If I told you that I painted the rug in this picture, would you think I am Decorating Awesomeness? Especially if this was the before….
After looking in dismay at my “No Fade” outdoor rug, I thought it was time to buy a new one.
DON’T DO IT! Said my panicked cheap inner voice. Try your go-to first! No! I argue with myself. Why can’t I have something new and nice and made by someone else once in awhile? Why do I have to try and paint everything? You don’t! I beseech myself. Try something else!
But of course, I know I’m going to end up giving it a shot. If I hate it, THEN I’ll buy one. Besides, everything I try lately seems like it could be a potential post. (You’ve been warned).
So I resigned myself to in fact discover an application worth my time and perhaps my lack of enthusiasm can still be thwarted. I am terrible at math, so of course I decide to do a math related pattern. Duh!
Really, it wasn’t all that hard of a pattern. I divided the rug down the middle both horizontally and vertically and then did the same with the remaining spaces on the right and the left, top and bottom until I had a grid. I ran tape from corner to corner on each square until all squares had tape running through the center. I taped off the edge all the way around. I pressed down all the tape really, really well so that when I painted it wouldn’t seep under the tape and blur the edges. 
Then I left it for a little too long on a hot sunny day. I killed the grass slightly where the rug lay. Don’t do that. We mourned the lawn for a bit and then I did it again. Oy.
Two coats of the left over watermelon paint I used on the Before and After chair post, and I was ready to take a look. It turns out I didn’t rub EXTRA hard, because the paint bled under the tape. Now I had to find a solution to that since I committed to giving this project a shot (maybe I should just be committed). I found white duct tape in the shed!
It looks pretty good from far away, but what about now? …….
Bad, really bad. Let this be a lesson for those of you who think decorating magazines don’t fudge the pictures just a bit. The lesson for me will be: 1. will the tape stay on 2. will it stay white 3. will it stay dry.
I could have let you think I was Decorating Awesomeness and never show you the rug corner picture. But I told you when I started this blog I would tell you what worked and what didn’t. This SORT of did, I want to be real and show that even a seasoned DIYer can mess up now and then. It’s all good!
Supplies from the Home Depot.
Found This Painted That 
Love it! I pinned it my highest honor. Girl Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do
Lol! Thanks and yes you are so right!
Again, you got a giggle out of me. I love the idea, and appreciate how you showed us how you got the lines so white as I was thinking the original carpet did not look as white as the lines on the finished product. Let us see it at the end of summer check out how well it weathered the elements. Love your posts! :~)
Yes it will be interesting to see how or even if it lasts through the summer.
Oh well, it looks good from afar lol. Whose gonna look that closely anyway?
no kidding! Probably won’t last that long since it’s white anyway….I’ll have to break down and buy one….Or…..
Lol I am sure you will find a way not too 😉
I’m enjoying this blog so much. This idea is an interesting one and the corner is imperfect … Meh (shrug). Don’t buy a new one.
Ohhhh if only it was just the corner! But I totally agree with you about buying a new one. I realized the rug is a good reflection of who I am. Flawed, not perfect, but fun and colourful! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog, that makes my heart sing!!
Great blog! And after years of working as a retoucher SO appreciate the honesty! Makes your projects and blog so much more interesting…any one can retouch their way to perfect!
Well I am VERY flattered and excited that you are willing to see the possible train wrecks! I really want people to try things and not to freak if they don’t go as planned. Sometimes mistakes are better than the original anyway.
Your photos are beautiful and what fun to compare those bipolar cultures!!
I bow down to your decorating awesomeness.
Lol!
Ok, the rug looks great from afar, and if a little bit of an unsatisfactory corner gets you through another year, then so be it. Long live the rug! Who knows? Maybe another rug is going to be waiting for you at the thrift store at the end of the season.
If you ever do try to paint a rug like that again, maybe you could try a tip I just saw the other day for painting lines. Lay out the tape grid, then smooth a very thin layer of paintable caulk down on the edges of the tape. Now, mind you, I saw this tip, I didn’t try it. But, it was a tip for textured walls, so who knows, maybe it’s work for textured carpets. If anyone could find out, it would be you!
That sounds like a lot of work, lol! Actually if I do stripes on the wall I paint over the edge of the tape with the original wall colour and that adds a seal so the new stripe colour doesn’t bleed under.
Also I guess I should show more pictures of the dastardly rug – it’s not just the corner…it’s the whole thing. But whatever! It’ll do for now just fine.
Original wall color — that’s brilliant! I was always worried about what any remaining caulk would do to the texture of the walls, especially if I wanted to repaint them at some point.
Thanks for keeping it real! I was totally duped in the first picture and was like…”ooooh!!! Where did that rug come from?” Hopefully the tape holds up and Martha doesn’t come knocking if it doesn’t! Oh, and to add to oneenglishteacher’s tip, you can try sealing the tape edges with clear acrylic paint. But I’ve never tried it on a rug, so what do I know? Great post!
It was a happy mistake….
Yes! And so far so good, it’s really standing up better than I expected. And thanks for following!!