ERSLEV rug gets a sunny disposition

Materials: ERSLEV Rug

Description: 1. Lay out your drop cloth first and tape to floor-should be larger than 4'7" x 6'7" for paint overflow from stripes

2. Lay out the rug on top & measure out your stripes (can be a little or a lot! I did mine in 1, 2, 3 & 4 inch stripes with 1 inch in between for consistency. Then tape them off with frog tape or painters tape so the paint doesn't seep through.

3. I choose three different colours of paint - all latex - but you can use one or as many as you like. I did the yellow first then the dark grey and let it sit over night to completely dry. Then I did the lighter grey the following morning because there were less of those stripes. Total time was about 6 hours.

4. Let it sit for another few hours till it is completely dry and voila! Instant colour and designer touch added to any room!

Colours used:

Beauti-tone Natura: Best Dressed F038 (Bought)
General Paint: 8670W (Already Had)
C.I.L. Essentials: Obsidian Glass (Already Had)

~ Refresh Interiors, Squamish, BC.

Chevron rug DIY

Materials: Ikea Erslev rug, acrylic paint, tape, paintbrush, pencil

Description: After letting the rolled up rug relax for a few weeks to remove any kinks, I vacuumed and measured out my pattern.

I cut a "V" template out of a cardboard scrap, then started marking off the stripes using the template as a guide. I used green frog tape to tape off the lines, making sure to press firmly to avoid any seepage.

I mixed basic acrylic craft paint with textile medium at a 2:1 ratio as directed on the bottle, and went to painting.

I initially used a foam brush, which wasn't the best for coverage. After switching to a bristle brush, the paint was much more evenly applied.

I let it dry, removed the tape, and voila!

It cost me about $50 --much better than the Jonathan Adler alternative, and I got to customize the scale & color.

See more of the Chevron rug DIY.

~ Micki, Atlanta

Damask Erslev

Materials: ERSLEV white rug, foam paint brush, Jacquard's fabric paint

Description: I saw plenty of rug-painting hacks on Ikeahackers and other websites, so after having moved into my new apartment, I decided to undertake the daunting task of painting my $40 ERSLEV rug ... with a damask stencil.

I did not actually know how long this would take. I started at 8pm, and finished at 1am, and by the end my back was killing me. The rug is currently drying and will be ready in 24 hours. The side that seems incomplete will be the side underneath my bed.

This task requires you to keep washing the stencil as it accumulates layers upon layers of fabric paint and limits the ability of the brush to reach the actual rug.

All in all, it looks good to me, and I have to thank Ikeahackers for giving me the idea in the first place!

~ Emily, NYC

Mod pink geometric painted erslev rug

Materials: IKEA Erslev rug 4'7" x 6'7"

Description:
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
3. After I taped the border I measured the inside space that i was going to work with and had my calculator handy...
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

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
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.

10. I did my little happy dance because that scotch green tape rocked my world!

See more of the pink geometric painted Erslev rug.

~ holly - the almost 40 year old intern

Bold painted rug

Materials: Erlsev rug, latex paint, painters tape

Description: I wanted to add a bold graphic rug to my craft room without breaking the bank. I bought an inexpensive Erlsev rug and painted a graphic pattern on it. I just used painters tape to create a design, and used regular wall paint diluted with a bit of water to paint on the pattern.

All the details are on my blog, here.

See more of the painted rug.

~ Steph @ BirdHouse, Canada

Erslev Dyed in the Bathtub

Materials: Erslev Rug, Bleach, Rit Dye, stencil, fabric paint, stencil brush

Description: The Erslev rug functioned well in its original green for a while, but when we changed up our daughter's room, it wasn't quite right. I knew I wanted a golden yellow rug, but we didn't have it in the budget, so we used what we had!

Step 1:
Bleach the rug overnight. I used 1/2 gallon of bleach in 1/2 tub of water for bleaching.

Step 2:
Rinse (and rinse, and rinse, and rinse)

Step 3:
Hang the rug to (mostly) dry. (I used the shower curtain rod for this)

Step 4:
Run HOT water in the bathtub (put on your rubber gloves for this step!), and pour in your Rit Dye. I used two packs of Golden Yellow and 1/2 pack of Cocoa Brown to get the color I wanted. In hindsight, I wish that I had mixed the colors with a little water before pouring into the tub...I think it would have mixed a lot easier.

Step 5:
Submerge your (mostly) dry rug in the dye solution. A damp fabric will take color better than a dry one. You should only need 2 inches of water for this - only enough to barely cover the rug. Constantly rotate the rug so that you can ensure that every square inch gets dyed. The package instructions say that after 10-30 minutes you should have your desired hue...mine only took 5. (Disclaimer: You should test the color on your tub before doing a full dye)

Step 6:
Rinse (and rinse, and rinse, and rinse) until no more color comes out of the rug when you rinse it.

Step 7:
Put your rug in the clothes dryer (so that the color doesn't drip all over the floor/bathtub when you hang it to dry).

Step 8:
While your rug is in the dryer, BLEACH your bathtub. Do it fast. And scrub. My favorite trick is to use the bleach gel toilet bowl cleaner in the tub - squeeze it all around the inside perimeter of the tub where the dye was and let it sit for a while before scrubbing.

Step 9:
After about an hour, hang the rug up to dry the rest of the way.

TaDa! You are now the proud new owner of a bathtub-dyed Erslev rug!

After my newly-dyed rug was dry, I used white fabric paint and a stencil to make a fleur-de-lis pattern all over. I love the way it turned out, and it looks way better in her room than the plain green did!

See more of the Erslev dyed and stencilled rug.

~ Kendra, PA

From Sweden to Morocco

Materials: Erslev rug in light green

Description:

1. I created a stencil by tracing a Moroccan tile shape onto a piece of card stock and cutting out the negative space with an Exacto knife.
2. I placed the stencil on the rug starting in the top left corner.
3. I used a washable white fabric paint and a stippling brush to fill in the stencil.
4. I repeated steps 2 and 3 working my way from left to right all the way down the rug until the design was completed.
5. Painting freehand, I filled in the unfinished spots left by the "bridges" of the stencil.

~ Natalie, San Francisco