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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

{DIY} How to turn Accent Rugs into Large Area Rugs

I love love love modern shag area rugs! What I dont love is how much they can cost. I found this to be a problem when decorating my new living room. Since we are in Alaska, I decided to pay homage to my inner snowboarder bunny and decorate the living room in a vintage ski chalet style. I couldnt bring myself to lay down a fur rug but a large shaggy carpet might conjur the same effect. So I made it my mission to achieve the look for less. Read on to see how I did it...

For the size of my new living room I knew I needed at least a 5x8' area rug. A nice shag area rug of that size  can easily run $200-$400, and I just dont have that big of a budget for this room. While stocking up on some cleaning supplies for the new house at Costco, I spotted the perfect shag rug.


It was exactly the right color and texture, it just happened to be a fourth of the size I needed. They were selling the bath rug for $20. Thats when I had a light bulb moment. What if I...


...sewed them all together?!?

So you might be thinking I am just as crazy as the rest of the Costco shoppers did when they saw me frantically searching for every last one of these rugs and scattering them all around the aisle, BUT hang in there with me. Think about it... they are really shaggy rugs so it would perfectly disguise any seams. I ran the idea by my husband who witnessed the whole debacle, and completely to my surprise he jumped on board!

So I bought 4 individual rugs and hand stitched them together. I overlapped the existing seams and used embroidery floss to stitch them tightly together.
Sooo....what do you think???


No one who has seen the rug can tell it was sewn together. Can you?

It's especially hard to tell now that its paired with my furniture, so here's a little sneak peak of my new living room!


I am smitten! Cant wait to add a couple finishing touches and share the whole room with you!
I am linking this to these awesome link parties.

You can also see where this has been featured at:


Keep Home Simple




Extreme Personal Measures

UndertheTableandDreaming

All Things Heart and Home

Comments (51)

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I am so impressed! What a great idea. Large rugs can be sooo costly, and sometimes (like you did) you find the perfect design but in a tiny rug. You solved both those in one project! Great job!
1 reply · active 395 weeks ago
Thanks Sarah! I just got a chance to follow you back and wow! I love your blog and etsy shop!
Looks great Em, what a great idea! So glad the moving in is going well! Love you all!
1 reply · active 736 weeks ago
Thanks Becky, its going much slower now but still getting through it.
Great idea! This is the perfect way to save money and make something comfy and cozy for the house! Looks fabulous!
1 reply · active 736 weeks ago
thanks so much Lisa!
YES!!! Oh my gosh, if only you knew how long I've been wanting a big shag rug like that! You totally solved my problem : ) We haven't bought one because of the price factor as well. Well, now I can totally have the carpet I've been wanting and it will be half the price. Thanks so much for sharing this, Emily. Love you girl!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
WONDERFUL! So glad this will help you too! A solution for us both!
Very cool- Looks great!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Genius! I am definitely gonna steal this idea.
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Haha! Great! Let me know when ya do!
Looks great!! I would never have known! Hope you'll link up tomorrow :)
1 reply · active 736 weeks ago
Thanks! You can bet on it! I just linked up! I also added your button to my link party list too
Such a great post!!! I'll be featuring this over on BCD Feb. 18th! Thanks for linking! High five!
1 reply · active 736 weeks ago
Oh WOW! Thanks Becca! Thats so exciting! You just made my weekend!
Looks Great! I too was spreading out bath rugs in Bed, Bath, and Beyond today so that I could see if I could sew them together! My daughter thought I was slightly crazy!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
haha! See I am not alone in my madness! ;)
I am sooo impressed with this project of yours. It's genious! It seriously looks like one big really expensive rug. You did a fantastic job! I love it so much that I featured it on my blog this weekend. You can find a link to the post here: http://keephomesimple.blogspot.com/2011/02/budget...

