Runner Rug: Hand-Knotted Wool Runners for Hallways

Hand-knotted runners come in the lengths they were made, not by the foot. For a very long hall, use two in a row with a stretch of bare floor between them, ideally at a doorway or a turn. The corridor then falls into sections and feels less like a tunnel. The two need not match, but they should be related in width and colour.

Runners are useful well beyond hallways. One at the foot of a bed anchors a bench. One along the side of a bed gives you wool to step onto in a narrow room. They work on a landing, in front of a bookcase or beside a long window. On stairs, a loose runner is not safe; stair runners have to be fitted and fixed, which is a different product.

Where outdoor shoes pass, choose a lower pile and a drawing that hides marks. Azilal runners suit this well: the pile is shorter, the colour comes in patches and broken lines, and a footprint or a crumb goes unnoticed. They are light enough to take outside and shake.

In the upstairs hall or the corridor to the bedrooms, where people walk barefoot and want quiet, a thicker runner makes more sense. Beni Mrirt runners are dense and heavy. They stay where they are put and muffle the steps of whoever gets up first. Most are plain, in ivory, sand or camel.

A modern runner is one that adds texture to a hall without adding pattern. In a corridor with panelled doors, a staircase and a row of coat hooks there is already plenty to look at, and a calm strip of wool in one tone settles it. The same goes for a galley kitchen or the space beside a platform bed, where a busy runner would fight the lines of the furniture.

Ten of the runners here are Beni Mrirt pieces in that spirit, dense and heavy, about 2 ft 7 in to 3 ft 3 in wide. Four are cream: one plain, two with a tone-on-tone drawing that shows only in side light, and one with a charcoal labyrinth. Three are sand or taupe. The others are a camel with flowing lines, a ribbed terracotta and a deep teal with bands. If you want colour and signs instead, the Azilal runners on this page are the livelier half.

A runner is long, narrow and light, so it creeps and ripples more than a large rug. On smooth floors a non-slip pad is essential, first of all for safety. Cut it an inch or two narrower than the runner so that it stays out of sight, and run it the full length, not just under the ends.

Wear concentrates along the centre line, where feet always land. Turn the runner end for end twice a year to spread it. Vacuum with suction only and along the pile. Do not vacuum the fringe; comb it out with your fingers.

They are between 2 ft 4 in and 3 ft 3 in wide. Most are close to 10 ft long, and a few reach 12 ft 6 in to 13 ft. Azilal runners are the more numerous and range from bright multicoloured drawings to soft, sun-faded tones. The Beni Mrirt runners are thicker and calmer.

Each runner is one of a kind, and its measured size is given on its page. Delivery is free worldwide, duties and taxes included.