UncategorizedHow to Paint a Rug October 3, 2013Y’all, I am so blown away by all of your sweet comments about our fall home tour! Seriously, thanks so much for all the love! Before we get to the rug painting, a little love for current home tours… Yesterday, we had the very talented Sarah of Sarah M. Dorsey Designs sharing some gorgeous DIY candlesticks with us. Go check her blog out. She’s awesome! Today, we have Gabbi of Retro Ranch Reno sharing her home tour with us. She was inspired by plums, teals, and mustard yellows. She brought in peacock feathers and lots more awesomeness. I LOVE how it turned out and you definitely need to go check it out and share the love. *** Some of you mentioned that there were a lot of “new” things in my home tour other than just fall decor. And you’d be right! Since we’re just now getting to that decorating phase, there were a good many projects that I wanted to finish before we rolled out the fall home tour. It was a good excuse to get some things done! So, over the next little bit, I’ll be sharing some of those and giving tutorials for how we did it. Today, I want to talk about the new living room rug. A lot of you commented on this rug. I had talked about my inspiration for layered living room rugs here. I really wanted something navajo/kilim (shocker!) and cowhide. Well, I haven’t found the cowhide yet, but I’m still on the hunt. The kilim we took care of. Like many other things in our home, this beauty has an interesting story. Not long ago, I was searching one of my favorite local thrift stores and came across this 4×6 pastel navajo rug. And for only $19.99! I wasn’t crazy about the pastels. Not that there is anything wrong with pastels, but that just didn’t fit the color pallette I was going with. But I loved the pattern, not to mention the good size and the price! So, an idea started forming…. Could I take some fabric paint and brighten up this beauty? Well, I decided to try and she came home with me! In comes Tulip Fabric Paint… I wanted coral/red, greens, and blues. There were five different colors on the actual rug, so I chose five different colors of paint and matched them each to the color they most matched to begin with. I thought that would be easier to cover and it was! I started with red. When my husband saw me painting the first little red square he predicted I’d be there for years. It did seem daunting and at first, it was very tedious. You’ll see that I started (follow the arrow) painting much heavier. I was really trying to get the whole thing covered. That was taking several coats because of the pile of the rug. There were a lot of little nooks and cranies to work it into. Then I thought about how much I liked “worn” looking rugs and could I just sort of glaze the paint over the top and not worry about full coverage. That’s what I decided to do and things really picked up. I would say this project took me in all about four hours. Yes, still long. But the total came out to $40 for a 4×6 Kilim rug that I picked the colors of. Love this project! You’ll notice the gold/tan on the left didn’t get used. I saved it for last because I thought I might want to keep the cream that was already on the rug. I loved the contrast once it was done. This makes me so excited to realize you really can change the color of rugs! I’m such a thrifter and good rugs in the right colors are hard to find! Some tips if you want to do this yourself: 1. Choose the rug wisely – Choose a rug with a pattern you really like that would be easy to follow. For example, these straight lines were really easy to replicate with a good angled brush. If this had been very intricate and floral, it would’ve taken forever. Also, choose a rug with a very low pile. 2. Use Tulip Fabric Paint – I know there are other great fabric paints out there. I tried several for another project that FAILED majorly and Tulip was by far the softest. The rug really doesn’t feel painted at all. I think it would feel much harder if you really applied a ton of paint to get more coverage. The way I painted it left it feeling soft. 3. Use an Angled Brush – As I said above, with these straight lines, it was super easy to paint. I used a fairly small angled brush and was easily able to freehand the straight lines. 4. Use Little Paint – I dabbed my brush in the paint and then worked a lot of it off before applying it to the rug. If you don’t, you get one dark spot of paint in the middle of what you’re trying to paint. Then, I worked the paint into the area I was trying to paint and this left it with pretty even coverage and a worn sort of look, which is what I was going for! 5. Take your Time – I went very slow in the beginning so that I could make sure I was staying in the lines and that I was getting the sheer, consistent coverage I wanted. Once I got the feel for it, I sped up and was fine. But definitely take your time to get the look you want! Any more questions I didn’t touch on? Leave a comment and I’ll get right back to you!
