DIY Drop Cloth Rug for Every Season

Hey friends! I am back today with a fun DIY project for fall! And there isn’t just one, but 11! Today we are talking all about fall DIY doormats! Today I am sharing a DIY drop cloth rug that can be made for fall, or for any season! You will die when you see how easy these are to make!

How to make any style rug with these awesome new drop cloths I found! Follow the step by step tutorial and see how easy it is to make a stylish outdoor rug or mat for any season! You can also make an amazing indoor area rug to use in your home! It all has to do with this new drop cloth I found! Painted rugs are so amazing, unique, and inexpensive!

I love using drop cloths for projects around my home. I have made curtains, pillow covers, bed spreads, fall flags, banners and more! Today I am checking another project off my list! I have been wanting to make one of these for a long time. And I have the coolest drop cloths to use! I cant wait to share. The other day, I ran to the hardware store to grab a canvas drop cloth, but where they should be, was an empty shelf. I was so bummed. I did have a bot of drop cloth at home, but I was hoping to get a heavier weight piece that would be easier for a drop cloth rug. As I wandered to the front, I was chatting with the owner, and low and behold, sitting next to her was a stack of brand new drop cloth packages. Then I got closer and what was revealed to me, was so magical! It was a non slip drop cloth, with the rubber anti skid material you usually buy to put under a rug… I did cartwheels! I mean, come on! It was like they were meant to be turned into a rug. Whats even better it that the size was really great, a 9 by 6, so I bought two! One to cut into smaller rugs and one to use as a larger rug in the future! So, the fact that it already had the rubber backing made this project a whole lot easier. It added an extra layer of firmness to the rug, which meant I did not need to add any extra paint or fabric stiffener to give it some strength. I have been wanting to try making a drop cloth rug for a long time, but I just kept putting it off. But, this project seemed to be the perfect time to do it.

So lets talk about what you need to make this drop cloth rug and how to make it as well:

Drop cloth with nonskid rubber backing
Fabric paint or acrylic paint. You can add fabric medium to your paint if desired. I dont think it makes a big difference on a project like this
paint brushes( I used my square Zibra paint brush and it worked perfectly!)
Frogtape
large ruler (I use this one) .

Okay, let’s talk about how easy it was to make this drop cloth door mat.

First, you need to decide what size you want. I did a 48 inch by 30 inch size that will go at my front door. I plan to layer it with a brown natural fiber outdoor rug, that will be more for functional since it’s outside. I measured and drew lines where I needed to cut. I used my large ruler to do this. Once it was cut, I quickly hemmed it on my sewing machine. Since I was using drop cloth, two sides of the rug I cut were already hemmed, so I only had to sew two sides. If you didn’t know, drop cloths come hemmed on all sides, so it makes it really easy to transform it into a project. Once I had it hemmed, I ran a quick iron over the top, being mindful of the rubber underneath. I just wanted to get some of the fold lines out of it. Next, I decided what pattern I wanted. I knew I wanted to attempt a plaid look, so that it would go with my fall decor. There are plenty of inspiration pictures on Pinterest that can be a great guide for designing your floor mats. I found an image of a plaid that I liked. It had some blueish gray tones and a bit or orange and brown. I went through my paint supply and found what I needed. This is where it gets tricks…. Painting plaid onto a drop cloth rug may seem like quite a task, but if you break it down into steps, its really quite easy. I will try to explain as best as I can. I laid out my rug on my kitchen counter. I then started with some wide vertical and horizontal stripes. I used my Frogtape for this. I love that it prevents bleeding! I created wide stripes and a thinner stripe with the same tape and painted the wide ones grey blue and the thinner ones an orange.

How to paint a custom rug using drop cloths

I used a dry brush technique for this. This means that you dip your brush in paint and then brush off the excess before applying it to the dropcloth. This gives you a weathered look, and prevents any puddling of paint. I did not want solid lines, since plaid patterns do not have solid colors either.

I then removed the tape and added more going horizontally.

I started with the blue horizontal lines, and then added the orange ones. I made them smaller than the other orange lines because I did not want a ton of orange, and if you look at many plaid patterns you will find that they have a variation of thickness of lines…but they have repeating pattern to them, so keep that in mind.

The last thing I did was tape of and paint thin brown lines to break up the other two colors. Since I am dry brushing this rug, the paint dries really fast, so I was able to move to the next step without waiting for the paint to dry. And thats all. After I was done, I let it dry completely. You can add a clear coat to protect it. I sprayed mine with a waterproofing spray. It really was fun to make.

Make a fall rug using drop cloths and paint! Check out this full tutorial here! Its so easy and you can customize them any way you want!

I topped my painted dropcloth plaid rug with a natural fiber rug that could be a bit more functional. This way people have a place to clean their shoes. It also looks really cute with my painted rug.