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 ?

We have a runner in the house we bought a year ago. I loved it then, looks great, but if you have a family the edges get extremely dusty very quickly - depends whether you are fussy about your home or not. I don't think I would pick them again as it is quite a lot of extra work dusting and wiping them down.

All carpet should have underlay. It not only makes it feel nice but it prolongs the life of the carpet. It’s a shame that you were told that, but I was told the same for some bedroom carpet many years ago. The carpet soon started to mould itself over the floorboards and it looked terrible.