A long thin piece of textile. As carpets they ‘run along’ corridors; on stairs they fit within the stair width and are held in place at the back of each tread with removable bars; on tables and chests they lie along the centre for decoration and to protect the tables form flower vases, picture frames, etc.
Floors
* The concept of runners is an old fashioned one, however the pleasure of solid wooden and stone surfaces along with new ideas, interpretations and mixes of materials have made runners popular again.
* Floor runners are soft underfoot, and improve both the walk and the look of hard floors. They can be used to set direction, defining walkways and making corridors or passageways much more interesting, especially if breaching solid surfaces–say stone to wood or wood to wood.
* Stair runners successfully tie the harder ground floor surface to the softer first floor finish; they look better than fitted carpet, especially when the stair structure is interesting. Contemporary runners may come in traditional colourings, also in stripes and geometric patterns of muted and subtle or rather louder and definite designs–whichever way, they contribute a real sense of style and taste.
* Runners were traditionally woven at 70 cms widths but can now be woven in up to 120 cm, which usually saves joining for wide staircases, landings and corridors; this also means that if you want the runner to develop into a wider carpet or rug it is just a matter of joining widths.
* Most runners look good with a border, either one that has been woven in as part of the design, or a simple hand-stitched linen edging around all sides.
* Runners can be made of heavily woven textile, flat weave carpet, cut down broadloom carpet, knotted rugs, kelims, dhurries, any of the soft floorings made of sisal, jute, hessian, coir… and of the new fibres such as plastic, paper and other recycled products.
Any material that has the ability to keep the floor warm, soften the walk, prevent draughts, look good, not show marks and can be picked up to clean is ok to use.
Table tops
A fresh take on table runners is to lay strips of fabric across the table and along to define place settings. Use antique textiles or commission hand painted lengths for special occasions.