Hello madamemaison, I would definitely say runner! So much nicer... You already have a guide line and can just give it a fresh coat of white there continue to the last two steps as normal... I'd leave the banister as is too. I notice where the original carpet extends quite far out.. You could bring it in slightly... So a narrower runner and then see a little more of the painted sides.... Very nice!!! : ))

You have such a lovely entrance to you home that I would choose full width in a really popping colour - be brave as it really works. Also have you thought about opening up the panels on the Sid of the stairs to give it a more open and bigger view ?

Thank you all! The carpet follows a template cut out which was prepared prior to fitting. What might have happened is that the fitter didn’t fully account for the curvature of the stairs and then faced a choice of keeping a straight line looking from the bottom of the stairs (which he did) vs on that step (which he didn’t). He’s been taking an awful long to explain why it’s like that. There is very little stretch in the material, I would be surprised if that was the reason.