Rug Time!

Today's adventure is making a rug. I know sounds super fancy but this is just a light one that will go over the transition between the tile in my kitchen and the carpet. We all know that living in an apartment the carpet is not the highest quality and when they don't put in a transition piece you are bound to feel the tack strip when you step every now and again. Plus the carpet is starting to pull out.

With all that said in my head I thought it would be easy to find a rug. I wasn't even planning on making one but alas it was the hardest thing EVER! I went to every store to see if they had cheap ones, which of course they do not, and if they are in my price range they are not attractive or the correct size that I want. Feeling frustrated I go to my ever trusty sidekick Pinterest and find many D.I.Y rugs and start to feel hopeful again. I find one that uses just plain woven rugs with some acrylic paint in any design and I love it. I again go looking at all the big box stores, even Ikea when we make a trip to Portland, and yet again come back home feeling disappointed....

So I start thinking what if I use just duck canvas like what slip covers are made of....and then I realize hey the hardware stores sell canvas drop cloths.....DING DING DING DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER!!! My wheels start turning. Why not take the canvas drop cloth and the paint idea and make my own darn rug! It was brilliant. Which is what brings us to the tutorial of making our very own canvas rug!

Supplies that you need:

• canvas drop cloth 
• paint
• stencil/cardboard
• brushes/rollers
• shelf liner

With the drop cloth I got a 4' by 5' one from Lowe's for $5.98. That was the size I was looking for so I did not need to modify it. They do come in different sizes so grab the one the best suits your needs. If you want a circle one or a smaller size than what they offer just cut it up and restitch the sides.

The next thing I did was prewash my drop cloth just to make sure all the lose strings were off and that it was a nice clean surface to work with.

The paint that I used was Glidden sampler interior eggshell. The shade Mermaid Treasure. I went with that because it was the perfect amount of paint for the size rug I was going to paint. It came from Home depot for 2.64 I believe. You can use any paint I just figured the latex paint would last longer than acrylic/craft paints.

I made a chevron stencil with a piece of cardboard box and traced around it onto my drop cloth with a pencil. I know you can't really see it in the picture but in person you can see the lines. I went all the way down the rug and figured out which ones I wanted to be blue and which to be the color of the canvas.

Next put down a drop cloth under your drop cloth. Silly sounding I know but it will seep through esp if you use a roller or a sponge. I used the edge trim kit from the dollar store to help make my lines perfectly straight. It worked amazingly!!

NOW PAINT AWAY GOONIES!! 

I didn't do a great cover because I wanted it to look worn and not perfectly coated. You choose how you want it to look.

After it dried I flipped it over tacked on some shelf liner from the dollar store to the back. I used my hot glue gun to tack the ends of the shelf liner down. So far it hasn't slipped when we walk over it, so I at least know it is doing its job.

I figure after we have worn it down some more with waking over it I may put a clear coat over it to protect it from stains, or if anything spills on it I can just wipe it off.

HERE IS THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!! Ignore the little creepy statue under my desk that was Kyle's surprise welcome home gift and uhhhh it scares me! lol

Hope you enjoy your rug. And remember your possibilities are endless with this. If there is a pattern on a rug you really like but can't afford it but need a spot covered up or just want to add a little something to a room this is a fast affordable way to do it! I did this project in an afternoon, most the time was waiting for the paint to dry.

The total cost of this project

• canvas drop cloth $5.98
• paint sampler $2.64
• shelf liner $1.00
• edge paint brushes $1.00

So there you have it! until next time goonies