I’ve talked a little bit about our house and how I’ve been making updates to make it feel like our home. We bought a turn-key 3 bed 3 bath duplex condo in Chicago back in December 2020. While it was an updated and modern apartment, I had a few updates that I wanted to make so that the the vibe would match my style more. I wanted more boho, less contractor build without major renovations. We saved a lot of money by making the changes I wanted in our kitchen by ourselves. They were also much easier than we were anticipating; but, we weren’t sure we wanted to tackle the stair runner on our own. Given that we saved money with the kitchen upgrades, we decided to splurge a little and have a contractor come do our stairs.
Our Stair Runner Upgrades
The original stair runner is a basic carpet that looks like something out of the 1990s. It’s nothing crazy and it’s comfortable, but it’s not my style. It was also full of dog hair from the previous owners’ two dogs. I spent months trying to figure out what the perfect stair runner would be for our home. We knew we wanted a textured “wicker-like” rug, but I didn’t even know where to start.
After months of looking on Pinterest, I ended up checking out the blog Young House Love for inspiration. I was obsessed with their blog when I was in high school. I convinced myself that I’d renovate my homes just like them (ha!). They’ve had a few stair runners in their homes and I really like this diy faux sisal one. This helped me figure out what type of rug I wanted.
From there, I was able to start finding a few more examples. I ended up stumbling upon this Elizabeth Street Post blog. Her rug immediately caught my attention and I had my eyes set on Fibreworks Siskiyou. Luckily, she was also based out of Chicago so I actually ended up calling the same vendor – Lewis Home & Flooring. I wanted to do my research and get proper quotes so I also called Carpet One Flooring and scheduled an appointment.
Getting Quotes
Home Carpet One Flooring
Scheduling an appointment with Home Carpet One flooring was extremely efficient. I was able to get an appointment for the upcoming weekend. They’re located in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.
When we got into the store, our rep, Joshua, already had my preferences pulled out along with a few similar options. He talked me through the pros and cons of each including price, longevity, and optimal pet performance. I loved this because he ultimately led us to a more sustainable and affordable option compared to what I thought I wanted. The sisal rugs were expensive, but also hard to maintain compared to other similar styles. We were able to take a couple sample boards home with us to test out. He scheduled us a for a free measurement and the boards were picked up from us at that time which was extremely convenient.
The measurement happened a few days later and took only a few minutes.
Lewis Floor & Home
Lewis Floor & Home is located just outside of Chicago in Northbrook, IL. Their store is large and offers carpeting, tiling, vinyl, and more as their services. Our rep, Joshua, was informative and so kind. They’re currently offering appointment only showings and he was able to get us in for the following weekend.
The store has an abundance of carpet options. To be honest, we were almost overwhelmed with the amount of options, but it was nice to see different styles. Joe did a great job pointing us to the style I liked and sharing similar options to us. What I liked most about this appointment was that Joe took the time to share what types of rugs would look best on our stairs. We were able to see other rugs we may have liked that differed slightly from the style I was looking for.
Like with our first appointment, we checked out a few samples to take home. The samples cost a $35 hold that was returned to the card if the samples were returned within 7 days. They didn’t have samples of one style I liked so Joe was able to order it online and have it shipped to our home. It took about 2 weeks to arrive. The measurement cost is $100, which is applied to the overall purchase when booked.
Choosing the Right Stair Runner
With all of the samples in hand, we took them home and held them to our stairs for a few days to see how the light hit it and how our dog’s paws impacted the material. I actually took her paw and scratched the samples a few times to ensure that it could withstand her running up and down the stairs regularly.
Choosing a rug felt kind of like putting different shades of white onto a wall to figure out the best one. They were all extremely similar so comparing the peeling from our dog was important. The thick weaves were more frayed by her nails than the tightly woven threads. This helped me narrow down the best one a little more. Next, I needed to choose the style.
There were two Stanton rugs I liked the most with a basic and more unique pattern. Ultimately, I decided on the simple pattern because I knew installing the rug would be expensive. I would hate to be bold, pick the more unique pattern, and then absolutely hate it once it is rolled out onto the stairs.
Choosing the right color was a little bit easier than I thought it would be. The colors were similar but being able to test them out on our stairs helped me pick. I ultimately decided on the Stanton Tobago rug in the Saddle color.
Choosing the Vendor
Once we knew what rug we wanted, I needed to pick the vendor to use. We decided to go with Home Carpet One because by this point, they had already done our measurement and we valued that it was free. We had already gotten a quote as well. To get the quote from Lewis Floor & Home, we’d had to have put down a $100 deposit and be willing to lose it if the quote was higher than Carpet One. Hart was not a fan of the nickel and diming us throughout each step of the process. Plus, Home Carpet One had slightly better reviews on Yelp so we felt comfortable going with them. Our final cost included removing our current stair runners and putting on new stair runners for both sets of stairs in our home.
Stair Runner Installation
The runner that we chose was not in stock at their store, but it was in stock with their provider. It took about 2 weeks for their warehouse to get our rugs. From there they were able to schedule an installation appointment. We were able to schedule the appointment for just under 2 weeks from when they called. This was perfect for us because we were going to be out of town leading up to that date anyway.
Installation Day
The installation process started around 9 AM and wrapped up around 6 PM. They removed our original stair runner and put down the new one during that time. The contractors said that it typically takes around 6 hours to complete both. Ours took slightly longer because there were a ton of staples holding down our original rug. They needed to make sure all were removed since our new rug is pretty thin. We also have two sets of stairs, so the two contractors divided and conquered to rip up the old carpet.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was surprised to see the rug come in one giant piece that they cut on the spot. Throughout the process, the contractors talked me through what was going on and got my opinion on width of the runners.
Post Stair Runner Installation
The stair runner turned out great. They look phenomenal and feel even better. Before they put the stair runner down, they added pieces of memory foam cushion to support our feet as we walk on it. This was a great touch. Hart was surprised when he got home at how comfortable our stairs were given the thin and textured rug.
When we first moved into our home, it felt like we were staying in an Airbnb. As we’ve added in these personal touches, decorated and made updates to the style, I’ve fallen in love with our home over and over again.
The Bottom Line
I am so glad we decided to splurge on having our stair runner updated by professionals. We considered doing it ourselves. It seemed manageable based on the Young House Love posts I’ve read, but I know it would have taken us weeks at our skill level. I’m not confident we would have been able to get all of the staples out from the previous stair runner either. I would consider doing it myself next time though if there wasn’t another stair runner already down.
I would recommend using Home Carpet One to anyone looking to have their stairs or flooring professionally done. They were great to work with from start to finish.
I’d love to hear about what home projects you’ve taken on or are hoping to take on in the comments below! You can keep up with the progress we make on our home here.