DIY Painted Rug

I did it! I finally painted a rug. I have been thinking about it for a long time, bought the rug over a year and a half ago and have done lots of research on it. I finally decided on a pattern I was going to be ok with for the long term (after seeing it in other people's houses) and could see us using it later on down the road. It also took me a long time to commit to this because I couldn't decide on a pattern I liked or a color (I am afraid of color and I think the bigger issue is I don't know my own style).

Here is how I did it and some of my tips if I were to do it again


What I used:

The Erslev rug from Ikea in the 5x8 size

1 roll of 2-inch Scotch Blue painters tape, but I probably should have used green painters tape

1 quart of Rustoleum Acrylic Black Paint

Fabric Medium (what I used and what was recommended)

1 large (similar) and small paint brush

^^I just started taping rows after rows all the way across my rug. I then divided the rug into thirds and moved every other row down to create the pattern I wanted.
*Next time I would have measured out my thirds first before I started taping and took a black permanent marker and marked the thread all the way down so I didn't have to do measuring the whole way down. This would have also helped so I didn't have to tape and move.

Then I started painting without the paint thinner. I thought since I used acrylic paint it would be fine on the rug. I found that the paint was much too thick and not easy to spread. I kept wishing I could invent a sort of liquid dye that would just soak into the threads and not need to be washed out. This is when I went out and bought some fabric medium. I bought some kind from Joanns in really small bottles because I couldn't find the kind that everyone recommended. The fabric medium definitely helped, and if I would have bought the right amount so the proportions were right the paint would have spread even better.
*Since so many of the other rugs looked so perfect with just the tape I decided that the tape should hold well. If you are concerned about perfection, I would recommend getting a clear acrylic sealer to pain along the edges first so that your colored paint doesn't seep under the area you want to pain. Because my lines are not all perfect and all straight

I painted and painted and painted. This was great for me because work has been really stressful lately and I have craving to paint so it was a win win for me. I did two coats.

I then used the little paint brush to paint along the edges and down the middle seams to get a straighter line since I knew that my tape was not going to hold up that well.
*Some tutorials recommended using more of a sponge and "bouncing" technique rather then painting "back and forth" and I am sure that would work better since most the time I ended up pushing my paint brush into the rug rather then brushing back and forth.

All in all, we like it. I can go back up and touch up the areas that bled under the tape later. This rug is meant to go on our ground and protect our wood floors from Wesley and whatever he drops on them so it works for us. The best part?! I can flip it over and have a white rug or paint and new design. Now I just need to get some colorful pillows for my living room to balance all the black and white... I think that will be my next project.

I think I will go back and paint one of the sections an accent color too, but I can't decide on a color (told you I have commitment problems). Any ideas?? I was thinking yellow (gender neutral if the rug ends up in a kids room one day), purple (since I like that color), blue (since it is kind of a safe color) and a deep pink (since that is what I was thinking about dying the pillows for our living room); I'm probably going to do yellow thought since I have been leaning toward that for awhile.