DIY: Carpeting Spiral Stairs

Remember a while back when I bought this rug to use as a runner on our black stairs? I never quite got around to doing the project, so all the little Jaipur runners I got from RugsUSA have been just sitting in a closet, waiting to be used.

Part of the problem was I have been on the fence for months about whether or not I wanted to use a pattern (even a relatively subtle, neutral one) on my main stairs. I'm thinking of maybe doing a simple sisal in there instead. The spiral stairs in the mudroom needed carpeting too though, so it seemed like a good idea to use the runners in there instead, while I figured something else out for the entry stairs. Here's a reminder of how the stairs up to my studio looked when we moved in:

Since moving in, we've painted the tile floors a dark gray and paneled the walls and painted them navy. We also pulled off the carpeting on the stairs and painted the rails and treads bright white.

We had painted the treads the same color as the rail, but they were noisy and less safe-feeling without the carpeting. I was really excited to finally get these covered last week!

I picked up a quart of flooring glue at the hardware store and spread an even coat on the top of the tread before flipping it over on to the carpet runner.

It was important to be consistent with my pattern placement, so I lined up the tread in the same place every time before cutting.

I used a pair of super heavy-duty shears from Home Depot in the tool section to cut the runners. It made a world of difference to have the extra long, extra sharp blades.

I cut the runner to be just wide enough to cover the sides of the treads. I also cut out the corners, so when I folded up the edges, there would be no extra material in the corners.

After adding more glue to the edges, I stapled the sides in place and then trimmed away any extra rug material.

After letting the glue dry a bit, I popped the treads back into the stairs. I LOVE how they look and feel now!

The rug pattern was double sided, but I went with the darker side up and hopefully that will help to hide traffic stains. I'm also thinking about Scotchgarding the treads this week as a precautionary measure.

I love how the subtle pattern looks with the wall and floor colors. I hung a few new pieces of art and added a bougainvillea tree that I planted in a brass trash bin. :)

I also upholstered a little thrifted bench to tuck under the stairs. I love all the textures together!

It took several hours to upholster the treads (most of the time was spent cutting), but I'm so happy with how this project turned out. It makes me want to figure out a runner for our front entry stairs right away!

PS I popped over to RugsUSA today to try and find the link to the Jaipur runners and saw they're having a great 75% off sale for Cyber Monday. I'm looking for a small-ish rug for our nursery (!) and I think there are some really cute contenders here. They've added a ton of great rug lines since the last time I shopped their site. It also looks like they've figured out how to take better photos of their rugs too - now you can zoom in tight and see the weave and get a way better sense of the colors. Good stuff.

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Kilim Rug Upholstered Furniture

Ever since this project that I did for Domino, I've been obsessed with upholstering furniture with flat woven rugs.

It's surprisingly easy to work with the thicker material (especially if you have this amazing staple gun) and it just looks so unique. Not to mention it is super hard-wearing and stain-resistant!

I'm in the middle of two different rug upholstery projects that I'm excited to share with you soon. I'm hoping to start a third rug upholstery project right away too, since hunching over is getting more and more tricky these days! I just need to find a good (and cheap) kilim to use. I found this curvy headboard for almost nothing at a junk store here locally and I think it would look so great in a pastel, washed out stripey kilim for one of the girls rooms. I'm thinking white linen for the welting.

When I first stumbled on the headboard, I thought of this super-cool ikat version that Amanda Nesbit used in this House Beautiful room makeover:

It's not quite the same as mine - but I like the concept of a really interesting ethic textile on the upholstery paired with pretty, simple bedding.

I'm sort of thinking of more of a stripe at this point for our curvy headboard, sort of like this one:

Costas Picadas

I've got some ideas up my sleeve, but in the meantime, here are some of my favorite inspiration images for kilim-upholstered furniture pieces.

source

Wisteria  //  Safavieh  //  Anthropologie

Barrington Blue

Fab.com  //  Andrew Martin

West Elm

Barrington Blue

Have you ever used a rug to upholster a bench or a chair? I'm thinking I have my work cut out for me with the curves of that headboard. It might end up being a job for my upholsterer, but I'm willing to try first. He gives me a deal when I've stripped off the old fabric for him anyway. :)

(PS I wish Wisteria still made that black and white settee. It was so pretty!!)

Vintage Rugs on eBay

I was vacuuming yesterday in my bedroom and was admiring the way the light hits the deep blues and indigos of our rug. It's 12x18 and I paid only $250 for it!

I've found a ton of great rugs on eBay over the years. The funny thing is, you never really know what you're going to get when you buy a rug online. Photos can be so deceiving! Some sellers are better than others about providing a lot of images that have been color corrected, but you will usually pay more for the rugs from those sellers.

My secret weapon for finding cheap rugs on eBay is this search: Antiques then Rugs then the size you are looking for, and then sorted by Lowest Price First. I pop on over to that search every few weeks, just to see what's out there.

The best deals are usually from people that need to get rid of a rug and don't really care about the process or really too much about the price.

Sometimes you'll need to be a little... flexible when the rug arrives. We unrolled the blue bedroom rug after it was delivered and there were literally SHARDS OF GLASS everywhere! It was equal parts hilarious and terrifying.  We gave it a really good vacuuming before sending it off to the rug cleaners (which I recommend whenever buying a vintage rug) and it's all good now. I think I still came out on top. $250 for an enormous rug is a steal, broken glass or not! :)

Feel free to share any links to your eBay rug finds in the comments section. I'd love to see what you've snagged! Do you have any tips or horror stories to share? :) Spill it.

New Oushak on the Landing

Thank you all for the kind words about the studio reveal! I hope all of you have entered the $2000 give away! I'll be posting more info and sources and angles of the room soon. :)

While I'm working on those posts and tutorials, I wanted to share this pretty rug find with you! My friend Kendra Smoot tipped me off to an eBay listing for this beautiful little Oushak rug (what a friend, right!?). I think I got it for just over $100 and I love how soft and worn it is. It's slightly overdyed with blue and pink pastels. So pretty!

Right now I have it on the landing by the girls' rooms. It fits the floor space perfectly up there. It might end up moving around to one of the other rooms, but I love it here for now.

There's a lot of black happening up there with the stairs still being bare and all the pretty but dark black doors. I think the rug helps lighten things up.

I have the little scalloped secretary on the landing still, but I've yet to decide if I'm going to paint it or leave it as is. I'm leaning toward trying to paint it or doing a limed/cerused finish on a dark base. I think it would look so pretty if I could pull it off!

I put some art up in the landing too. I've had this very naive painting for a couple years now and it always feels like it belongs in the girls' space. I think it's sweet and I love all the bright pops of colors. The frame was pretty lame though, so I painted out the faux gold glaze with some Gentleman's Gray paint I had laying around, which is a deep, soft navy color.

I leaned the painting against my framed button collection that I made a few years ago using buttons I inherited from my grandmothers. The twisty concrete planter was a more recent project.

Anyway, I'm loving my new Oushak! It makes the landing feel like an actual room! :) Makes me also want to put a little bench up here against the stairs. I also need to pick a flush-mount light for the ceiling, and I really need to finish up the stair runner. 

PS if you're looking for a Oushak on eBay, always sort the listings by lowest price first. The private seller listings will almost always be auction style and not Buy It Now.