A mum-of-two has gone viral on TikTok after sharing how she created trendy DIY stair runners using runner rugs she purchased from B&Q – saving £1,460 in the process.

Claire Douglas, 38, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, wanted to renovate the dated stairs in her home without forking out for expensive fitted carpets – after getting an online quote of £1,700 for installation.

Instead, she decided to give the area a new look without breaking the bank – by using four rugs purchased for £60 each from B&Q.

She spent a weekend fitting the rugs herself in a careful pattern to make sure they flowed seamlessly up the stairs.

The finished result? A trendy sand runner with a black border for a fraction of the price that a fitted carpet would have cost.

Claire has lived in the house for five years, with her husband Spencer and their two children Oscar and Milo, and said it was in a “poor state” when they moved in.

While they have renovated various rooms, her latest focus was on the stairs.

"The stairs needed re-doing, they looked really sad and tired looking and I’ve always wanted a stair runner," Claire, a content creator, told Jam Press.

Explaining the process, she said: "The first step was to rip up the old carpet and underlay and remove the gripper rods and 50 million old staples and tacks that were embedded in the staircase.

"Once the carpet had been removed it was easy to see which treads and risers needed attention as they had superficial damage.

"I used flexible wood filler to fill any cracks or small holes and nailed in a couple of slightly loose treads. "

"Once the filler had dried, I sanded it to create a smooth finish and I also sanded any rough or slightly uneven patches to ensure that the sides of the stairs that would be visible after the runner was fitted were nice and smooth ready for painting.

"Then I painted the stairs and I left the centre unpainted so that I could keep using the stairs while the paint was drying, and because the area under the runner would be covered so it seemed like a waste of paint to cover this bit.

"I applied strong carpet tape to every step but didn’t peel off the backing yet, I also measured the stairs and the width of the runner to decide exactly where it should be positioned."

The assistant interior stylist then unrolled the runners and hoovered them before laying them out on the stairs to decide where was best to cut them.

She said: "I started at the bottom of the stairs as I wanted to conceal the joins by bringing the top piece down over the lip of the tread.

"I then measured and cut the first runner to the required length first.

"I unpicked the side border of the bottom runner along the area where it met the 2nd runner.

"Then I removed the backing of the carpet tape on the bottom step only and carefully stuck the first piece of runner down.

"I then moved on to the adjoining piece which was the start of the straight run of the staircase and cut the bottom end off of this runner."

Claire then cut the runner to the required length and, after removing the backing on the carpet tape on the relevant steps, started attaching the runner – starting with where it met the first piece she had fitted over the extra bottom step.

She said: "Once I was sure the runner was in the right place, I pressed firmly to ensure the runner adhered to the tape underneath and then I started hammering in carpet tacks where required.

"Once this piece was on, I repeated the last steps with the next runner and so on.

"I then unrolled and positioned the rest of the runner and attached it to the stairs by flattening it onto the tape, to be sure that it was definitely lining up further up.

"Once I was happy with the positioning of the whole runner, I completed the join by tucking the top piece firmly over the bit coming up from the below step and hammered in a few more tacks so that they went through both runners to ensure they weren't going to move or come apart over time."

She then repeated the process for the next runner which brought her up to almost the top of the stairs, meaning she was ready to fit the final rug.

Claire added: "Before starting the project, I knew I wanted to continue the runner onto the landing as it made more of a feature of it and there is only a short distance from the top of our stairs to the threshold of the bathroom door.

"Our bathroom is right at the top of the stairs so the runner only had to travel about a metre of so until it hit the door threshold, which made the perfect ending point."

Claire shared the finished result on TikTok, where she received over 778,000 views and over 16,000 likes.

Viewers took to the comments to share their views on the amazing DIY job.

One person commented: “Love this. Defo gonna do this on my stairs.” [sic]

“Amazing wait a treat for the eyes!” another user said.

Someone else added: “Wow, thank you for this video, I have always wanted stairs like this but didn’t know how! Great hack.”

“This is amazing and doesn't cost a fortune, thanks for the idea!” another viewer agreed.

“Looks lovely, nice and fresh and much lighter,” said another follower.