Hallway Runner: Length, Width and Wool for the Busiest Floor

Open every door onto the hall before you buy. Each one has to clear the pile and the pad. Measure the gap under the lowest door and compare it with the thickness of the rug. Where a door will not clear, end the runner before it.

In an L-shaped hall, use two runners that meet at the corner at right angles, with a few inches between them, and do not try to turn one rug around the bend. At the front door, start the runner a step or two inside, and put a separate, tougher mat at the threshold to catch grit and water before they reach the wool.

Density first. In a corridor, feet land on the same strip thousands of times a year. A dense wool pile takes this far better than a loose or very long one, and wool springs back where synthetics crush into a visible track. Hand-knotted construction matters too, since there is no glued backing to break down under traffic.

Then colour and pattern. A hall collects more dirt than any other room and usually has the least daylight. A mid-toned, patterned runner hides the line of wear and the daily dust. Pale plain runners are for upstairs landings where people are in socks. Diamonds and bands running down the length also draw the eye along and make a short hall feel longer.

A runner on a hard floor must have a non-slip pad, cut an inch narrower than the rug all round. A long narrow rug has little weight to hold it, and a sliding runner at the top of a staircase is dangerous. A pad also stops the edges from rippling.

Turn the runner end for end every three or four months, so that the wear from the entrance end is shared. Vacuum with suction only, along the length, and lift it now and then to clean the floor beneath, where grit collects. If the hall leads from the front door, expect to vacuum twice a week.

Thirty-three rugs of runner proportions. Thirty-one are true runners between 2 ft 4 in and 3 ft 8 in wide: twenty Azilal, lighter and mostly patterned, and eleven Beni Mrirt, denser and quieter. Twenty-two of them are between 9 ft 10 in and 10 ft 8 in long, three are a little shorter, and six are between 12 ft 6 in and 13 ft 6 in. Two wider Boujaad pieces, about 5 ft 7 in to 6 ft 1 in by 13 ft 8 in, suit a broad gallery or landing.

Six are multicoloured, six have an ivory ground, five are sand and five are in faded vintage tones, with others in pink, terracotta, teal and gold. We have no runners shorter than 9 feet. For a short hall, or an exact length, the bespoke studio makes one to measure. Each rug is one of a kind, with its exact measurements on its own page. Delivery is free worldwide, duties and taxes included.