Have you ever been in one of the home décor boutiques, Pottery Barn, or really any of those fabulous home stores and seen a rope rug and fell in love, just to fall out of love when you looked at the price tag? HA, I knew I was not the only one!
I came across an idea on the Internet a couple weeks ago, and in true April fashion, I knew I had to see how the idea would work out. I discovered a post where you glued smooth pebbles from the dollar store to an inexpensive rug. The outcome was fabulous and reminded me of something I would find in a spa.
However, I wanted to achieve a more rustic, farmhouse, elegance since that is the perfect mix of my dream home … one day! That is when I meshed the ideas together and figured I would try to make my own rope rug to see if it would work out. I could not fathom one reason why it would not.
Items needed:
– rope: it is hard to say how much, but it is best to estimate this after you have the rug you will be using at the base
– inexpensive or old door mat
– liquid nails
– heavy books
– knife/ scissors
After you have purchased the rope, liquid nails and rug you are ready to assemble. A couple of things to think about before you get started: this will take you longer than expected, make sure to know how much rope you need before sitting down to start this, have a good knife or pair of scissors handy.
First, the rope will need to be cut into long pieces; however, to be able to do that you will need to figure out how long they need to be. I left about two inches of rug on each side beyond the mat. After the length is measured, cut enough pieces to cover the entire rug when laying them lengthwise.
You can also run the pieces of rope vertically across the rug if you like. The direction is dependent on the taste of the creator. Do whatever makes your creativity shine!
When all the pieces of the rope are cut and ready then it will be time to glue them on. Patience will be the key factor when gluing the rope down. Liquid Nails does not dry immediately so we found it best to simply glue enough at a time to where the heavy books we had would fit nicely on top of the pieces.
This allows plenty of pressure, and avoids the chance of shifting of the ropes while the glue is drying. Continue this process until the entire rope is used and the mat is covered.
Once you are done with the rug it is your choice if you would like to fray the rope ends, or even paint a message on the front. If you did not cut the excess on the sides then just simply burn the ends with a lighter to seal them and prevent them from unraveling.
I absolutely love this rug and I think it is a wonderful texture piece to add to any space!
The price to make this rug can cost as little as free if you already have all the supplies, or around thirty dollars if they need to be purchased.
Hope you try this rope rug project and love it as much as I do!
April Sherrill is a staff writer for the Hamilton County Herald. Contact her at april@dailydata.com.