A DIY Stair Runner Using IKEA Rugs

2 Materials
$150
1 Day
Medium

After giving our side entryway a small makeover, it was time to tackle the stairs. Enter: a DIY stair runner using IKEA rugs!

Here is the space to help jog your memory:

This is the main part of the staircase where our tenant walks up and down everyday. It had some cheap carpet thrown down as a runner,.

And the second part of the staircase, leading up to the main floor, had nada.

I knew I wanted a new runner on there - one that was darker in colour so it would help hide the dirt (tenant walks up + down in outdoor shoes), but that still had a bit of style. I went to IKEA to see what they had, and came across the "soften" rug. It's a small, flatwoven rug that happened to have the perfect width for our stairs. At $25 a pop, it wasn't a super cheap option, but I couldn't find anything else that was in the right colour scheme or size. We had measured out our staircase before coming, and so calculated that we would need 5 of them to do the job.

The first step was to rip up the existing runner, and then give the stairs a coat of paint. I went for a high gloss white that would be super durable, and only had to paint the side of the treads and risers.

Then it was time to break out the rugs, some scissors, a ruler, and my staple gun. I lined up the rug at the top of the stairs and measured out the space on either side to ensure it was even. Once I knew that number, I went and made little marks on both sides of each step, as a guideline to follow when my rug got to that step.

There is a bit of a science to stapling them correctly, which I go over in detail in the full tutorial here. Then you can check out exactly how they turned out!

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  3 questions
  • Joanie Joanie on Jan 07, 2020

    It looks great to me!! Some men just don't wipe their feet..... .....I guess it's a guy thing?

  • Anna Anna on Jan 09, 2020

    I want to remodel the basement. I have a drop ceiling, paneling and baseboards. what do I remove first? I would like to keep the baseboards (plastic) and the drop ceiling if possible. I really wanted plasterboard for the ceiling but since all the wires are there, I thought I would eave the drop ceiling for easier access. If possible, I could put in pretty tiles where the wires are and put in plasterboard for the rest of the ceiling. Not sure how that would look??

  • Liz Snow Liz Snow on Jan 08, 2021

    Are the steps slippery with the mats on them?

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  • Elizabeth Fernandez Elizabeth Fernandez on Jan 08, 2021

    Since I know what it feels like to look at something in your home that's not up to snuff, I'm assuming that you are feeling super happy about this upgrade. It looks so fresh and sharp. Job well done!!

  • Jenny Jenny on Jun 21, 2022

    We’ll done you! Brilliant job!

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