Get Movin' Monday: Spruce Up The Staircase

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- So many of us have older homes with huge wooden staircases and 30-year-old carpet running up the middle.

This week for Get Movin' Monday, I spoke with an interior designer who has a low-budget, mid-budget and high-end custom solution to spruce up your staircase.

Designer Brook Voss's first option is the least expensive: buy an off-the-shelf carpet runner.

"It's a cotton runner, we backed it, we bought a number of them to be able to go the whole span of the staircase, and we've just upholstered all the way up with the bright color," Voss said. "It's low cost, high impact and has durability as well."

The mid-range option: transform regular carpet into a runner.

"This is carpet you could purchase and put in your living room wall-to-wall. We bought enough length of it, sent it over to a shop that binds the edge of it, and we brought it in and installed it like a runner. This is an all nylon material, it'll wear like iron. I like the idea of the animal print with crazy blue and white wallpaper," Voss said. "It's stylish and also is going to perform."

If you really want something special: The top-of-the-line option is a totally custom design.

"We took a classic print of houndstooth and made it really huge. It's still graphic, still classic, but really contemporary," Voss said. "We draw the design, we have a strike off fabricated, we pick the yarns, we wait months and months and months for this piece to arrive, and finally when it gets here we do the big installation."

The low-end option depends on how big your staircase is, but the first one Brooke showed us is less than $1,000. The high-end custom made is more like $5,000 or $6,000. But if your staircase is at the front of your home and you have the money, you might want to go for it.