painted floor cloth

Whichever past owner of my house redid the kitchen either had a great love for 12x12 beige tiles or got a crazy good deal on them, because they cover the floor, backsplash, and countertops. It's a bit much of the same for me, and some of the floor ones are cracked, so I've been hunting for a year for the right rug to cover up most of the kitchen floor.

Rugs for the kitchen are a bit difficult as they need to be able to handle kitchen traffic and spills. I thought an indoor/outdoor rug would work well, but normal dimension rugs don't cover up enough of my space without being too wide to fit between the counters.

So... I decided to make my own! I researched canvas floorcloths, which are basically decorated canvases coated with polyacrilic/polyurethane to make them durable - and more importantly, moppable.They're supposed to be quite durable. A pinned example:

 

                                                                            Source: thekitchn.com via Anne on Pinterest

Supplies:

• Heavy canvas to your dimensions plus an inch on each side for hemming - I got a couple yards duckcloth on sale from Joann's; I also read that you can find pre-treated canvas at craft stores for this type of use
• Polyacrylic
• Tape/ruler/pencil/etc. for marking your design - or if you're efficient, a stencil!
• Paints for decorating - acrylics or household latex paints both work; I went for latex because I had a lot of surface to cover
• Foam paint brush or roller
• Contact cement or double-sided carpet tape for hemming

First you need to stretch the canvas (taping it to basement floor worked, or you could staple it to plywood; either way important so it dries flat) and prime both sides - many sources recommended using gesso, but I just used a coat of the polyacrilic. At this point I also marked off an inch border that would later be folded to make the hem - and this allows space to tape down the canvas.

Then plan out your design and paint it. I pinned this inspiration kilim rug from West Elm and marked it off by printing out diamond templates and taping around them. Or you could of course use a stencil - if I did another one, I would go the stencil route as taping this type of pattern on a 4x7 rug took forever.

Source: westelm.com via Anne on Pinterest

When the paint has dried, apply two coats of the polyacrilic varnish. After letting it dry overnight, flip over and fold over your hem, creasing well. Apply the contact cement or double-sided tape to hold the hem, and voila, you have a rug suitable for kitchen traffic and spills.

Several good floorcloth sources/instructions:

• Martha Stewart
• Family Fun
• Rugmaker's Homestead
• Painting Floorcloths by Kathy Cooper (I found at the library!)

 Ginger testing it out...