I Painted An Area Rug on My Carpet

Small area rugs in front of our pellet stove are a hazard. The edges curl 

and even with a gripper back and carpet tape, they trip us up.

I decided to paint a half moon hearth rug instead, and I like how it looks so far!

Yesterday I vacuumed and shampooed the carpet thoroughly.

I started by drawing the half circle directly on the carpet with a Sharpie. 

There is no turning back now!

I used dark brown as a base color than added irregular patches of red on top. 

I used clear packing tape to mask the edge of the hearth.

I used regular acrylic craft paint from my stash. You can see the different manufacturers here but they are all compatible. I used a bit of the texture medium to keep the paint soft to the touch when it's dry.

I mixed the burnt umber and burnt sienna together for the cocoa brown color I wanted. 

I also had these curlicue stencils in my stash and used them for the turquoise accents. I like the reverse pattern effect they give me.

I will add a 2" wide border around the whole design, probably in turquoise.

 Then I'll add a few more curlicues in soft harvest gold and maybe dark coffee brown.

You see, THIS is my inspiration rug for the colors and designs. It is on sale right now at the whopping sale price of $479, plus shipping. 

I think my project rug is a much better price, since so far it is FREE!

I'll write another post with photos when I am completely done. 

I plan to spray it with Scotchguard once all the paint is dry.

 So far, I love it!

Here's the next phase of this project. Please check it out and tell me what you think!

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2017/02/painted-area-rug-part-2.html