October 4, 2012

paint a rug party - week 3 reveal

Happy Paint a Rug Party Reveal Day! Did you get the day off work? Just you wait, next year it will be a national holiday.

I've had three weeks to put this sucker together (catch up on week 1 and week 2 if you missed it) so let's see what we've got.

First, to answer the question from last week. The votes were a lot tighter than I thought (thanks to everyone who shared their opinion), with Navy/White squeaking out a win. However, I forgot about one important voter - the hubs. He came home that night and said 'yeah, I don't want a pink rug.' I was so impressed that he actually read it, that I gave him the deciding vote. So Navy/White it is. (Don't worry, you'll be seeing the raspberry somewhere else soon)

As I mentioned in week 1 I read thru a few tutorials and decided what I would need to make this happen. With the kids in bed and a nice cocktail in hand. I got started.

The rug was brand new ($9 from HomeGoods) so no cleaning was needed. If you were doing this with an existing rug, I would make sure you vacuum the crap out of that sucker before painting.
The first coat of paint needs to be the color under the tape (remember that whole negative space thing) so the white paint went on first. I just used some Kilz (in white) I had on hand and mixed it with one bottle of fabric medium. But I didn't measure it out exactly. I guess I'm more of a chef than a baker. Anyone who watches Top Chef knows this difference.

The first coat went on and I wasn't encouraged. The paint did not spread. At all. It basically just stays wherever you pour it. It took a lot of muscle to get that paint to spread at all. I tried both a brush and a roller and found that the brush is best to begin with to get in all the little crevasses. (with a sisal rug)  Then, finish off with the roller.

THREE coats later (2 coats with a brush and 1 with a roller), here is where the night ended.

With Step 1 complete, I let it dry overnight.

Next up. Tape.

I made my two base lines, making sure that the tape met right in the middle of the rug (the only measuring I did.)
I thought I'd have to measure out each piece of tape to make sure everything was consistant. But to my great pleasure, once I had the middle taped and knew that it was in the center of the rug, I realized I just needed to tape from that center outward in each section and they would all work out to be even.


So using my level as my spacer I taped out the first section.


It spaced out perfectly. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

It can get a bit confusing to keep track of which lines should go which way so it is best to think by section. The lines of each section should go the opposite way of the lines from the previous section. Clear as mud?

With the rug taped out, I pressed the hell out of that tape working to get it as tight as possible to limit bleed.

Then, I poured out my paint and fabric medium to mix together. Hmm, I could have sworn the paint chip I gave to Home Depot was Navy. This looks awfully...royal.

Worried about the color, I went ahead with the first coat. It covered only slightly better than the other paint, probably because there was already 3 coats of paint that had filled in some of the gaps in the rug. However, you still gotta put some muscle into it.

After the first coat it still looked more royal than navy. I tried not to freak out and hoped it would get darker once it was dry.

No dice. Not blue enough and not the color on the chip. Mistint. Not cool Home Depot. Not cool. Luckily my brilliant hubs suggested we add some left over Farrow&Ball black to darken it up a bit. Extra birthday present for you my dear. So I mixed in some black and arrived at a color I think I want to market. I will call it Midnight in St. Louis. It will sell like hot cakes.

Much better. Just like with the white, I went ahead and did three coats of the blue as well. I let it dry, again, over night. Then pulled off the tape to discover this.

Wahoo! I was actually really impressed with how well the tape did to prevent bleed. There are a few spots that could use some touch ups, but I've decided I kind of like the imperfections. And I'm not at all saying this because I'm tired of painting this sucker.

It looked so good I decided it was the perfect addition to the kitchen.  It's happy and does a great job of hiding all of the things that someone seems to drop in front of the sink.

It also feels a lot better under foot than I had anticipated. Not sticky and maybe even a little less scratchy that plain old sisal.
I'm glad I did this and I'm happy with how it turned out. I say give it a try. It's much easier than you would have thought. Thanks Linda for thinking this fun up!

Now let's go check out how all the other ladies did!




46 comments:

  1. Stopping in via Simple Details to check out your rug and I think it's awesome! The color looks so good in your kitchen!

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  2. So cute! I think I will hire you to paint my next rug.;)

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  3. Turned out so good! Perfect nautical touch to your adorable kitchen!

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  4. I love it Elizabeth! It is perfect!

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  5. Very cool. I love the pattern but taping stuff like that out makes my brain hurt. You did a great job!

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  6. I love it! What a great pattern. I'm surprised you even managed straight lines, what with the 'cocktail in hand' and all...
    xo

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  7. It turned out perfect!! I think picking a smaller rug was a good idea. Much more manageable! Although I do certainly admire those who chose big ones too!

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  8. Love the pattern. Tres original. Great job Liz.

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  9. VERY cute Elizabeth and I love the pattern. Good job sticking with the process and working it out.
    xo Nancy
    Powellbrowerhome.com

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  10. Elizabeth ~ it's SO fabulous!! Is there anything better than that feeling when taking the tape off to reveal crisp lines, I think not! What a gorgeous punch of pattern for your kitchen!

