Stair carpet for small dark hallway

[Forestdreams]

We have the world's tiniest hallway. It needs new flooring and we are thinking wooden floor in the hall itself (bamboo maybe) then carpet on stairs and landing. But what carpet to go for? I'd be grateful for any ideas.

Walls are boring natural calico, doors and handrail are medium-dark wood so it's a blank canvas but very bland. Grey or oatmeal would be yet more blandness, and I'm not sure grey would work with the wood, but stronger colours all seem to look a bit dated. Could do stripes but I wanted them 4 years ago. I'm not sure I still feel the love, but I'm open to persuasion.

We have kids and live next to a wood so we need to be ultra-practical to deal with all the mud coming in.

Ha! We live next to woods and have loads of green fields nearby too! Take your shoes off!!! Do not go upstairs in shoes. Children can learn to take their shoes off!

As for a carpet, on the landing and in two bedrooms I have a wool velvet one from John Lewis and the colour was Russett. It is a warm burgundy/brown. That may sound odd, but it really works. However we have a light landing due to a very big rooflight! We have oak stairs so they are fairly light too! I think lighter coloured carpets do get that worn look more quickly and I think grey is severe. You could look at twist carpets with mottled earthy colours. There are some very natural ones that look like undyed wools. Alternative Flooring have some natural ones too.

I forgot to say, in our hall we have large ceramic tiles that look just like limestone. Dog proof, child proof, muddy boot proof and easy to clean. They don't wear out and are pretty bomb proof. They definitely wear better than bamboo and perfect for wood dwelling! Inset into the floor, at the front door, is a deep pile rugged door mat that takes off the worst of the wet and any yuk from outside.

Thanks Millymolly. We are a shoes off household but the hall is really tiny so some spreadage is inevitable. We considered tiles but I think they might not work on such a small area, surrounded by carpets on 3 sides.

I'd stick with a simple grey/taupe wool loop or similar and add colour elsewhere.