d.i.why not? fab pink geometric painted rug!

i'm really excited to share my latest diy project with you!  it started with the fab white chairs in the above photo... i have been dying for eames chairs like these for ages but wasn't willing or able to pay the premium price for them (that nasty intern budget always rears its ugly head...)... then i found this awesome place online called advanced interior designs that sells inexpensive chairs that look exactly like the official dwr reproductions i had been pining for! and the bonus was that they have a warehouse in la that i could just drive to and pick them up!  in my eyes there is no difference in quality in person... just price tag!  i promptly sold my wooden side chairs on craigslist (for more than what these cost me so it was a win win!) and got to redesigning my dining room....

so, a white chair, with white walls and white floors doesn't work... at least not for me...  if you've seen other stuff i have done in my blog you probably realize i'm not afraid of color or bold patterns... and i knew i needed a great bright color on the floor for these chairs to pop off of... so, i set out to paint a rug and make that happen... below is the step by step on how i created this awesome rug! and it all started with an inexpensive erslev rug from ikea... oh, and i have to say "watermelon smoothie" by glidden is my new favorite color! and how groovy does it look with views into my striped hallway and painted bedroom wall and then to my living room??? i love it!!!

materials needed:

• 1 1/2 quarts of paint (i used watermelon smoothie in flat by glidden)  note: i thought a quart would be enough for the project but i ended up going back to home depot for another when i was 3/4 done and out of paint! you may want to start with a gallon to be cost efficient.
• fabric medium (i mixed two and a half 118 ml bottles of liquitex brand into one quart of paint... i used a total of 5 bottles of fabric medium)
• 1 paint roller (i used a 3" roller)
• 1 roll of scotch brand green masking tape (this tape was AMAZING! when i complained to my sister and my parents about the gold paint i used for stripes on my hallway wall dripping they all said to me "you should have used the green tape instead of the blue"..  i never knew about the green tape... so this time i made sure to get the scotch green and it rocked! and it was way cheaper than the frog tape)
• 1 flat woven rug (i used the white erslev rug from ikea in the 4'7" x 6'7" size)
• x-acto knife
• measuring tape

here's how i did it!

1- i was inspired by the nixon pattern used by jonathan adler and sketched it on a piece of paper

2 - i taped out a border within the rug that seemed straight (as we all know, 4 x 6 in a woven rug does not have straight right angles and i needed to start with as close to a straight border as i could)

3- after i taped the border i measured the inside space that i was going to work with and had my calculator handy... i knew i wanted the pattern to be big and bold but not too big and i thought i wanted 5 squares across the 4' side of the rug. so, my squares were roughly 8 1/2" (measured on the outside of the tape) each.

4. i then taped the design out using long pieces of tape to ensure all of my rectangles and center lines would be as symmetrical as possible.

5. i then used my x-acto to lightly cut the design out of the tape without damaging the rug so that it looked like this (this whole taping process took me the longest of any of the steps for this rug!)

6. i then pressed the tape down throughout the rug in order to be sure it was sticking to it really well
7. i mixed the fabric medium into the paint really well (this was key because i think that using this fabric medium is what caused my rug to turn out so well! so don't skimp on the fabric medium)
8. i rolled the paint onto the rug and was careful to cover every white spot that was showing.
9. after several hours of drying i peeled the tape off the rug.   i have to tell you i was sooo nervous at this point! i had no idea if that scotch green tape had done its job or not!!

10.  i did my little happy dance because that scotch green tape rocked my world! and there was very little bleeding and the overall effect was super fab!!!  and my friends that have checked it out can all attest to the fact that it is not hard and flakey. it actually feels pretty good! and i think the paint will help to protect the rug from stains from any dining mishaps!

*** if you are just now finding this post because of recent press you should also check out my lemon yellow starburst rug tutorial found here 


*** and you can also check out my latest extreme stripes black and white painted rug tutorial here!

so, to celebrate the success of that project this weekend, a friend and i went to see e.t. at the local hollywood forever cemetery. it was the last screening of the summer and it was a really fun night!a sold out crowd, a great picnic, fun photo op with us on bikes & e.t., &  drew barrymore introduced the film... i have to say, i see her around town a lot doing things like karaoke or seeing concerts (we seem to have similar interests) and i am always amazed at how laid back and cool she seems in real life.  i hadn't seen e.t. in ages and it really does hold up over time. i still cried my eyes out and loved it just as much as i did when i first saw it with my family in the early 80s. i'm gonna have to get copies of the dvd for my nieces and nephews this christmas.... along with some bags of reese's pieces...

for those of you just tuning in and wanting to know more about me you can by going here... and if you didn't already know... i created a facebook page... check it out and "like" it! and follow me on twitter! 


until next time...


the almost 40 year old intern