I knew I wanted to put a runner in the upstairs hallway since I ripped up the carpet, but when I went looking at all my usual haunts I was left disappointed. I couldn’t find one long enough, or in the right colors, or at the right price. The best one I found was quite nice at TJ Maxx, but at $50 I decided against it.

Instead of buying something, I wanted to challenge myself to make one from supplies I already had on hand.

Here’s what I used:

  • Drop cloth
  • A roll of cabinet liner (looks like a carpet pad)
  • Acrylic paints leftover from various projects
  • Stencil
  • Paint brush

First I cut my runner to size to match the cabinet liner, which was about 21 inches by 6 ft and hemmed the unfinished edges. I got out my Casablanca stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils and laid it out.

I decided to just go straight down the middle and fill in the edges later on. I mixed up a grayish color, a sea foam color, and an ivory and painted them randomly.

Check out my foot in the corner there haha. I got to the very end, but ran out of paint before I could do the border so I had to pick up a tube of “coffee bean” to finish things off. After everything was dry, I sanded the painted areas to give it a bit of a distressed/casual look. I’m not planning on putting a top coat on because I want it to wear a bit more. I’ll probably wash it a few times also. Right now it’s just laying on top of the liner which is working fine, but I may end up tacking it down with some fabric glue.

Here’s the runner now in our new hallway. Everything is really coming together in there now!

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, especially since it only cost me $4 :)

Pssst…wondering what’s up with the floor? Click here to read about it.

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52 Responses

  3. Michelle

    Oh my this is gorgeous! I am so jealous you have the casablanca stencil. I want it soooo bad. I just need to order it. I don’t know if you know this already but Ucreate’s craft of the month is stenciled rugs. You should submit this. I bet it would be featured :)

    Reply
  6. Katy L.

    You are wicked awesome! I can’t believe how amazing that looks! Very nice Rachael!

    Reply
  8. Deneen

    This came out great and I love the shapes and colors! I am now your newest follower!
    dreaming-n-color.blogspot.com

    Reply
  9. Kayla

    Wow! I never would’ve guessed that you used drop cloth and acrylic paint! It looks fantastic, like something you’d pay high dollar for. Just FaBuLoUs!!!

    Reply
  10. Ashley @ DesignBuildLove.co

    TOTALLY GORGEOUS!!! As always, I love your use of the dropcloth. You are officially the “dropcloth queen”! :)

    The colors are awesome and so is the design. I’m working on a cheap decor project from mostly “on-hand” items… can’t wait to share too! :)

    Reply
  12. Ashleigh@SincerelyCo

    I never would have thought you could make a rug out of drop cloth! That’s awesome. I can never find exactly what I want either so this would be perfect!

    Thanks for sharing :)

    Reply
  13. Sandy

    I think you solved my problem… at the landing of my staircase. I also removed the carpet and put treads on each step.. but can not find a rug for the landing… I’m going to give this a try!
    Yours turned out wonderful.. great job!
    Sandy

    Reply
  25. Jaclyn

    Heading over from Tatertots and Jello – Love your rug! And for such a great price!!! I will have to see if I can do this too! I dont have any of the supplies outside of paint right now. =/

    Reply
    • Lovely Crafty Home

      Thank you for stopping by Jaclyn! Even if you had to buy everything, I still think it would be cheaper :)

      Reply
  27. Maridith

    Fabulous!! I have some drop cloth material upstairs…I think I need a new rug!! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial

    Reply
  28. Monique

    Lovely floorcloth and you saved a lot of money by using a drop cloth as your base. I made a floorcloth using heavy canvas and it cost a fortune. Thanks for sharing this idea!

    Reply
  34. 1 Funky Woman

    I just found your blog and I’m in love with this project! I love the stencil you use also. It really looks great! Can you tell me what cabinet liner is? I’m sure you’ll tell me and I’ll be like oh sure I know!

    Newest follower!

    Megan

    Reply
  35. linda

    love your blog! can you tell me how you hemmed your dropcloth? thanks so much. linda

    Reply
    • Lovely Crafty Home

      I hemmed it on a sewing machine (only 2 sides because I cut it strategically to include 2 finished hems from the package!). You may be able to use stitch witch/iron tape or something as well.

      Reply
  37. Olivia

    This is amazing and yours turned out awesome. How did you attach the drop cloth to the cabinet liner?

    Reply
    • Lovely Crafty Home

      Thank you Olivia! To answer your question, I didn’t actually attach it…yet…it seems to stay put for the most part, but in the future I may run it through the sewing machine.

      Reply
  39. Heidi Ferguson

    This is a great idea. I have a tiny budget for decorating so anything to save money is just great! I am going to do this for my baby girl’s nursery…what I think I’ll do is bind the top canvas with the cabinet liner in some sort of twill or maybe just cotton fabric. Thanks for the tips!

    Reply
  41. Beginner

    Would it be better to have two pieces of fabric sewn together to make the rug making it a little heavier to stay in place with the under mat? I am inspired. Your rug is beautiful.

    Reply
    • rachaelevans

      You could definitely do that to add weight! Drop cloth is pretty durable on it’s own though, so I wasn’t worried. If I was using simple cotton I would definitely double it. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  43. Mary

    Great looking rug! How is it holding up now? Also, how does it feel? I’m researching stenciled rugs so I can make one for my son’s nursery. My first thought was drop cloth with a carpet pad underneath, but I wasn’t sure if it would be SO rough that I wouldn’t ever want to set him on it. I’m dying to use a drop cloth for SOMETHING!

    Thanks! -Mary from The Parsimonious Housewife

    Reply

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