boring rug no more

Area Rug Before

The less than desirable carpet in our apartment is beige, well, at least the parts that aren't stained.  My husband brought with him two area rugs when we moved in together.  Both were on sale at Wal-Mart and both are quite frankly, boring.  One is tan and the other green.  They are not soft rugs.  However, they do look a million times better than our carpet, so we enjoy them!  I've read in magazines and such 'never put an area rug on wall to wall carpeting...blah blah blah blah" But, really?  Come to my apartment and then tell me to roll up the rug!  I have been itching to get a rug with some color in it...since all but one of our walls in white.  Though, we just don't have the money to spend on a new area rug.  Not to mention, those puppies are expensive!  I couldn't believe some of the prices I saw.
Naturally, being the crafty 'I can make that' gal that I am...I decided to take the matter into my own hands.  I went down to my local A.C. Moore and bought some fabric paint.  Now, I didn't buy the puffy paint, dimensional stuff.  I got Folk Art brand paint.  I found it along with the acrylic paints, these say 'Fabric' on them, they come in 2 ounce bottles.  I chose the colors that I wanted to incorporate into my living room.  I had seen a rug at target with colors I liked though, it was too small for our need.  Click Here to see my inspiration.  I wound up getting five different colors and buying some stencil brushes.  I had no clue what kind of brush to get to paint a rug, so I thought this would do.  All together I spent less than $7.00 for all of my supplies, the paints were on sale and I had a coupon for 25% off of the brushes.  (hint hint: I got the coupons through signing up on the website...good idea and I've gotten some awesome coupons!)

Area Rug After Face Lift!

I got home and spread out my supplies.  I left the heavy labor to my husband, he got the rug from under our furniture.  I then took and painted my rug.  I chose to go color by color, so I could make sure I balanced it out.  I didn't want a huge amount of one color in any area.  The paint says it take 24 hours to dry, so we left it out and tried to walk around it!  Both my husband and I are highly satisfied with the outcome of my rug.  Not to mention, this 'brand new' area rug cost under $10.00!
I actually had some other ideas, for those less ambitious than I.  One could simply tape off boxes and paint squares of colors, or just paint a border.  Even, if you felt more comfortable with a stencil, there are some pretty good ones out there.  Also, monogramming is a definite possibility, especially to a small rug at an entrance.  The possibilities are endless, get inspired and create!