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  11. Love this - it turned out great. The design was a fabulous idea.

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  12. Fantastic. First, I'm not sure it is a good thing that your husband reads your blog? However, he is so cool to give you painting tips. Love him. Your kitchen is so chic with the blue and white. I love this pattern, and I am definitely trying it.

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  13. Seriously amazing! You're such a trooper for sticking all the way through...I'm pretty sure I would have thrown up the white flag when the blue was the wrong color...love the design and of course, the navy!!

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  14. uuuuuum holy crap that's awesome! the end.

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  15. Adorable!!! The navy and white as well as the pattern were the perfect choice. I thought about painting the base color on my rug, but just didn't have it in me. Seeing yours makes me wish I had!
    Cathy @ Room Rx

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  16. It's great! Perfect for the place of honor it holds!!! Makes just the right Statement!!

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  17. LOVE the navy/white and the pattern is GORGEOUS! I seriously think it looks amazing!

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  18. Ahhh Elizabeth, it looks AMAZING!!! I freaking love that pattern!!! Okay, you have me convinced that I have to try this!

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  19. i love the pattern and of course, "midnight in St. Louis"!!!!! Great job Elizabeth!

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  20. Wow! Fave! Looks really great - esp next to your white cabinets. Great Job!!

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  21. What an awesome pattern! Love the midnight paint color. It is perfect in your kitchen. (Does it weigh a lot with all that paint?)

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  22. wow, fantastic! love the crispness of this rug and love the pattern. great job

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  23. Elizabeth I adore that did this graphic design, so cool and the navy and white; perfect!! Looks great in front of your sink!

    I am having an amazing Giveaway of Plush Pumpkins from Love Feast!
    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

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  24. Seriously, who knew a painted rug could look this good?! So awesome, love that pattern. Coming over from Cathy's Room Rx:)

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  25. It looks super. I love seeing all the rug reveals and finding new blogs to follow. - Brandy@ChateauÀGogo

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  26. I love that blue! Good thinking on your husband's part! The pattern is very stunning.

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  27. Unbelievably cool. And yes, I get the whole chef/baker reference, and I'm right there with ya.

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  28. Looks fantastic! And I'm loving the custom colour :)

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  29. Holy cow I love your rug! The color! The pattern!!! And by the way, I have butcher block countertops too - just love them!

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  30. Stunning! What a great color combo AND a great design. I would like the rug, please.
    Camille

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  31. Hi Elizabeth - the rug turned out beautifully! This is random but I noticed you have butcher block for your countertops - I'm thinking of doing the same in my kitchen, I love marble but worried about staining etc with two toddlers in the house! Would you recommend the wood option? Did you seal or stain it in any particular way? Thanks so much for your thoughts!!

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  32. Oh Hell no! That is fabulous and now I am totally inspired. Love....Love!

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  33. Gorgeous! I love the pattern you chose and the navy is the perfect color for your kitchen. Have a nice weekend Elizabeth.

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  34. Love the color combination and pattern you chose. Looks great in your kitchen!

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  35. Way to go girl!! I read every sentence your wrote, too :)... It looks GORGEOUS in your adorable kitchen. Love the color, the pattern, everything. I know you are so proud. I really want to do this. How do you find the time?? Way to go.
    Whitley
    www.thequeencitystyle.com

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  36. It came out great....It looks so good in your kitchen. The color is perfect!

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  37. You guys seriously put a lot of work into your rugs and they look great. The "less scratchy than regular sisal" feature is a great thing too. :)

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  38. Ooooh it came out fabulous and the perfect punch of pattern in your kitchen - I love it! Genius hubby to encourage you to mix to get your perfect colour. It almost makes me wanna try it myself and I'm completely rubbish with negative space/math/etc so that's saying something ;) Well done missus xxx

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  39. Girl... this is just super fabulous! I so love the color! Yes send me a case right away! I want this on my wall in my bedroom! Great job! Love the design!

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  40. It turned out amazing! I love it! Great idea adding the black to make the paint darker!

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  41. Whoa--I can't believe how good that looks. I have an 8x10 jute/wool rug that has been through the ringer and I was going to get rid of it but maybe I need to rethink that. You have given me some serious food for thought my friend!

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  42. Elizabeth, I love your painted rug! The pattern packs a punch and very chic! You did a great job!

    Have a good day!

    Jessie
    www.mixandchic.com

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  43. Holy smokes - it looks good! I am sad I had to sit this party out, but will refer to your tips if I ever decide to paint a rug!

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  44. LOVE this! What an awesome rug, it looks so great in your kitchen!

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  45. Hi there! I saw your rug on pinterest many months ago and used your pattern to create my own painted rug. It looks very different from yours, but yours was the inspiration! Thanks so much! My husband and I are newbie bloggers and we just did a post about our rug. We gave credit to your blog and linked back to this post. Check it out at http://unconventionalfarmhouse.com/2014/04/28/the-rug-experiment/ and please let us know if we have correctly credited you. Like I said- we're newbies and we're still learning. Thanks again for the awesome inspiration!

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