Dream Book Design

Turning A Table Cloth In To A Rug: A DIY Anthropologie Rug

Yes, you read that right. This past weekend J and I didn’t have a ton of time for projects, but we managed to squeeze one easy one in. We have been wanting to add in a pop of color in to the office for awhile now, but just couldn’t decide. Well, we decided, and we went with navy. Shortly after we decided on the color we got this gorgeous table cloth from Anthropologie. We wanted it to be a rug, but no such luck. We loved the cloth so much that we decided to just turn it into a rug! The patterns of the table cloth were so amazing, I loved the design. It made me think of embroidery and I have always wanted to do a project with machine embroidery designs, maybe I’ll do one around the holidays when I want to add something a little more festive to our home.

I would think that most times when people do this project they probably use a table cloth they found for a great deal, and that is definitely the smart way {like Laura who was our inspiration for this did-here over at Design Share – check out some of her incredible projects!}. We however fell in love with this Anthro one, and were already planning on spending way more for a real rug, so we just went with it!

The project was so simple friends! Here are the supplies needed:

Here are the steps:

  • Take your tablecloth and iron out as many wrinkles as possible. Our tablecloth was 100% cotton, so it wasn’t exactly a piece of cake.
how cute is this tag on the rug?!
  • Bring all of your supplies into the garage or outside area. You will want as much ventilation as possible, even if using a No-odor Poly.
  • Place a tarp of some sort on the ground first, then lay your table cloth down.

DIY rug

  • Start rolling on the poly. Once the first layer was on we waited a few minutes and lifted up the tablecloth, to make sure that it wasn’t sticking to the tarp. We did this again before painting on the second layer. Repeat the lifting process, and then paint your third layer. The can said to wait for the poly to dry at 2 hours. Well, we are impatient. We painted the first and second layer within thirty minutes. Then let those two dry for about an hour, then painted the third layer. I don’t think it would have made much of a difference if we had waited, other than taking up your whole day.

Purchased from Home Depot

DIY Rug by Dream Book Design

  • Once the poly was completely dry we took it inside and measured and cut the rug pad to fit underneath

Turning a table cloth in to a rug

  • Next, we used a spray adhesive to securely attach the pad to the table cloth. At first we didn’t know if this was necessary-but then realized without it being done the cloth will shift a lot on the pad=not good.

DIY rug

  • And that’s it friends! It turned out so fun we think! It is not the softest texture, but were hoping that overtime it will soften. It has more of a feel of a floor cloth rather than a thick cozy rug. We made sure to put it in a room in our house that doesn’t get a ton of foot traffic, so that way it won’t matter much if it stays a little firm.

Ready for a visual? J thinks it feel like swim trunks, yep swim trunks. But hey, swim trunks soften the more you wear and wash them, right?! It was amazing to be able to make a rad rug for only $100! And like we said earlier, this could be done SO much cheaper if you use a cheap table cloth, but we love this print for the office!

DIY rug

DIY rug: table cloth turned rug

Comments

  3. Cassie says

    This kinda blew my mind. Think of this, with a heavy heavy coat with the shiny stuff, under the kitchen table. Then wiping off my kids spills and sweeping off their food. Love it.

  6. Louise says

    Oh my gosh, I have never heard or thought of such a thing! SO CLEVER, and yes, I can see why you loved that tablecloth so much that it had to be your rug! Your home is SO personal and unique, I just love following along with your decorating and designing.

  7. adrianne says

    So glad you guys like it too!
    Cassie- that is such a great idea. I can only imagine how many crumbs and spills happen!That would make cleanup so much easier!
    Louise-Thanks so much for your sweet words!! The tablecloth was a must have:)

  10. Geneva Cruz says

    had so much fun making mine but didnt come out nice i used a dark table cloth will try a light one next week but since i made it i will still rock it in my house
    thankyou
    geneva

  14. melinda says

    Love this…I need rugs all over my home especially at the entryways. Perfect idea to keep them unique to the area, both color and size AND easy cleaning. Thanks for sharing!

  18. Morgan Hyatt says

    What a gorgeous rug! I feel like if you wanted it to be more padded you could sew some cotton batting do the bottom side, the fabric on top would still have a firm texture, but it would be a teensy bit cushy. It’s more work, although a suppose you could just attach it with single stitches at about 5-6 point around the edge if you didn’t want to sew around the whole circumference. it’d still stay.

  20. Deb says

    The money savings is mind blowing for people like me who are disabled and on a very limited income. Guess what my next project is going to be once the spring thaw comes????? Thank you for sharing this idea with all of us!!! The design is so beautiful and it is such an easy project.

  21. Beth says

    Do you still use this? How has it held up? Is the texture still OK (Any cracking/peeling?).

    I’ve thought about doing this, just worried the foot traffic would cause cracks.

    • Adri says

      we actually sold it when we moved in to our current home because it didnt work with our rooms here. but it was holding up fine when we got rid of it

Trackbacks

  15. […] Tablecloth Rug: Yes, you read that right. This past weekend J and I didn’t have a ton of time for projects, but we managed to squeeze one easy one in. We have been wanting to add in a pop of color in to the office for awhile now, but just couldn’t decide. Well, we decided, and we went with navy. (via Dream Book Design) […]