gracie, only the upstairs balcony/landing hallway can be seen from below, but that area has hardwood like the stairs. so the bedrooms are separate. i am wondering though if all of the finishes should "relate" to each other? i plan to do beige carpet in the bedrooms, should the runner also be a beige? i am shying away from beige on the stairs due to high traffic, but don't want whatever i choose to feel random, kwim? chispa, do you know of any good carpet brands that would offer the oriental style runners? the couple of stores that I went to did not seem to have machine made runners, but told me they could bind whatever carpet I chose for the stairs. great idea to extend the runner down the halls. thanks!

Simulating wood with a photographic applique layer under a clear protective layer, laminate is just a composite. I would not consider spending money on a laminate floor at this point. It isn’t a better solution than going with the ivory carpet for a few years. Laminate is $, but it's noisy and doesn’t like water. "Water can cause laminate flooring to swell if it gets between the seams. Being made of pressed board, laminate can easily chip--especially the critical tongue and groove sections.” Where I would spend extra money is on the padding under the rug. That will go a long way to help keep the rug clean. It isn’t the rug fibre which stains, it is whatever liquid has soaked into the pad that keeps coming back to haunt you. Spend a few cents extra and ask for Mohawk Smart Step. it has a coating which keeps any liquid from soaking into the pad. If it needs to be seamed, have them duck-tape the seams. I have a light wool wall to wall carpet. Should something spill, I grab a dry cloth or paper towel or newspaper and step on it until all the liquid is out of the rug. Then, use a combo of water and ammonia, and just dab at it. Actual dirt or mud, just let it dry and then vacuum.

I would probably keep the carpet very plain and maybe a color from the stone floor

Can you show the living area next to the staircase? You have so many color elements going on--golden brown tile, reddish brown steps and banister, a patch of turquoise, what looks like navy and white rug, yellow chair. So lets look at the fixed elements: gold/brown tile and steps and banister. The runner should go with those basics with some possible small areas of color. A golden sisal with reddish brown binding could work. Or a print or tweed in golds, reddish brown, a bit of yellow. This is a jute: