Recovered Rug, Revisited

This week Mom and I are bringing back some of our most popular posts from 2013.  This one received a lot of interest because it shows how I brought a rug back from the dead and got a lot more use out of it.

 

 

This story finally has a happy ending.  A while back I showed you what happened when I tried to paint my kitchen rug (here).  I actually didn’t even get to the painting stage because I stopped after applying a quart of primer.  Anyway, in case you forgot, below is what the rug looked like when I decided that project wasn’t working, but I didn’t give up!

 

 

I then came across something on Pinterest from East Coast Creative.  They made their own floor cloth by covering a rubber mat from Home Depot. A rubber mat works well because it is sold by the foot, and you can have it cut to your specific requirements. I knew they were on to something and thought it might just work for me.  I decided to skip the rubber mat step and just work with the rug that I had already ruined.  Thank goodness I didn’t get around to throwing it away yet.   

 

I bought some chevron fabric on sale at Hobby Lobby.  I went with chevron because I love the pattern, and I do not have one single chevron thing in my house.  Plus, the process is so easy that if I get tired of it, I can do a quick change. First, I ironed the fabric.

 

After ironing, I put everything on my dining room table and followed the directions from East Coast Creative.  I applied spray adhesive to the rug and smoothed the fabric out on top of it.  I think I would leave this step to the end on the next go round.

 

 

 Then came the fun part.  I started adding thin layers of  polyurethane. It was recommended to use a water based polyurethane so the fabric will not yellow. My fabric started to bubble up and come off of the rug a little at this point.  This is why I would do the spray adhesive step at the end.  I applied three thin coats and was sure to let it dry completely between coats.

 

 

After I did the three coats of poly, I redid the spray adhesive step.  I sprayed and then smoothed out the fabric.  I started in the middle and worked my way to each side, a section at a time.

 

 

To really make sure I didn’t have any air and make sure the fabric was smooth, I used my pastry roller.  This was a great way to really smooth out the fabric.  If you do decide to do spray adhesive in the beginning, I recommend using the roller to help smooth out the fabric.

 

Here it is after the spray adhesive and before I secured the fabric to the back.

 

 

I did the corners first.  To do this I  sprayed some adhesive and pulled in the corners on the fabric.

 

 

I took my time and folded it as if I were wrapping a gift. 

 

 

I did the same thing on the other side., making sure to pull the fabric tight.  I followed with duct tape to secure it really well.

 

 

I pulled back all the sides, used spray adhesive, and then secured them with duct tape.

 

 

This shows the back of the rug.  This rug always had a tendency to slide some so I will be adding some more caulking to the back to help grip the floor like I did here.

 

 

 I am thrilled with the results.  Since it is in the kitchen, it will get splatters and food dropped on it.  I already know that the poly makes it easy to wipe.

 

Here is a full room shot.  It was actually a bright and sunny day in Syracuse when taking this picture and you can tell our kitchen gets a lot of light.

 

 

 

To see some other successful rug projects of mine, go here and here.

 

 

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Cheers!