Measure Guide
How to measure for a kitchen runner
In a kitchen, a runner is a workhorse — it cushions where you stand, protects the floor where you splash, and breaks up a long galley visually. Pick a length that covers your active zones (sink + range, or sink + island) without crossing into door swing zones.
Step-by-step
Identify your active zones
The runner should cover where you stand most: usually the sink, then the range, then the prep counter. In a galley kitchen, that's often the same straight line — perfect for a single long runner.
Measure the working aisle, not the full kitchen
If your kitchen is open to a dining or living room on one end, don't measure the whole open-plan length. Measure from the inside edge of the sink cabinet to the inside edge of the range — that's the runner's job zone.
Subtract appliance door clearance
Take a foot off whichever end has a dishwasher or oven that opens out. A runner that's pinned under an appliance door is a runner that fails inside a year.
Pick a width that fits your aisle
Galley kitchens are typically 42–60" between counters. A 24"-wide runner fits any aisle and leaves enough wood on each side to look intentional; 30" fits 54"+ aisles cleanly. Wider than 30" and you start blocking cabinet doors.
Choose a washable construction
Kitchens are spill zones. We strongly recommend a flat-weave or washable runner here — most of our washable customs go straight in a residential washer at cold/gentle once or twice a year. Avoid high-pile or shaggy textures; they trap food debris.
Add a no-slip pad
Kitchen floors are smooth tile or hardwood — both are runner-skid hazards. A felt + rubber pad cut 1" smaller than the runner solves it without lifting the rug visibly.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Buying a single rectangular rug to span the whole open-plan kitchen — looks awkward and dies under the dishwasher door.
- Skipping the pad to save $30 — a runner sliding on tile is the most-reported home injury in our reviews.
- Choosing a high-pile or shaggy texture — they look great in catalog photos and trap a year of crumbs in a month.
Ready to order?
Custom-cut runners in your exact width and length, bound and finished by hand. Most orders ship in 1–2 weeks.
Configure your runnerFrequently asked
Can a kitchen runner go in the washing machine?
Our washable line, yes — flat-weave runners go in a residential machine on cold/gentle, then air-dry flat. Tufted or high-pile runners cannot; spot-clean those and rotate them quarterly so the wear pattern is even.
What's the right runner length for an island?
Match the length of the island, plus 6 inches on each end (so the runner extends just past the cooktop or sink). Don't run a runner past the working zone of the island — it stops looking like a kitchen rug and starts looking like a hallway runner that wandered in.
Do kitchen runners stain easily?
Polypropylene flat-weaves (our washable line) shed almost everything that lands on them — wine, oil, grease — with a wet-cloth blot or a wash cycle. Wool runners stain less than you'd think (lanolin is naturally repellent) but are harder to deep-clean. Avoid jute and cotton in a kitchen; they absorb instead of repel.
Should I use the same runner under the sink and in front of the range?
If they're in line in a galley kitchen — yes, one long piece reads intentional and is easier to clean. If they're at right angles (sink on one wall, range on another), use two shorter runners; trying to bend a single rug around a corner always looks like an accident.
More measure guides
Measure Guide
How to measure for a hallway runner
A runner should leave 4–6 inches of bare floor on each end and roughly 4 inches of floor on each long side. Anything closer to the wall reads as wall-to-wall carpet; anything farther floats and bunches.
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Measure Guide
How to measure for a stair runner
The runner length you need is roughly the number of steps × (tread depth + riser height) — plus extra for any landings. For a standard 13-step staircase, that's about 18–20 feet of runner, before you account for landings.
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