We are going to have an oriental style stair runner,but I don't know the first thing about buying one. My stair guy just gave me a one week deadline and I don't know what thickness to choose or how to determine width, do I choose in person and order online? I want something that looks old. Thank you.

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!

An update: brought my daughter with me to buy the 717 area rug (she has a truck) and she noticed something right off the bat about the rug that really bothered her regarding the quality. I was so smitten with the design and colors, that I wasn't paying attention, and didn't understand what she was saying, until the owner brought over an old small sample she was going to give me, as her store was selling off everything not handmade. Fingering the old sample, and comparing the new area finally made me realize what my daughter saw right away: there was a significant difference in quality/density, and the new rug had a cheap look that the old sample did not have. The old sample is how I remembered the rug from years ago. Needless to say, I did not buy it, and will have to rethink my plans. I have a very old american oriental rug that I thought was too dark and too large for the room I will likely use anyway (will start another thread later to ask about cleaning and repairing it) The good thing is that I could get the Karastan 717 runner for my hallway as it will probably go well - and the quality will be fine for that. Penny.

Seeking vendor recommendations for a custom runner. We moved into a new house and have a very long hallway from the front door to the coat closet and mudroom. With a young child and two dogs, I want to get a long runner that will extend the length of that so we can walk around easily between the front door, mudroom, and closet. (We're a shoes off house but we are also distracted humans which means someone is always forgetting something and needing to dart back to the closet or mudroom.) I'm thinking it will need to be custom (22' long x 4' wide). I DON'T want it slipping around all over the place. And I'd rather not use tacks or adhesive on our new floors if I can avoid it. Does anyone have suggestions??? In terms of design, we like simple and natural. Thank you in advance!