Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Rug Redo: Painting Rugs


Wow, I've been obsessed with rugs! I promise this will be my last post on rugs--for a while, anyway! Ever heard of painting a rug? Well, my curiosity got the best of me, and I tried it. Here's how it went down:


I started with this 4x6 jute rug in sage. I also started with the idea that this would be a little project that would probably only cost about $20. After all, it was only a 4x6 surface, right? Wrong!


To appease my navy mood, I chose a shade of navy. I started with a quart of latex paint (not even close to enough) just to see how this little project would go. As you can see, one coat could not finish the job. I ended up buying another gallon. The fibers of the rug soak up the paint. I painted on the first coat, and then rolled on the second coat. At this point in the process, I didn't know if this would work, but there was no turning back!

When the navy dried, the rug actually looked really good, so I decided to move forward with the stripes. I taped on the stripes and painted them white. I was going for a less formal, faded look with the stripes, so I only did a couple of coats of the white. It took hardly any paint.


I pulled off the tape, and I was quite pleased with the finished product. My little project: $65-$70. I should also tell you that I simultaneously painted another jute rug in orange, but I didn't have enough paint to finish it, so it's upstairs in a closet. I'm guessing it will eventually go to the dumpster! This is typical of a lot of my DIY projects--they end up costing more than buying, or they end up in the garbage (or both)!
Now, the question is, "Would I do this again?" Though I would not cover an entire rug in paint (it took FOREVER to dry), this technique would definitely work if you wanted to add stripes or other patterns to a rug. It would also be a lot cheaper! Important things to remember: use latex paint; use an outdoor, sea grass, or jute rug; and don't try to paint a green rug navy!

3 comments:

  1. I've been waiting to see this! It turned out nicely. I'll be interested to see how it holds up. I was thinking it might actually be better being painted as far as spill resistance and cleaning up the mess that will be inevitable (and constant) once Stella is a bit older. Like you said, the fibers already soaked up all the paint so maybe they will just keep all the spills right on the surface. You'll have to do an update in a year. Thanks for posting!

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  2. It looks good Jamie. What does it feel like after all that paint? How do you clean it?

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  3. Your rug turned out great!! I am really liking mine. It really did take more paint than I thought it would - LOL!

    xoxo
    Jen

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