Carpet runners are very useful especially where there is a lot of heavy traffic, passing in and out on a particular part of the floor, such as walkways, staircases, or entrance ways, as they help protect your hardwood, tile or maple flooring.
A carpet runner can either be made of a thick clear see through plastic, or they can be made of fabric material, resembling a real carpet only that it is usually around two to three feet wide and around six to twenty feet long.
Rectangular rugs are the most common shape of rugs available and they are also described as regular rugs. This is the most standard type of rug which are used around the world and come in two standard sizes of measurements one being the metric Standard measurement and the other being the Imperial British Standard measurement, but which ever type of measurement you choose to measure these rugs a ten inch by four inch rug is still considered and eight inch by ten inch rug.
A carpet runner is the second most common shape of rugs and they are also called corridor rugs because they are usually used to cover stairways, entrances and hallways, or any area where there are lots of heavy foot traffic.
When choosing a carpet runner for areas with extremely heavy traffic, you should consider one with a very elaborate over all pattern, which is designed to give you the feel of the texture rather than highlighting the design of the pattern.
If it is necessary for you to match your carpet runner with other patterns that are already installed on your floor you do not have to look for one with all the colors, simply look for a pattern that has at least one of the matching colors and this would be enough for it to form an overall coordinating pattern.
Here is a little history of what a carpet runner was used for up to the late 1947, which should be enlightening: There were many traditional sets of carpets to be found in the living rooms of many Persian homes. There carpets consisted of four pieces of carpets in varying sizes.
There was a Mainfarsh or middle piece of carpet which was around six to eight feet wide and sixteen to twenty feet in length. Then at the head of the room a Kellegi carpet runner was placed which measured approximately four to six feet wide with a length that was two to three times the size of it's width.
Two narrow but very long carpet runners called Kenareh where placed on either side of the Maifarsh or middle carpet. These two carpet runners were around 2.5 to 5 feet wide and could be from five to forty feet in length. These carpets were designed in such a way that the middle carpet was used to place food on a cloth to be served to the guests.
The two side rugs were for the guests to sit on while the host and elderly would sit on the Kellegi carpet runner at the head of the room. These carpets were sold in sets of four to create this unique design.
The carpet runner has come a long ways since that time; they are now primarily used to cover hallways, stairs and entranceways, and they come in a wide variety of different types of materials and sizes and can be bought separately and do not require that you buy them in pairs like in those olden days.
