the stair runner

I am soooooo excited about how this project turned out!! It's been a long time coming, and the end result was even better than I hoped it would be.

You may remember that a couple of months after we moved in, Jon took a little tumble down the stairs and broke his ribs. Turns out bare wood floors and socks aren't a good combination. Since then, we've been planning on adding a stair runner. We wanted the safety factor, but I also loved the idea of adding some design interest to the otherwise plain, boring stairs.

The problem is that we have a lot of stairs. The two upper staircases that connect the three main floors of the house are within eyesight of each other and you see them as soon as you open the front door. Whatever we chose to cover them with would have a major design impact on the entire house. I was completely overwhelmed by choosing a stair runner that would set the tone for everything else in our home.

It all started with a little entry rug.

Enter the Dash & Albert zigzag rug. My In-Laws bought us the 2'x3' version of this rug to use as our front door mat last fall. I walked by it every day for at least 6 months before the lightbulb finally went off - I should use that rug to cover the stairs!

I mean, why not?! I knew I loved the rug and how it looked with our wood floors. I loved the colors and graphic chevron pattern. Not to mention that since the rug had been serving as our heavily used front door mat for months, I could vouch for it's high quality and excellent dirt-hiding abilities. Luckily for me, the rug came in a runner length, and it was the exact width I needed for my stairs. I was so happy I almost cried.

I called my favorite carpet installer to see if it would be possible to retro-fit the rug as stair runner. He said he could make it happen so I ordered six (6!) rugs and crossed my fingers. This was either going to be really great or really horrible.

Installation day was a bit nerve-racking. Per usual, we ran into a few minor glitches. I was nervous so I hid downstairs and vowed not to look until they were finished. Ta-Da! It looked amazing! They did such a great job matching the pattern and retro-fitting six individual rugs to look like one seamless stair runner. I was completely blown away. It also helped that the installers loved it too. The poor guys were thrilled to be installing something other than the norm beige carpet.

Now that wall nook is just dying for some attention.
Don't worry, little buddy, I haven't forgotten about you.

These colors. Swoon.

The 2nd staircase leading up to our master bedroom got some runner love too.

Getting dizzy yet?

It makes such a fun statement. My stairs went from boring to fab in one afternoon. Since the rug is a flat woven wool, it also has great traction. Looks great + added safety = win, win. Now I plan on using the colors in the rug as a starting point for the color schemes of the living room and dining room. It's almost more inspiration than I can handle.

I really didn't know I could gush this much about a rug, but apparently I can. I think I'm just proud of myself for pulling the trigger on a bold design. Playing it safe is for the birds. I'm so happy I took the chance. I love walking into my home. It makes me happy to have a space that is really starting to reflect our personality. If you are having trouble being brave....just go for it. You might surprise yourself.

If You Can't Take The Heat...

...stay out of the kitchen, at least until the grout dries.

I'm not sure whose bright idea it was to buy a house, pack, move, paint, carpet, and kitchen remodel all in one month. I done lost my mind. I completely underestimated the amount of time and energy all of this would take on our end. Rookie mistake. It's basically a full-time job on top of our real full-time jobs. In no particular order, here's a status update and some general thoughts on this whole process. This probably isn't interesting at all, but I find it therapeutic so bear with me.

- The painters started yesterday. For the next few days, I'll probably only walk into the house with my eyes closed. I can think of few things more nerve-racking than your first glimpse at a new paint color. I'm not sure if it's better or worse to see it as you go (i.e. when painting yourself) or to rip the bandaid off and see the final result (i.e. when professional painters work while you aren't even there). You may remember that when Mom visited 2 weeks ago, we had a winner for the main paint color. In typical fashion, I changed my mind at the last minute. They hope to finish in 2-3 days so before/after shots and a full explanation of the paint choices should be coming soon (I know you can't wait).

- THERE ARE SO MANY DECISIONS. This is by far the worst part of home renovations for me. The little details are never-ending and ever time-consuming. Hardware, faucet, paint, carpet, switch plates, lighting, microwave, and on and on and on. All of these things have to be measured, counted, matched, ordered, purchased, etc. Should the grout be 1/16th of an inch or 1/8th? Should the border come out 2 inches or 4 inches? Where should one paint color stop and the other start? How far down should that light pendant hang? How big of a microwave can we fit in that space? I've spent more time in Home Depot or Lowe's over the last few weeks than in my previous 26 years combined.

- Sometimes you walk in and love everything, and sometimes you walk in and only notice the problems. Since I'm a little more in the glass half empty camp, I tend to side with the latter response. Our contractor has been fantastic to work with, and I'm grateful for that, but like all remodeling projects, something always goes wrong. He took it like a champ when I told him the newly installed and completely grouted backsplash needed to be redone (they laid it in a stacked pattern instead of a brick pattern).

It's starting to look like a completely different kitchen!

- The kitchen floor has been grouted (they ran out of pinwheel tile for the border so we had to wait for more to come in). We got a sneak peek of the floor last night, and I think it's going to look really fantastic. We had a brief moment of grout color panic until we realized that unlike paint, grout dries lighter. Whew. The cabinets are painted and re-installed, and the walls should be painted today or tomorrow. Now we are just waiting on the new backsplash tile, lighting fixtures and cabinet pulls to arrive so they can all be installed. If all goes well, they should be done this weekend or early next week.

- The grill and patio furniture arrive this Saturday. Hopefully we'll get to do some cleaning, gardening, and moving prep while we are hanging around the house waiting for deliveries.

- We are resigned to the fact that carpet won't be done before we move. The few pieces of furniture that go downstairs will just have to live in the garage for a little while. We've learned some interesting things about the carpet industry. Pretty much every carpet dealer private labels their carpets. This makes it impossible to shop around and/or compare prices. Sneaky, sneaky. We've been working with an independent installer that came recommended by friends. He brought some samples out for us to see at the house, but I didn't love any of them. Because of the private labeling, it would be nearly impossible for us to look around ourselves and just let him know what we want. Luckily he hooked us up with his wholesale supplier that is not generally open to the public. They've kindly agreed to let us stop by and look at all the options this Saturday morning.

- Last night we bought a new microwave so they can retrofit it to the existing space where the built-in microwave used to be. I would consider microwave shopping to be one of the more unenjoyable tasks to date.

So that's where we are. Moving day is 8 sleeps away, but I wouldn't know much about sleep these days.