Drop Cloth DIY Rug
In the Designer's Words: "My laundry room is the room that we enter and exit our house, 99.5% of the time. I recently decided that this room needed a runer but I felt like the Prince in Cinderella trying on all sorts of runners in the room. They were either too dark, too light, too busy or too small. The tile, being so geometric, made me think I wanted a rug that was less so…more free-flowing. So, what’s a crafter to do when she can’t find what she needs? Yea, she makes one. So that’s just what I did…I made a floor cloth for my laundry room using a drop cloth and paint.
I'm a big believer in Kismet, things happen for a reason.While I had initially planned on purchasing a rug for this area, the floorcloth really proved to be the better option.
I was able to make it the exact size I wanted.
I was able to tailor the colors to just what I needed.
Any rug in this room with be subject to much wear and tear. I wanted a lighter color rug, but a white fiber rug would not have been practical. This floor cloth can easily be wiped off or mopped as needed. And when the day comes (which shouldn't be for a long time given the 3 coats of sealer) that it is beyond salvage, it won't be the end of the world as I have only invested $24 in this rug ($13.98 for floor cloth and $8.97 for the 2-sided tape)."
Estimated Cost$21-$30
Time to CompleteIn an evening
Primary TechniqueDIY Craft
Project TypeMake a Project
Materials List
- Heavy Duty Canvas Drop Cloth, mine was 6? by 9?
- Latex primer
- Latex/Acrylic paint in the colors of your choosing
- An acrylic sealer. Acrylic is less likely to yellow than an oil-based polyurethane. I used Polycrylic
- Assorted paint brushes and rollers
- 2-sided carpet tape (The tape in my roll was about 3? wide, so I cut it in half vertically)
Instructions
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This was the second floor cloth I’ve made. For the first one that I made several years ago I purchased the gessoed cloth, but this time I decided that I could prime the cloth on my own. After much research, I purchased a Heavy Duty Canvas Drop Cloth from Home Depot and went to town. The one I purchased was 6′ by 9′, which allowed me plenty of room to tailor the size I wanted.
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After I washed and dried it, I primed the drop cloth with several different brands of previously opened latex primer that I had in my garage (another plus of this project was the modest depletion of partially opened cans of paint...less to move). I applied 2 coats of the primer and then let it dry. Once the primer was dry, I applied two coats of an interior latex paint that I also had on hand.
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The next step was to 'hem' the rug. I turned under 1 1/2" all the way around. I marked the fold with chalk all the way around, turned the rug over and then began to fold, using the chalk guide. You can use a variety of methods to secure this 'hem'. I found that 2-sided tape works the best.
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Once the paint was dry, the real fun started...the design on the 'rug'. As I said, I wanted a design that tended more organic/free flowing rather than geometric. Basically, I just started doodling and came up with a design on a piece of paper which I then transferred to the canvas with a pencil.
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I then went over the pencil markings with some all-purpose white acrylic paint.
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I loved how it looked, but when I put it in my laundry room, the white was just a little 'too white'. I yanked it back out, mixed up a very watery white that had a little more tan in it and very lightly went over the original white. I did not try to hide the white, I just 'de-whited' it a tad.
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Once I was happy with my simple design, I sealed the whole rug with 3 coats of a polyacrylic sealer.