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
~Robin
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Wow!!! Thanks Robin! Im honored! I love you blog too! I just added your button to the post too
what do i think? i think you are a genius!!! thank you so much for this idea! i've been wanting an area-rug for our living room for over a year but just haven't been able to afford it. now you've given me an alternative to have my eyes open for. LOVE! thank you thank you! :)
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Oh Adriel! Thanks!! I hope you post about it if you do it! I wanna see!
Great idea. Another one to put in my 'to do" list.
Hello, I'm your newest follower! Love this project, but especially loved the ruffled baby tights! I was already making a dress for my niece's birthday, those would be perfect to go with it, thanks!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Thanks for following!! I love the baby legs...one of my fave projects too!
what a great idea... so pretty!!! I would love it if you joined our link party over here: http://www.bubblynaturecreations.com/2011/02/proj...

Have a great weekend!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Thanks for the invite. The Linky servers must still be down, Ill check back later!
I'm looking for a really soft easy to roll up and put away rug that I can pull out when my granddaughter is playing on the hardwood floor in the den...I've found small rugs that I love but nothing large enough...I'm soooo doing this! Brilliant brilliant brilliant!!!
(I'm featuring this post on next weeks All Things Inspired...love it)
xo
Robin
All Things Heart and Home
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Thanks Robin! This would be great for your grandbaby! Thanks for the feature!! I am SOOO excited!!!
I'm looking for a really soft easy to roll up and put away rug that I can pull out when my granddaughter is playing on the hardwood floor in the den...I've found small rugs that I love but nothing large enough...I'm soooo doing this! Brilliant brilliant brilliant!!!
Thanks so much for linking!!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Thanks for hosting Rachael!
I soooooooooooo wish I would have had this idea while we were living overseas. We desperately needed area rugs and they were crazy (borderline insanely) expensive. Very creative and FRUGAL - woohoo! Glad I found you today on Favorite Things!
1 reply · active 736 weeks ago
Im glad you found me too Diane! Yes, I bet it would be nice overseas especially. Its already slim pickins here in Alaska!
Stephanie's avatar

Stephanie · 736 weeks ago

Great idea! If you don't sew, you can duck tape them together and get the same result. :)
1 reply · active 736 weeks ago
Thats a neat idea! My rugs for this project were too thick and bulky to use tape, especially since its in my highest traffic area, but I am thinking of making another for my bedroom and taping it just might work for that!
That looks great! I've often thought of doing that, but worried the thread wouldn't hold. Now I'm reconsidering, for sure!
-Jane
Brilliant!!! LOVe it!
Shannon {aka}|design
Way to go! I'm so glad I ran across your post. I've been considering sewing smaller rugs together for a few weeks now but I wasn't sure how it would look. Well, it looks wonderful!! Thanks for sharing :)

xoxo
jenny
That's awesome!
What a great idea! We, too, have had trouble in finding a rug that is a) right size & b) right price~! putting the 4 or 6 together would cover both my requirements. Thanks for sharing. so glad I found this blog!!
Your new rug is fantastic! GREAT idea!
YOU are BRILLIANT! This idea is amazing. I have been needing a living room rug for ages & ages, but have been put off by the price & also the fact that our 2 small boys are on a mission to destroy......well, everything really. So, this rug will be inexpensive, hardwearing & easy to clean??? Unbelievable. Becoming a follower of this awesome blog right now.
Mrs BC
xx
Wow Emily, your rug looks fantastic! You can't tell that it has been pieced at all...I continue to be impressed!
It’s such a good idea. Thanks for sharing the information.
I WANT ONE !!!
I love this idea and have thought about it a couple of times I saw some small rugs... didn't do it though! Hey, I linked this to my rugs post too today - it's fantastic!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Hi Heather,

Thanks so much! Im flattered! Glad you liked the rug project. I love it more everyday! Sorry for the delayed response, just got back from Hawaii a couple days ago and just not getting caught up on my emails. Thanks again!!

Aloha, Emily
http://findingmyaloha.blogspot.com

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Absolute genius. I love the shag rugs. Brilliant idea :)

Hugs, Jan http://fortheloveofacottage.blogspot.com/
I like this idea! Can you tell me how many stitches or what kind of stitching is required to make this rug... not an avid seamstress... lol. Just need more details on how hard this project will be for an amateur and how much time it might take. Thanks!
Gorgeous shag! I need of these all. But how??????
large rugs

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