DIY Woodgrain Rug

hi y'all. i am super excited to share this fun little project with you. it's a do-it-yourself faux bois rug. i purchased all the supplies for this project for under $10 (YAY!) and it took me about 2 hours to complete. this is one of those ideas that was sitting in my journal for WELL over a year, glad to finally make it happen!

what you'll need: a tan rug (any plain & simple rug is cool. i purchased mine for $5 at Target.), 3 pieces of poster board, brown spray paint, a warm (& not too windy) afternoon.

step 1: draw a woodgrain pattern on one piece of poster board (although, if i were doing this over i would use contact paper instead of poster board for better adhesion!). drawing a woodgrain pattern is surprisingly easy, the trick is the include lots of 'knots' in your wood so that it doesn't look like zebra stripes.

next is the most time consuming part of the project. cutting out and adhering the mask over your rug. if you use contact paper for your mask you will probably have a more difficult time adhering it, but i much cleaner/sharper line when you spray paint. if you choose to use poster board just remember to take down your edges and tape down any parts of the paper that are bubbling or sticking up with a small roll of tape. when you cut out your pattern you will basically just be using one 'row' and throwing one away as you are applying it to your rug. it's an easy pattern once you get started!

next up, spray painting. take your time and get a nice even coat all over the rug. examine it closely and make sure you don't have spots before you pull your mask up.

this step took me about 7-10 minutes.

let it dry for about 5-10 minutes and remove your masking. ta-da!

(thank you erin for taking photos & for posing with your cute red shoes!) XOs. elsie

Comments

Very cute, Elsie!

Posted by: Angie at ScrapScene | November 04, 2009 at 05:27 AM

ok--now this is my fave ok maybe everything you make is my fave.

I love love this idea so easy. I will be doing this for sure---just need a rug and paint___can you say thrift store? yahooooooooooooooo :)

Posted by: gina | November 04, 2009 at 05:51 AM

This is such a great idea! Will have to do this week. And I was curious, do you by any chance ship things to Scotland? I uprooted from Springfield to across the pond, but I still really like your stuff! :) Let me know. Have a superb day!

Posted by: Anna | November 04, 2009 at 05:56 AM

how sweet!

Posted by: Nicole | November 04, 2009 at 05:57 AM

What a lovely project - I definitely have to try that. Do you think it'd work to paint the stripes with a brush instead of spraying?

Sandy

Posted by: Queen of Bristol | November 04, 2009 at 06:18 AM

I never would have thought of that. Pretty cool.

Posted by: Dixie | November 04, 2009 at 07:00 AM

wow! awesome idea- i spray painted striped on white pants for my halloween costume and it worked so well. <3

Posted by: katie | November 04, 2009 at 07:33 AM

Elsie this is such a great idea! I really hope you'll be doing more tutorials. It would be interesting to start a Flickr group so we can see everyone's interpretation of your tutorials!

Posted by: Amanda | November 04, 2009 at 07:52 AM

cute idea!! and i agree, i like the tutorials.

Posted by: Emily Ralph | November 04, 2009 at 07:56 AM

Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous !!! I love your blog !

Posted by: Stéphanie | November 04, 2009 at 08:02 AM

i totally LOVE that idea and can't wait to try it out!!!

Posted by: amy | November 04, 2009 at 08:10 AM

this is totally thrifty...don't you love having moments of great inspiration like this. You stand back and look, and feel like a rockstar!

Posted by: jill swank | November 04, 2009 at 08:12 AM

i LOVE this, totally doing it!!

Posted by: margot | November 04, 2009 at 08:17 AM

That looks fantastic and pretty easy to do! Can't wait to try it out :o)