Painted Area Rug for Under $40

If I could save everything I thought was useful I would have piles of stuff. So I have a rule, if you can keep it and still have a clean house, and then be able to find that item when you need it, then it can stay. So when we replaced our worn and stained sisal area rug under the dining table with a dark pattern rug (specifically designed to catch the crumbs and hide the stains) I couldn't bear to throw it away. I thought maybe I could paint it and give it new life, but since it was a still a nice/well constructed rug (even with the stains) I didn't want to paint it without testing a few different options first. So I checked out what was available online and then headed to the Home Depot.

I always tell myself that when I need to go to the Home Depot that it will be a real quick trip. I tell myself that I will get what is on my list and get out, but really it is inevitable that I will roam the isles thinking up ideas and inventing reasons why I need more cans of spray paint. Its a real problem.

In my wanderings I found some 5x7 rugs for $18 a piece that had pre-bound edges and came in nice neutral colors. They best part was that they were a short and even weave that would take paint nicely. I also picked up a few squares of indoor/outdoor carpet samples to test out different painting methods. I figured when I was done trying out designs on the 5x7 rugs I could put them in my kid room. (Before I would attempt to paint the the sisal rug). The indoor/outdoor carpet on the huge rolls in the flooring section of Home Depot is also a steal of deal costing only .41 cents a square foot. Which mean you can get an 8x10 piece of carpet for $33 dollars. That carpet is the way to go for large rugs for very little cost.

My online research for painted rugs turned up lots of cute, fun, and interesting designs but they also seemed to require loads of time and patience. I wanted to paint the rugs, but I didn't want to spend hours on end. I originally thought latex or even acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium would be the way to go, but by chance, I also tested out spray paint on the little carpet samples I got and found that they spray paint was perfect. The color covered well and still allowed the carpet to remain soft under foot. The latex paint however came out stiff and more abrasive so spray paint was the way to go.

Here are the carpet samples I tested out. The simple patterns turned out so nicely.

In terms of stenciling a design onto the rug, I feared that I wouldn't be able to line up the pattern consistently and would end up with gaps and mistakes. For my test carpet samples I just simply criss-crossed pieces of blue painters tape and loved the results.

TO MAKE THE RUG:

You will need: 

1- Good old fashion blue painters tape. (The fancy new stuff doesn't work)

2- 5x7 Rug of a short looped carpet (You can do a larger rug, but you will have to recalculate the measurements)

3- Measuring Tape

4- Spray Paint

5- Bonus- Quilters Ruler

I began by measuring out 6 equal 12" stripes with a 3" gap between. If you start in the middle and work your way to the edges you can avoid having a shorten stripe on the far end. Notice how the 3" gap is made up by two strips of tape with a bare strip in the middle for painting white. And to make sure your white strip is a consistent width, place a few 3" long pieces of tape next to the first strip of tape at the beginning middle and end to use as a guide for placing the 2 strip of tape.

Here are all the measurements you need to create the patterns.  Note that the blue stripe with the vertical stripes is just a random pattern width and arrange them to your liking. The beauty of this design is that the measuring is minimal and you can eye ball the rest. (Note to extend the tape off the side and tuck it underneath.)

The peach criss-cross pattern is  created by adding an additional center strip of tape and then beginning on one end taping an off-centered "X". Repeat the lines down the stripe spacing them accordingly. I used a quilters ruler to make it easier to get a straight line.

Continue on filling in the stripes with the different patterns. If  you have someone helping you like I did, it shouldn't take more than 40 minutes (that's as long as you are staying on task and not receiving requests from children to provide them with nourishment. :)

To mask off the areas I used pieces of cardboard from my stash and random bits of old tarps. When spray painting make sure you are in a well ventilated area and use a mask. It saves brain cells.  Also be sure to tape down the edges of the cardboard or masking material to keep the paint from seeping underneath. 

Let the paint dry before you cover it to mask off for painting the other colors.

Once you are finished painting remove the tape. I think its the most exciting part.

Can you believe it? A plain boring old nothing rug, turned into something beautiful.

Here are some additional design ideas using the same method: