The tile has been perfect. A little cold in the morning, so I added faux sheepskins by my bed, which are cozy to step onto. I also have two rugs in front of the door, to try to collect some of the dirt that gets inside.
Ultimately, I wanted to get a rug to put in front of the couch to add some warmth (both literally and aesthetically, obviously).
One possibility was the rug that Martin brought back for me from Nepal. It is beautiful.
He hunted around Kathmandu to find the perfect rug for me, which he was quite successful at. But it is just too beautiful, I can't put it on the floor, and then step on it! Maybe someday when I have a home with areas that are much further removed from the front door. For now, it hangs on the wall:
But rugs are not cheap! Especially the nice looking ones. I browsed the internet to look for ideas and bargains. From the beginning, one of my favorites was this one from Ikea:
But at $200, it just wasn't going to to happen. I found several other examples I liked, but nothing I was willing to pay for.
Then I stumbled upon a tutorial to paint your own rug.
What? Buy a cheap, plain rug and paint it? Yes, please. I truly believe that paint should always be a consideration when trying to improve something, no matter what the medium is. (As in one time, I tried to paint my couch. That didn't work, but at least I definitely ruled out painting couches.)
So, with the rearrangement of the couch, I felt that it was time for a rug. I was going to buy a plain rug at Ikea, until I found one for half the price at Wal Mart. Perfect.
I gathered examples of patterns to use. I have many ideas over on my Pinterest boards, but my two favorites were:
Ok, I also just found this example, and couldn't help but share.
If it is tribal or hipster, I like it. I'm not always sure what hipster is though.
Anyways, I knew I was going to use painter's tape to make the stencil, so I needed a fairly straight forward design. I chose the rug from the second example. I love the design and it would be easy to tape out. So, here goes:
First, I had to cut the rug down to the right size. I decided not to have it under the couch at all. Because, as I mentioned above, I don't have a vacuum cleaner, so I will need to occasionally have to pick it up and shake it out. (Don't be disgusted, I promise that gets it clean.)
I cut off the amount I needed, then cut the edge off the discarded piece so I could reattach it with a glue gun. That way the rug wouldn't look like it was cut into pieces. That went pretty smoothly.
So, I had a rug that had a seam all the way around and fit in the space I needed it to fit into.
From there, I taped out the pattern.
The tape did roll up, so I had to push it down before I painted each part. But, they all stayed in place so it wasn't the end of the world.
Once it was all taped out, I started to paint.
Using the foam roller brush, the paint went on really easily. Confession: It looks like two different colors because it is two different colors. I painted one coat and decided it just wasn't right, freaked out a little, and picked a different color. I like it much better. It is definitely on the yellow spectrum, but it has more of a neutral feel to it.
Then came the best part... Taking the tape off!
I was worried about it being too rough from the paint, but it really isn't noticeable. I did sand some paint on a test piece of carpet, and that did make it feel a little softer. So, I could do that later if there are any parts that are thicker or rougher than others.
So, the hinterland is now "rugged" (and you can use that in the sense that it has rugs or in the sense that it is a little wild around here, because I really like the word, rugged, either way). I feel like I might take a nap lying on it, now. That's how much I love it.
