You Know I Love Stripes

And so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that I did this:
feb92012 025  to the other side of our newly stamped kitchen rug.

I debated a few other options – diagonal stripes, chevron, etc… – but in the end I loved the idea of the horizontal stripes not to mention that it was the easiest option because all it involved was laying down tape and painting…no cutting, trimming, or measuring.

All I used this two-inch wide masking tape (from Target) to create the stripes: feb92012 020

Before I started I ripped off a small piece of tape and stuck it to my rug to make sure that when removed, it wouldn’t ruin the rug.  Lucky for me, it came off as clean as can be.

So, starting at one end, I laid strips of tape about two inches apart…feb92012 021 
giving me lots of even stripes all the way down the rug.feb92012 022(I actually started laying two pieces of tape together for thicker stripes, but then changed my mind and went with the thin stripes.)

I made sure to wrap the tape around the sides and under the rug so that, if any paint got on the sides, it’d still be where it was supposed to be – part of a stripe.feb92012 023 
Then I carefully took the rug outside and gave it a couple of coats of spray paint, letting the first coat dry (about 30 minutes) before I sprayed the second coat.  After a few hours of leaving it outside to rid it of the paint smell, I brought it in, carefully removed the tape, and laid it in our guest room for 24 hours before bringing it into the kitchen to be walked all over.

feb92012 026

We love it!  It seriously looks like it was bought this way.  I noticed that the spray paint preserved the texture of the rug much more than the sponged on latex paint did.

[Update:  Read about how the rug is holding up here!] 

feb92012 031

Budget breakdown for this side:
Tape:  $4 (used only about 1/8 of the roll)
Spray Paint:  $4 (used one leftover can and half of another)
Total:  $8
…which brings the Grand Total of the entire project to:  $34
Thirty-four beans for a reversible rug that we can flip and reverse depending on our mood, that can be easily washed, that adds some much need pattern and color into our kitchen, and that gives our dish-washin’ footsies a soft place to land.  Not bad, I’d say!

So, the only question that remains is, which side do you like better?reversi      stripes                                                  or                                             patterned   

.           .           .

I’ve been busy in the nursery and I’ve got a good read/tutorial coming your way this weekend!  Hope to see you then!

P.S.  It’s party time!  Linking up at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Ginger Snap Crafts, and Gingerly Made!

23 comments

  1. Hi! I just wanted to stop by to let you know I nominated your blog for the Liebster Award. You can get more details on my blog at http://lifeinprojects.blogspot.com/2013/02/liebster-award.html. It was passed along to me by another blogger so I hope you'll join in the fun! And...I love the striped rug!

    ~Liz

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    1. Wow! Thanks Liz! I'm so humbled and honored!!! I'm going to try my darndest to join in the fun...I was nominated by another blogger too so I might have to figure out a way to do both in one!! Thanks again!!!

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  2. Ok, first I swooned over your stamped rug and now the other side?! And stripes?! Be still my stripe loving heart!! Both sides look amazing and work so well in your kitchen. Now I must go find a rug I can paint...

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  3. How to possibly choose? They both look so awesome. Got some serious rug envy over here, might just have to try this...

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  4. Ok, so I LOVED the pattern side, but I think I'm in love with the striped side more! Such a great idea...I may need to try it myself :)

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  5. i love the stripes!! both are so good though!

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  6. I'm digging the stripes!

    I'd love if you shared this recipe at my Show & Tell party this week. http://www.gingerlymade.com/2013/02/show-tell-14.html

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  7. That is brilliant! I have to ask though, where did you buy the rug? I want to run out and buy one so I can copy you!

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    1. Thanks Nicki!!! The rug is from IKEA (Erslev was the name, I think...)! We don't have one near us so I had a friend pick one up and bring it to me once upon a time! Happy painting! I'd love to see it when you're done!!! :)

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  8. Saw you on Young House Love. I'm in love with your blog AND rug and also suffering major IKEA envy. Our closest one is 600 miles away!

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    1. Thanks for coming over! I think we need to start a petition asking IKEA to get with it and start online ordering!!!!!! :)

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  9. I, too, came from YHL :). Love this! I was wondering how your rug is holding up since it's been a while now?? I'm so interested to try my hand at painting a rug, but I worry about how they do over time. Did you do anything to seal the paint? Thanks!!

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    1. Thanks for coming by Ainsley! (PS...I love your name!) The rug looks the same as it did the day I painted it, albeit a little dirtier buutt, I actually just threw it in the wash and it's still looks great and is drying!! (I'll write about all about it!) I didn't do anything to seal the paint and it's held up great for the fact that it's walked on a thousand times a day being in our kitchen!

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    2. Oh, wonderful! That's great to know. I'm thinking a weekend project is in my future..:) Luckily for me, Ikea is a 10 minute drive from my house! I added your blog to my Feedly so I'll be watching for your rug update post. :)
      (Thanks for the name love ;))

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  10. I checked the Ikea website, and I don't think they sell that rug anymore. Too bad, because it seems like such a versatile (hackable!) option!

    Do you remember what brand and/or variety of spray paint you used?

    Thanks for the inspiration -
    Janet

    P.S. visiting from YHL, and am glad I found your blog.

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    1. Ugg...so sad!! I had dreams of getting a bigger one to paint someday. Bummer... If you find a similar one, let me know!!

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  11. I'm also wondering about the brand/type of spray paint. Thanks! (Coming over from YHL).

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  12. The spray paint I used was Rustoleum's Painter's Touch in satin Lemon Grass. I got it at Home Depot in the spray paint section!! :)

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  13. What type of rug is it?Cotton?

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  14. Love love love this! I was gonna say I like the stamped side best, then I thought no I kinda like the striped...but I kinda like the stamped. lol....both are awesome!!!

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    1. Thanks Ginger! I feel the same way...which is why this week it's stamped side up when last week was striped! :)

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