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.

I have the feeling you might be happier if the rug left some bare area of flooring at both ends. I can envision what you're talking about and for a foyer I think it will look much better if the rug doesn't run all the way from the front door to the end of the foyer. I would definitely leave at least a foot if not more of flooring between the foyer and whatever area comes next. Perhaps you could have a pretty inside floor mat at the door and then have the carpet start about a foot from that. This would really help to break up the foyer area.

I like celery girl's rug which has some warm colors which could be repeated in some of the pillows. The room immediately looks more interesting and warmer with this rug. Drapes in an oatmeal or cream color might also help, along with more art on the walls. It's a very nice room to begin with and with the rug and some small changes could be gorgeous. I don't think the ottoman is too large but it does have a heavy presence that a glass/metal coffee table would not, and it would make the room look larger and more airy.