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DIY: Turning an Old Rug into a Chevron Beauty!

In yesterday’s post, I shared with you how the classic chevron pattern is back and better than ever with a new twist making a modern and BOLD statement.  I wanted to add the stylish chevron pattern in my own home, so I took the worn and blah sisal rug from  my front foyer and vamped it up with some color and pizzaz!  Inspired by the nursery rug that Miggy of This Little Miggy Stayed Home, I set off to add some chevron into my life!

Here is a before shot of my old, ugly sisal rug that I’ve had for years ~

Let’s start the REVAMP!  First, you need your tools.  Using the right tools  ALWAYS makes the project SO MUCH easier. Figuring out the pattern was a little tricky and I had to do some calculations to make sure the pattern was centered on the rug. (Even with using my handy-dandy calculator and drawing, I STILL made mistakes)…no biggie…it’s handmade, right? That’s the beauty of it….Are you asking yourself what the clear “thing” is with the yellow on it (at the bottom of the pic)?  That’s an adjustable triangle.  It adjusts to the angle that you are working with.  Most standard architectural triangles are on a 45 degree angle or a 30, 60, 90 degree angle, but this magical instrument lets YOU adjust the angle to whatever you need.  It’s actually from my college days in Architecture school and even though I never thought I’d use this tool again, it REALLY came in handy for this project.  SIDETRACK, let’s move on…

I found the center mark with two measuring tapes and using Painter’s Tape started making my zig zag line from that point ~

Once you’ve got the center point and first line complete (which is the most difficult part of the project), you are smooth sailing… I chose a zig zag width of 5″ thick and it made sense for this 5′ x 8′ rug size.  Thinner or thicker stripes could also work.

Continue your zig zag stripes to create your beautiful chevron patterned rug ~

It’s time to start painting!  I chose the colors of chocolate and burnt orange.  Both colors I already had from other painting projects in the house.  At this point, I’ve spent nothing for this project (I even had the painters tape from our recent basement renovation).

Because the rug had a worn look from years of foot traffic, I wanted to create a distressed, non-perfect chevron look. Using a dry brush method, I applied one coat of paint in a stipple style.  Chocolate is FINITO ~ on to the Burnt Orange…

And it’s done!  Looks a little weird with the blue, but just wait…

Beauty! (it doesn’t look amazing against the existing blue tile, but that’s another project for another day…it’s all a work in progress…)

I love how the rug looks with the vibrant colored striped fabric on the bench.  It also works wonderfully with the rug designs in the two adjacent rooms. (The scale of the jacket on the hook looks a little odd ~ guess I should have taken it off, O well…I still love the rug)!

Another view…

I’m in LOVE! With the added pattern in the room, the foyer looks completely different.  I hope you’ve enjoyed my chevron tutorial.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!  Do you have any chevron pattern in your home?

DIY: Turning an Old Rug into a Chevron Beauty!

In yesterday’s post, I shared with you how the classic chevron pattern is back and better than ever with a new twist making a modern and BOLD statement.  I wanted to add the stylish chevron pattern in my own home, so I took the worn and blah sisal rug from  my front foyer and vamped it up with some color and pizzaz!  Inspired by the nursery rug that Miggy of This Little Miggy Stayed Home, I set off to add some chevron into my life!

Here is a before shot of my old, ugly sisal rug that I’ve had for years ~

Let’s start the REVAMP!  First, you need your tools.  Using the right tools  ALWAYS makes the project SO MUCH easier. Figuring out the pattern was a little tricky and I had to do some calculations to make sure the pattern was centered on the rug. (Even with using my handy-dandy calculator and drawing, I STILL made mistakes)…no biggie…it’s handmade, right? That’s the beauty of it….Are you asking yourself what the clear “thing” is with the yellow on it (at the bottom of the pic)?  That’s an adjustable triangle.  It adjusts to the angle that you are working with.  Most standard architectural triangles are on a 45 degree angle or a 30, 60, 90 degree angle, but this magical instrument lets YOU adjust the angle to whatever you need.  It’s actually from my college days in Architecture school and even though I never thought I’d use this tool again, it REALLY came in handy for this project.  SIDETRACK, let’s move on…

I found the center mark with two measuring tapes and using Painter’s Tape started making my zig zag line from that point ~

Once you’ve got the center point and first line complete (which is the most difficult part of the project), you are smooth sailing… I chose a zig zag width of 5″ thick and it made sense for this 5′ x 8′ rug size.  Thinner or thicker stripes could also work.

Continue your zig zag stripes to create your beautiful chevron patterned rug ~

It’s time to start painting!  I chose the colors of chocolate and burnt orange.  Both colors I already had from other painting projects in the house.  At this point, I’ve spent nothing for this project (I even had the painters tape from our recent basement renovation).

Because the rug had a worn look from years of foot traffic, I wanted to create a distressed, non-perfect chevron look. Using a dry brush method, I applied one coat of paint in a stipple style.  Chocolate is FINITO ~ on to the Burnt Orange…

And it’s done!  Looks a little weird with the blue, but just wait…

Beauty! (it doesn’t look amazing against the existing blue tile, but that’s another project for another day…it’s all a work in progress…)

I love how the rug looks with the vibrant colored striped fabric on the bench.  It also works wonderfully with the rug designs in the two adjacent rooms. (The scale of the jacket on the hook looks a little odd ~ guess I should have taken it off, O well…I still love the rug)!

Another view…

I’m in LOVE! With the added pattern in the room, the foyer looks completely different.  I hope you’ve enjoyed my chevron tutorial.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!  Do you have any chevron pattern in your home?