Sorry for the late post today! Thanks go to Sage who graciously reminded me that it is actually Monday even if it is a Monday in a long weekend in which it is OK to be in bed at 9 a.m.
There are many decor questions in my house that are easy to answer. I knew pretty much what I wanted my dining room to look like, the functionality I wanted out of the basement, or how to improve the closet. With those projects, it was just a matter of getting it done. But then there are some things that just stump me for a long time. I’ve written about a lot of them before: how to cover the holes in our wall, what to do with the strange beam dividing my dining room and living room, or how to make an impossibly asymmetrical bathroom ceiling look planned.
Today I’m asking for your help on another one of these conundrums: the quandary of the hallway runner rug.
Just ignore that ugly door at the end, please and thank you.
As you can see, a big part of the quandary is that I don’t have one. And it has proven really hard to find one. This hallway is about 28 feet long, which is a non-standard length for a runner rug, to say the least. But the rug will also need to be a big statement: since the walls are white it will set the tone for this space, and anyone who knows my decorating style know that the tone I am going for is “more.”
This problem has been bugging me since we bought this house (cough-five-years-cough) and I am finally going to take it on. Now that the closet is fixed up I am itching to make this hallway overall a nice place to be. It connects our whole house, after all!
So I am asking for your help in figuring out what to do about this, and in the great tradition of President’s Day, we’re going to vote. (That’s what they had in mind, yes?) Here are the three main options I am considering:
Just Buy Three Coordinating Rugs and Call It A Day
Option one is the simplest option: just find three affordable runner rugs in the 7-9″ range that generally look good together. The benefit here is that I can have THREE different styles (more IS more!) and if I get sick of one or one gets damaged in this high traffic area I can always swap them out. The drawback is that it will be hard to find three that hit that perfect balance of coordinated but not matchy, and I may not really know until I see them in place.
Here is an example of three that I have in mind for this option, all of which I love:
Make a Big Rug Out of Smaller Rugs
The other option I’ve considered is to buy runner rugs that match (or nearly match) and string them all together to make it look like one really long rug. In this case, I’d literally sew them together and do my best to make it look like one big piece. Picture the below (except sewn end-to-end):
(eSaleRugs – a ridiculously cheap $39/each)
Design my Own Rug with Flor Tiles
But those can’t be the only options, right? What do other people do with really long hallways? In searching for that, I also came across Flor Tiles, which are carpet squares that allow you to customize rugs and patterns. They also work in area rugs and runners, and because you buy tile-by-tile you can make them as long as you want!
They do have some nice options, but the standard patterns aren’t what attract me to this idea – it is the opportunity for customization. I could buy any number of tiles, even cut into smaller shapes, and design my very own rug/pattern.
(Flor)
And this isn’t even that expensive. A rug of this length using their “Made You Look” line would come to something like $500 – actually making it the middle cost of the three options I’ve shown you. But it does seem like a lot of extra work!
What do you think? Which do you recommend? What have I not thought of? Please vote below, and if you have other ideas tell me in the comments!
I’ve had the same dilemma in our house but it’s been 11 years and I still haven’t sorted it out. If I was going to finally put something down, I think I would go for the coordinating rugs. I’ve looked at the Flor tiles for this and other purposes but I always feel they look a little too industrial.
with Flor tiles, you make the design, they do the cutting; best things about them, they don’t go sliding around so as area rugs they’re pretty darn safe; if you spill your morning grape juice on one, just pick it up, rinse or if stain doesn’t come out, just replace the one tile; when you’re ready to change style, Flor will take them back for recycling; I have them, love them and as you mention not expensive
If there is any chance of kids and dogs, the flor tiles are the way to go! Something spills on one spot and you take that up and they wash great. Big long rug has to be washed/cleaned every spill, and wears out. Also flor tiles will stay in place much much better.
But I also happen to like the bare bamboo floor.
I keep thinking someone might trip over one of the rugs, no matter how well you fasten them down. So as soon as I saw the Flor Tiles I thought, yes! Safer!
And when have you ever balked at extra work to get a look you want? 🙂
Can you go to a place that sells carpet and make a custom runner to the length you would need? I think some of them will bind them so you can make a custom area rug.
I’d buy three of the same rug and lay them separately using carpet tape. The other option is to do what Katie mentioned–have one made at a carpet store.
