Dyed Rug II

Maybe it's a little much (but it's so much fun and soooo much cheaper) - I dyed another rug. As I mentioned several posts ago I am currently working on three areas around my house. One of which is our family entry through the garage. One thing I wanted was a new rug. Something dark to hide the dirt and something with a print to add some fun. Since everything cute is over $20 and I really don't like spending more than $10, I decided to try another dyed rug project.

I found this rug at Ross for $11.99. Perfect size, perfect color, and the price was only a little more than I wanted to pay.

I found a rug I liked online, enlarged the picture and traced the pattern onto some computer paper. I cut that out, traced it onto some card stock and used that as my template to make some "stencils" out of contact paper.

After less than half way through cutting out my stencils I really wished I had thought to ask my friend with the vinyl cutter to cut out my stencils for me. Something I'll remember if there's a next time! Once my stencils were cut out I laid out my pattern on the rug.

I'm not sure if it was because my contact paper was at least 10 years old or because contact paper isn't made for carpet, but I did have a hard time getting my stencils to stick and stay in place. Fortunately, that didn't affect my pattern when applying the dye! There was some slight shifting, though, which made for a less than perfectly aligned layout. But you can't really tell.

The finished product:





Overall, I am really happy with the result. The dark brown dye will be perfect for hiding dirt brought in by dirty shoes and the pattern adds that little punch I was looking for. Now I just need to find a mirror the right size, paint it, hang up our family organizing system, get some hooks, add some art and I'm done!

I can't wait to try a more intricate pattern next. Throwing in multiple colors would be fun, too!