Living Room Before and After - I Painted My Sisal Rug

So remember last week when I told you I was considering painting stripes on my sisal rug? Well, I did it. I have to tell you, the stripes make this room! To be honest, I was a little concerned about the paint bleeding through the edges of the tape I used to mark off the stripes. So when Scotchblue Painter's Tape approached me about creating unconventional uses for their tape, I knew painting my oh so absorbent sisal rug with stripes would be an excellent opportunity to really test the seal of the Scotchblue product. Remember how impressed I was with the ability of Scotchblue Painter's Tape to protect my picture rail when I painted my ceiling blue here? Still - it is certainly easier to prevent paint bleed on walls than a rug. Here's the rundown of how my project went-

AFTER: The stripes really open the room up and it wasn't very hard to do. Sick of your sisal, too?

Step 1: I took my rug out to the deck and gave it a good vacuuming.

For my 9' x 12' rug, I used an entire gallon of paint and 1.5 rolls of tape. Now this is a ScotchBlue Painter's Tape sponsored post, but I really do like how the seal of their tape prevents bleed. Bleed prevention is especially important on an absorbent material like sisal. Anyhoo, I started off with that little 2" roller, but I switched to a larger foam roller that worked better. To help me keep my lines straight, I used a drywall square and a measuring tape on both sides of the rug (2 measuring tapes). You'll also need a paint pan and a drop cloth, if you want one.

STEP 2: Find the center point of your rug. Much like laying tile, you'll want to start your stripes in the middle.

Step 3: Decide on the width you want your stripes. Offset half of your stripe below your center point and half of your stripe above your center point. For example, I used a 4" stripe. The middle point of my rug was 60", so my first stripe started at 58" and ended at 62".

STEP 4: Run your tape from one end of your rug to the other, doing your best to keep a straight line. Repeat.   TIP: As you lay your tape, marked each stripe you intend to paint with a horizontal piece of tape. This is an easy way to remember those are the stripes you don't want your tape to overlap.

TIP: Do yourself a favor and tape off the border of your rug with tape, too, if you have one. I was glad I did.

Step 5: Get ready to roll. Pour a small amount of paint into your painting tray. That red roller is the roller I didn't end up really liking, I switched to the foam one below. You want the foam roller.

Rolling the rug took me quite some time and I had a little help. Plan for 2 - 3 hours. Good news is the work is super easy. Do grab an audio book or a spirited conversationalist to get you through, its tedious. 

Step 6: Allow your rug to dry for 18 hours - 24 hours.

Step 7: Peel Back Your Tape! Up close in this shot, you can see there aren't any globs of paint the bleeding through the tape. Pretty good!

LIVING ROOM BEFORE - the rug combo is a little choppy and a little formal.

This post is a collaboration with ScotchBlue Painter's Tape.  Visit ScotchBlue Ribbons on Facebook to learn how to win. https://www.facebook.com/ScotchBlue/app_278449185585189

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