Porch Rug - how to

OK,
I am just jumping in....Suni is not here today so hang on.

The Front Porch Rug..........

Background- I needed (wanted) a rug on the front porch. Our home is about 100 years old and we have a big concrete and brick front porch that we spend a lot of time on. I love porch and patio furniture and accessories but not the price tag and the temporariness of all outdoor items. Soooo, I looked around here and there for a rug but even the "good" priced rugs were more than I wanted to spend. We really use our porch........ spaghetti, a muddy dog or two, and lots of Popsicles, I just couldn't bring myself to invest too much into it...... So I did a little in home recon. In the basement I found the rug....worn, not the right colors and water damaged (hot water heater leaked).....Perfect!

In my rug search I had noticed that several of the outdoor rugs were not a woven design but a stamped on or painted design and I thought "Why Not?". I decided that a stripe would be the easiest to execute, so with some clearance spray paint (.99) (I chose dark colors for impact and for their ability to hide dirt) and some old packing tape I got busy. I striped the rug with tape making the pattern random to hide imperfections. I was careful to be a straight and neat as possible but I DID NOT stress and measure. I started with my dark colors first, black and blue....after about an hour I pulled up the tape and taped right over the black and blue stripes for the yellow and gray. (side note: I had purchased white paint for the stripes too but it did not read well on the rug and the old colors showed through and looked dirty so I did more yellow and gray) The rug was dry in about 3 hours and ready to go. It is even soft to the foot. The spray paint is light and airy enough to keep the comfort of the rug and not be crunchy.

We have been using it for over a month now and I am really pleased. No paint running or rubbing off and no more dingy rug. Total cost $7.00 (paint)

This technique works really well with Berber, sisal, anything tight woven and/or short pile.... The patterns are endless....lattice work, monogram welcome mats, random geometric, botanical (lay down large leaves and spray....you can layer the colors and designs.

Give it a try.