Here’s the story. Our dog threw up on my favorite rug we’ve ever owned. {Raise your hand if you’re inspired to decorate your home now.} The rug wasn’t that expensive but because I got it on a mega-sale, it wasn’t exactly replaceable. The bygone rug was lush and shaggy and hid a multitude of sins. Except for canine vomit. Because even if one could hide that and clean it really well, I’d still be suspicious of what lurked within the fibers. Nonetheless, we’d planned to steam-clean it. But then it began raining soon after my husband draped it over the rail of the deck…and continued to rain for days. Between the rain-soaked rug and the canine yuck, I bid my perfect rug farewell and lived with a naked floor.
With an open floor plan, three kids, a dog, and no rug, the living area felt like a constant game of bumper cars — minus the fun and laughter. Furniture scooted all over the place and the entire room felt unanchored. I would straighten things back up only to have it wonky five minutes later.
While visiting family, I stopped at Ikea and purchased two rugs for $20 each — one for the foyer and one for the living room. They were better than nothing.
Except that they weren’t.
Nothing might have been better after all. Alas, the rugs were too small. Neither one was large enough for the space and Ikea is rather far away for a $40 return. So we just lived with them for a couple of months and I wished that I could somehow meld the two rugs together and make one giant rug for the living room.
Monday I finally quit wishing and got my motivation on. WHY NOT put these two rugs together? I have nothing to lose. If it works, I’m a genius rug hacker. If it doesn’t, I’m back where I started. But these pathetic wimpy rugs are sliding all over the place and the furniture is sliding all over the place and also they look like tiny Barbie rugs on this sprawling floor.
Guess what? It worked. And now you too can be in on my hackerly secrets.
1. I vacuumed both sides of the rug. This is actually the underside.
{Warning: All of my pictures are sideways and blurry. Technology hates me.}
2. I searched for some heavy-ish fabric in the attic and returned with one leg of denim from an old pair of jeans. What, you don’t have hacked-off pants legs just sitting around?
3. I ripped the denim into long strips about 3 or 4 inches wide.Then I lined the rugs up side by side and sat on them.
4. I plugged my hot glue gun into an extension cord and zig-zagged liberal amounts of hot glue across the “seam” where the two rugs met. Then I quickly pressed the denim strip on top of the glue, working about an inch at a time. It took about 30 minutes.
Because these are $20 rugs, there were a few places where the edges of the two rugs didn’t come all the way together. I guess the edges aren’t a perfect line. The gap isn’t really noticeable though, especially when you put the furniture back on it and with the gray underside of the denim almost the same color as the rugs. {A happy accident.} Besides, this isn’t about having a rug fit for a fancy magazine shoot. It’s about having a rug that meets our needs.
I think this would work even better with two high-pile rugs and it would actually look like it’s one huge piece. I’m a fan of fluffy shag rugs and I think the fluffy-ness would blend two rugs together without even noticing the seam.
Maybe we’ll start a trend, joining same-style rugs together in hot-glued matrimony.
So there you have it. A 8.8 foot x 13 foot rug for $40. I’m rather thrilled about the invention.
It appears to be sturdy and secure but time will tell. After I finished I realized that there might be an even easier solution: duct tape. I’m totally serious. Slap on several long strips and double them up. Done. As a girl who hails from the South, I can testify that duct tape works miracles.
So, what’s your favorite home hack?
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Interested in more home hacks for the non-guru?
Why Every Mama Needs an Office and How to Make Your Own {no matter how small the space}
Dresser Turned Entertainment Center
And for the best inspiration on making the most of the home you have now, you’ll love this book. It’s the most encouraging, hilarious, practical source I’ve ever read on embracing real beauty — imperfections, limitations, and all.
The Nesting Place: It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect to be Beautiful
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cool! neat idea. thanks for sharing 😉