At this point I'm basically there with just freehanded bumwad overlays but I needed to go ahead and get it in a form anyone else besides myself can understand so therefore the drawings at the top of the thread. Maybe my skill set is different in that it only took me 45 years to be able to do this but I still beleive for those doing this for the first time, a pencil and paper is best for getting a "big idea" quickly and fluidly out of one's head and onto paper. Let's worry about the kitchen cabinet dimensions and window sizes later. But as I said and I'll say it again, a fun and challenging project for a fun couple. We're not done yet but I'm enjoying it!

I just wanted to post back with an update because we finally finished the project yesterday (except for a tiny detail up on the landing to address) and we LOVE how it came out. Everyone we talked to said we should be using paint and that stain wouldn't look good. Part of that is because we initially boxed ourselves in on what could be done with the landing. But on the steps themselves, some folks on the various forums, our GC, people at the hardware store all sorta frowned on gel stain and said we wouldn't be able to achieve what we wanted. I'm happy we tried anyway. I don't consider myself handy and usually don't do my own work, but I spent a couple hundred bucks in supplies and just dove in. Watching a lot of youtube videos, then getting to work sanding (and sanding and sanding and vacuuming and vacuuming and vacuuming), stripping paint, pulling staples, filling holes and YES, staining. I think the pics below speak for themselves. Is the job perfect, NO it is isn't. Does it look better than if we just gave up and painted, YES i really think it does. We didn't even need to go the carpet runner route because the stairs really came out looking so much better than expected. We were even able to go right over our railings with the same stain to better match the colors. Thought I'd leave some pics here for anyone else brave enough to give it a try! EDIT: Updated this post because i forgot about a lot of the parameters we artificially put in place for ourselves in the beginning of this project and that definitely influenced what everyone was recommending. I'll get into the whole landing aspect in a couple days as soon as we finish that up!

Thank you to everyone for your input! I wanted to follow up just in case anybody else is struggling with the same decisions I was with a curved expanded bottom couple of steps in an old staircase. Despite some of the recommendations above, I did go with plaid and I absolutely adore it. So it can be done, but to get the lines to continue to flow in a consistent way took a ton of planning and hours of labor. But I love how it turned out. Thank you again for all the help And suggestions!