Area rugs in hallways are wonderful for many reasons; not only do they beautify an otherwise bland part of the home, but they reduce the extensive echo in halls and create a cushion under your feet in the area which is walked on most extensively in the house. If the hallways are visible from other main areas for the home, as they usually are, then choose those first and let the larger rugs dictate the décor and the look of the hallway runners.
Hallway rugs are also called “runners”, and after the dining and breakfast rooms, hallways are the second most size sensitive areas of the house because even a couple feet too small or too large will look odd. So around the width of the rug, try and leave a 6” minimum border in a normal size hallway, but for a very wide hall the border can be proportionately wider and even up to couple of feet wide. The length is handled by a different criteria because the width normally is “walled in” area, while the length usually does not end at a wall, at least not on both ends; so if the length of the hall ends without any walls on both ends, then you can go to the end of the hall as your maximum size, and anywhere from 6” to 18″ shorter than the end as the minimum size. But if one or both sides, length wise, end at a wall or door then make sure you leave a minimum border of 6”.
If the hallway is divided into segments due to doors opening to rooms etc., then try and still treat it like one big hall and it will look better than a few different rugs which are harder to coordinate and look choppy.
If the runner rug is in a walkway in any room instead of a proper hall, you would rather place the rug to where you would walk entirely on the rug, or totally off the rug, and never one foot on and one off because this will drive you crazy.
In case of hallways, sometimes more than one rug is needed because you may have two halls on each side of a foyer or entry, or have halls connected to each other where the rugs are visible together. I don’t recommend using same rugs in any room when multiple rugs are needed, and that advice also applies to hallways, but if I have ever advised clients to use the same rugs when they are visible together, it has been in hallways.
Alyshaan Fine Rugs in the Phoenix Valley, in Scottsdale Arizona have hundreds of runners in stock as part of their 3200 fine rugs inventory in contemporary, traditional, transitional, and tribal designs. You can view these rugs at alyshaan.com.
