We would like to fit a striped stair runner on our new staircase, but it has a 180-degree bend and two half-landings. What will happen to the stripes when they reach a landing?

Roger Oates Design, which offers a wide range of stair runners, including flatweaves and Wiltons, suggests two ways to fit a runner to a staircase like yours with its two half-landings. The more traditional method is to fit the runner to the stairs and continue it across a small landing. Another section of runner laid in the opposite direction is fitted on top and this continues on to the next flight of stairs. The other, neater, method is to use mitre joins. These are diagonal seams which are cut and sewn by hand. The runner is fitted as a right-angled turn on the landing, which allows the stripes to join and neatly follow the direction of the turn.

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