Some home improvement stores carry rolled runners that you can order to length. I’ve never purchased one, so I’m not sure how they finish the raw edges — if they bind them or whatever. One downfall is that there are not a lot of patterns to choose from as far as I can see. Here are a few examples:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Natco-Kurdamir-Boukara-Crimson-33-in-x-Your-Choice-Length-Roll-Runner-5602-86-19ME/100324243
https://www.menards.com/main/flooring-rugs/area-rugs-mats-runners/rolled-runners-accessories/natco-home-reg-brooke-26w-decorative-runner/8074ccrn/p-1444448873124-c-12565.htm?tid=6615699824782352957&ipos=70
Have you checked out Oriental runners? Getting 3 that coordinate would be pretty easy and since having lots of different Oriental rugs is very much a done thing, it would look intentional, as if you’d collected the rugs over time. They have a way of going together as long as you pay attention to basic color and design.
If Orientals aren’t your thing, I vote for the Flor tiles. They seem so safe and so easy to individualize.
I think the floor looks great as it is! Classy, easy to clean, no shifting rugs to trip you. (I have old wall-to-wall carpet in my hallway and would love this type of clean look instead.)
(I always forget something.) As far as I understand it, floor canvases can be mopped.
So far no one has mentioned painting your own floor canvas. You could have two different sides! Since I and my allergies are adamantly anti-rug, I’ve never tried that and don’t know how easy they are to secure, but it would be individual.
Flor tiles are fabulous – they don’t look industrial at all. I’ve seen them in many houses and as soon as we need a new rug, that’s the direction I’m going. They’re much less slippy too – that would be my main concern with 3 separate rugs. As soon as I read that as an option, my first thought was that people would trip every time they walked down your hallway.
I have the same type of problem in my kitchen. I would prefer to have a long runner and most that I’ve seen aren’t long enough or wide enough. I had never heard of the Flor tiles though. I will have to check that out. I was at the local farmers market last summer and found a guy who made area rugs out of old denim blue jeans. They were beautiful and I thought I had him confirmed to make me a custom runner but then he ghosted on me. Too bad because I was excited to recycle and to support a local artisan.
I like the idea of 3 coordinating rugs but agree with the other comments regarding safety and practicality also I think they may soon drive you nuts as you will have 3 rugs to keep straight and clean, to stop edges from lifting and rolling, think of your own experience with one of those rugs, then triple it and they will be in a hallway with constant traffic going in and out of all those doors. I think there would be a similar problem with making one long one, of the type you appear to be looking at but if you don’t mind them not being straight … 😀
I think you will have a lot more possibilities for ‘more’ with the floor tiles and they will be practical and safer than the previous two options. Having used tiles such as this, the carpet tiles stay in place are easy to vacuum or sweep but if there is an accident and a mark which can’t be removed, easily picked up and attended to or replaced.
However, I think Mary Anne’s suggestion to look at making a floor canvas or, indeed, a Vinyl Floor Cloth, would be seriously worth considering, if you still have reservations about the tiles, as floor cloths/canvasses are practical and can be mopped and you can make it any colour and any design and as much ‘more’ as you like.
If I had a hallway that long, I think I would look to a custom-length runner. Have you thought about the kinds of runners typically used for stairs? Check out the options from Dash and Albert: https://annieselke.com/c/stair-runner-rugs
Otherwise, I say sew three matching ones together or do the Flor tiles. IMO, you want to minimize the breaks, which can be tripping hazards.
Sewing rugs together sounds like it would be a huge pain. The fabric would be bulky, so you’d be sewing together a really, really thick seam. You’d have the length of the rug flopping around while you’re sewing, and what if the rugs weren’t exactly the same width? Any kind of boho style rug is likely to be irregular, and even a quarter inch difference would be noticeable.
You’d need to trim off any fringe. And the seam would also be bulky, and maybe even end up a tripping hazard. It certainly wouldn’t lie as flat as the rest of the rug.
I put Flor tiles in my office, and it was super easy. I cut them into smaller squares, and the process was simple. Utility knife, metal t-square, cutting mat. Done. A hall that long would take longer than my itty bitty office, but I still think it would be easier than sewing rugs. And you *can* have Flor trim the tiles for you.
Three rugs would also be fun, though, and you could swap them out. But sewing rugs? Sounds awful.