My Hands Made It

As you know, I’ve been redoing the kitchen and one thing I really wanted from the get-go was a Persian rug by the sink. It’s all the rage lately.  So I went over to Ebay to take a look and quickly decided I was not going to get a Persian rug.  I just didn’t feel like spending $75+ on a rug that was going to get wet and grody.  And the seagrass rug we had was holding up really well.  Wait a minute . . .

Painted Persian Rug Tutorial

Materials

• Flat, seagrass rug (I have no idea how other rugs would perform) – ours was purchased at Pier 1 a million years ago.
• Wax pencil
• Ruler
• Paint (I used acrylic craft paints as well as latex wall paint)
• Paint brushes, foam sponges

Instructions

Start by marking the center of your rug with the wax pencil and begin planning out your design.  Geometric patterns are common in rugs and easier to keep symmetrical than curvy flourishes.  The paint will cover the pencil markings, so don’t worry about mistakes.  I started with the center of my design, focusing on the main shapes, and worked out from there, adding the smaller elements later.   When happy with the basic design, begin to paint each section – again, I started at the center and moved outward.  A foam brush works well for large areas and you don’t need a ton of paint.  Just lightly dab and work it over the surface.  Edging really makes the design pop and doesn’t need to be perfect – the softer the lines, the more they will resemble the pile of a wool rug.  Simply take a small brush and outline each painted section with a contrasting color.  The larger your design elements are, the easier they will be to outline.  Stand up and run around the house when finished.  You are a freaking genius.

I highly doubt this will need any sort of protective coat – the paint seems like enough – but I would be thrilled if mine got a worn look over time.  Oh and this is really cool:

No seepage.  *high five*