Stair carpet

A stair carpet is a carpet that runs up a stairway.

Since fitted carpet became the norm in the late 1950s, the word distinguishes less than it once did. A stair carpet was characterized by not fitting the full width of the stair but leaving the underlying wood of the tread and risers open to view; this was sometimes simply to save on carpet and sometimes to expose features while preventing wear to the underlying surface. Typically, a stair carpet will be more hard-wearing since it gets more punishing footfall than, for example, a carpet in a bedroom.