Stairs - Hardwood or carpet???

[disneybirds]

We changed out our carpet stairs for hardwoods several years ago. I love them! They are so easy to clean - just a quick sweep or vacuum. I am the only one that has slipped and both times it was hurrying to church in the same shoes from Payless!

 

[honeydiane1953]

I am a decorator in my own mind. LOVE carpeted stairs waaay fewer slip. Leopard carpeting on stairs is to die for.

 

[babym66]

We have hardwood downstairs and put laminate upstairs that matches the downstairs in color. We are going to put a brown carpet on the stairs that is the same tone as the wood color. We think this will help it to not to stand out as much but have the security of the carpet in case there is a fall.

 

[mrsboz]

so glad this thread is here. I am in the middle of a house renovation and am still unsure as to how to proceed with the stairs. The slippery factor is definitely a concern to me. I fell down the stairs when my youngest was a baby, and we have carpet. I saved her but broke my ankle. I'm for hardwood - but this thread has convinced me not to get it unless you get a runner and I'm not sure how much I like the look of a runner. I don't think it is for me. I'm now thinking a pattern type carpet like one of my neighbors has.

 

[tzolkin]

I honestly have never really given much thought to carpet being safer for stairs. I guess we have just been lucky to never have any accidents. We have wood stairs and never a slip even with three small children. My parents also have two wood staircases in their home and never an incident.

I do like the feel of walking on carpeted steps the few people's homes I have been to that have them (we have no carpet in our home), but honestly they never seem really clean especially where the dust collects in the corners (I think because they're such a pain to clean they just don't get vacuumed as often as the other areas of the house) and they always seem to be worn down the middle even in newer homes.

I love that I have never carried a vacuum up my stairs. I have a broom just for the stairs. I start at the top, sweep everything to the bottom, and vacuum it up there. It takes less than a minute.

 

[bjscheel]

This thread has got me looking, because we have hardwood stairs and some of us have fallen. I found these:

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/...267927?defattrib=&defattribvalue=&listIndex=1

The denim blue would go great with the walls we have at the stairs and hall. They are washable, and don't need anything else to fasten them down as they are non-slip. I might get these.

Our stairs might be pretty if they were refinished, but currently they are not.