A few weeks ago I was flipping through a magazine (I have a nice friend who recycles all her home decorating magazines to me):-) when I saw this ad below.
via Horchow.com
Umm, gorgeous and I want that rug were my exact thoughts! After a bit more time gawking at the photo I hopped on over to Horchow.com to see if it was possibly in my price range. Initially I was teased by a few rugs that were decently priced but then I saw ‘mine’ and it was a mighty blow–for the size I needed (a 6×9) they were asking a whopping $1,899.
Having seen a few posts here and there on blogs about crazy people painting rugs it had crossed my mind quite a few times. Especially since we had lots of leftover carpet still rolled up in our garage from the hardwood floor installation. My mind immediately went to how I could replicate this Horchow rug DIY style.
Upon first glance it looked like the pattern would be way too complicated but once I took the time to really study it a light bulb went on! Another item or two left over from the floor renovation were stacks of 12×12 floor tiles we had ripped out and piles of discarded shoe molding. Hooray for us for being SO slow to get these items on the curb for trash pick up! Sometimes (rarely) procrastination pays off!:-)
I set out the rug (an old piece of carpet) onto a large drop cloth.
Then began to line up the tiles in diagonal rows.
And started adding varying lengths of shoe molding centered between the tiles.
I was so excited to see if it would work! At this point I’m sure my neighbors thought I was crazy but I didn’t care my curiosity overtook any sense of pride!:-)
I used Rustoleum’s Deep Blue color from Home Depot. I ended up using 3 cans. Each can cost $3.44.
And I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. I don’t know who was having more fun playing me or my daughter riding the baby car down the driveway with both feet up! After that it was both feet up and no hands. 😮
Here are the results–
AS a frame of reference the most accurate depiction of the color is the picture below. It is a deep blue, almost navy color.
It’s not perfect (none of my DIY’s are) but I quite enamored with it considering it only cost me $10.50 (spray paint) and I love the pop of color and lattice, basket weave design. I found the lattice design to be very forgiving. Assuming you don’t have old 12×12 tiles lying around 🙂 I think poster board cut into a 12×12 size would work well. The dollar store sells poster board 2 for $1. Just be sure to weigh it down a little with rocks or something you don’t mind getting sprayed with paint.
As for the lines between the poster board 12×12 s if you don’t have spare shoe molding lying around you could try frog tape (a type of painter’s tape). I would try it out first on a spare piece to make sure it will adhere to the rug material.
As for obtaining carpet remnants you could try Craigslist, friends that have gotten new floors, or even price out basic carpet at the stores. Another idea is to look around for a basic rug at a low price to hack. Here is a link to where you find good deals on rugs.
Thanks for reading about my adventures in spray painting a rug! It was fun! Lets me know if you have any questions!!:-)