Julia @Cuckoo4Design says October 3, 2013 at 12:59 pm WOW, this rules. I would have never guessed that it is a painted rug. It looks so high end and I’m smitten with it!. Pinning π Reply
Lindsay says October 3, 2013 at 1:28 pm Thanks, Julia!!! So glad you like it and I’m so happy that it doesn’t look like, “oh she painted that.” That was my biggest fear the whole time I was working on it! π Reply
Julia@SouthernColor says October 3, 2013 at 2:59 pm This looks great!! And I agree with Julia – I would have never guessed you painted this! Thanks for sharing what kind of paint to use. I’ve seen so many painted rugs on Pinterest lately but no one ever mentions what paint they used π Reply
Gabbi @ Retro Ranch Reno says October 3, 2013 at 4:43 pm I cannot believe how awesome this turned out! The colors are perfect. That rug definitely helps to “make” the room! Great job, Lindsay! π Reply
Kristina says October 3, 2013 at 5:02 pm It looks AWESOME. I think leaving the cream was the right choice. Makes the other colors really pop while giving the eyes a “break.” Reply
Tricia | 724 South House says October 3, 2013 at 10:05 pm These are the kind of posts I LOVE! I would so do this… and I’ve actually been thinking about painting a striped runner for our hallway. Looks great and it definitely fits your style. Thanks for the inspiration! Where did you pick up the paint? Reply
angela says October 3, 2013 at 11:02 pm Ummm. You totally have blown my mind on this project. I loved the texture and colors of the rug when I took your home tour, but to now know that you thrifted and painted it just makes it even more fantastic. Awesome job and I am definitely pinning this! Angela @ Number Fifty-Three Reply
maire says February 26, 2018 at 7:00 pm have you had to clean the rug yet? I was wondering how the colors held up after (steam) cleaning the rug… Reply
Lindsay says March 27, 2018 at 7:59 am I no longer have this rug and didn’t clean it beyond vacuuming it when I had it, but I wouldn’t think it would hold up well to steam cleaning. The paint did fade over time with wear, which I actually preferred! It started looking even more natural! Reply
Lindsay says October 4, 2013 at 11:43 am Thanks Cassie!!! I didn’t feel like it was that out of the box, but I do like the result. Reply
laura says October 4, 2013 at 2:10 am I just posted about several amazing DIY painted rugs a couple weeks ago but I never came across a scenario like yours where you painted over the design in your own colors! Genius!! I love this print! It looks so good! That rugs makes the room. I was wondering where you got it when I saw one of your first posts! Laura House Envy Reply
Lindsay says October 4, 2013 at 11:43 am Thanks, girl! Yeah, I felt like it wasn’t that creative of a DIY because I was just painting over an existing pattern, but it did bring it back to life! Reply
Sarah {Lacquer and Linen} says October 4, 2013 at 5:14 am I love Gabbi’s color choices for fall! Not the traditional red, brown or yellow. Looks great! And I cannot BELIEVE you painted that rug and it only took you 4 hours. That is some amazeballs stuff lady!! Reply
Carolyn@ Sweet Chaos says October 4, 2013 at 12:17 pm This is brilliant!! I was admiring your rug, but never would have guessed you painted it! Really enjoying the fall home tour. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of it π Reply
Bethany @ Dwellings By DeVore says October 4, 2013 at 4:39 pm I love Gabbi’s home and that rug is awesome! I would never have guessed you painted it. Reply
Lindsay says October 4, 2013 at 4:57 pm Thanks, Bethany! I’m so glad you all keep saying that because I really thought it would look painted in a bad way. Yay! Reply
Lindsay says October 10, 2013 at 1:38 pm Oh, Karianne, I don’t compare to your creativity, but that means the world coming from you!!!! Reply
Brandi says October 5, 2013 at 11:28 pm Hey Lindsay! I love the way your rug turned out. I would have never thought to paint a rug! Such a brilliant idea. And it doesn’t look as if you painted over it at all. I was convinced you purchased it that way. PS. Were you at Haven? I think we met! Reply
Lindsay says October 10, 2013 at 1:37 pm I was at Haven!!! And I think you’re right…we did! What a small world π So glad we “found” each other online now! Reply
Elizabeth@ Blue Clear Sky says October 6, 2013 at 11:34 pm Your room looks great and amazing that you thought to paint the rug. Awesome! Reply
Lindsay says October 10, 2013 at 1:37 pm Thanks, Elizabeth! I’m just glad it turned out okay π Reply
Amy@BuffaloRoam says October 7, 2013 at 2:23 pm Hello fellow buffalo blogger! Thanks for the sweet comment! I stopped by on the perfect day because Gabbi is one of my very favorites! Her home is almost as amazing as she is. π And speaking of homes – WOW – I cannot get over yours…. I have a lot of reading to do! Reply
Shavonda@AHomeFullOfColor says October 8, 2013 at 5:19 am This is just beautiful Lindsay! What an awesome find! The colors are gorgeous. It looks so good! Reply
Kathy says May 10, 2014 at 3:14 am Fabulous! I have some canvas throw rugs that faded when I washed them, and this would give them a new life! How have yours held up to dirt and spills? Reply
Lindsay says May 12, 2014 at 8:24 am OOh Kathy, you should do it! It has held up great…only suggestion I would make is to put in a low-traffic area. Ours was in a very high traffic area and we have dog that loved to roll around on it. The paint faded some from all of that wear. If you had it under a dining table or something, I don’t think it would show any wear. And I actually like the bit of worn paint. Worn rugs are my favorite, so I don’t mind it. But if you’re hoping to keep the bright, just-painted look, put in a low-traffic area π Reply
Marsha W says May 22, 2015 at 1:01 am Do I need to coat the painted rug with something to keep it from peeling, esp since I have a dog that likes to lay on it Reply
Marsha W says May 22, 2015 at 1:03 am Do I need to coat rug after painting to protect it from peeling ,my dog likes to lay on my rug Reply
Lindsay says May 22, 2015 at 10:08 am Hi Marsha! I didn’t do that, but it definitely would’ve made it more durable looking back on it. Ours got a lot of wear with our dog too and faded some. Reply
Victoria says May 26, 2017 at 1:02 pm How many of the Tulip So Soft Fabric Paint 4 oz bottles did you use on your 4x6ft rug? Did you use just the 5 bottles pictured? (I’ve been searching for detailed information forever, but most tutorials call for quarts of latex house paint, which I do not want to deal with. If you can tell me how many bottles you used, I can adjust for the leftover white space, AND scale up accordingly for my ugly 9x10ft rug.) Thank you! Reply
Lindsay says May 30, 2017 at 2:57 pm HI Victoria! I did this so long ago, I really don’t remember! But I do remember it surprised me how much it took and was definitely more than those five bottles! Reply
[…] would never guess this brightly paintedΒ Navajo rug was originally aΒ pastel colored rug? Learn how Lindsay made the startling change in […] Reply