Choosing the perfect stair carpet for your home

The stairs feel the full force of your household’s traffic; therefore, choosing the right carpet is essential if you don’t want signs of wear and tear to show after just a few months. It is also important to bear in mind the flooring at the top and bottom of the stairs – will you replace all the carpet with the same design or do you need two different floor coverings to work together?

Here are some tips to help you choose the best carpet for your stairs.

Plain or patterned?

While plain carpet is by far the most popular these days, it can make more sense to lay a patterned carpet on the stairs. Patterned carpets help to disguise dirt and wear and tear far better than plain carpet and can be a great option if you have small children or pets. Stripes work particularly well running up the stairs. If you don’t plan to run the same carpet through your hallway – perhaps you have wooden or laminate flooring there – patterned carpet laid on the stairs looks very contemporary alongside wood or wood-effect flooring. The chances are that you will want to run with the same carpet up the stairs and onto the landing, so think about how your chosen colour or pattern will work upstairs in addition to on the stairs themselves.

Choose heavy-duty

You will only want to consider heavy-duty carpets for your stairs. These will usually be labelled as being suitable for stairs and might also come under the banner of heavy domestic. Thinner carpets are generally no good for stairs, as the constant heavy foot traffic wears through them in no time, particularly at the centre of each stair where most footsteps will land. You won’t want a deep, luxurious pile carpet on your stairs; however, you will want something with a little cushioning. This helps to muffle the sound of family members or pets running up and down the stairs and will help to cushion your fall in the event of a slip.

Don’t scrimp on the underlay

Decent underlay makes all the difference, especially when it comes to stairs. The right underlay can elevate any carpet, so this is not the area to scrimp. Speak to our friendly team if you need any advice on the best underlay for your stairs carpet.

Pay for professional fitting

Finally, laying stair carpet is best left to the professionals unless you are certain that you know exactly what you are doing.