Is it too soon to tell you that I already changed something about the laundry room? I still love it so much. Don’t worry. Let me explain. When I got the rug for the makeover it was beautiful and soft but the color on the website was darker than the rug actually looked. Look at it here in the reveal photos:
As compared to the picture on the site.
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| rug via |
Ever since I got the rug in the dining room that was lighter than it was
supposed to be, I’ve wondered how it would be to dye an area rug.
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| rug via |
This is what that one was supposed to look like. Big difference, right?
So after the laundry room reveal photos were taken, since it was the smaller one and the colors in the dining room are just fine, I decided to haul it outside and see what would happen if I tried to dye it darker.
I bought rit dye in the color ‘wine’,
poured it into a spray bottle. *****I messed up!!! I forgot that you have to mix the dye with HOT water… **** (and I only needed a couple tablespoons. I used more.) I laid the rug on a couple of boxes just to raise it off of the ground and began spraying.
I tried to do an even coat and focused more so on the middle of the rug since in the original picture the border is still off white. It took about 2 minutes and I was pretty giddy with how it looked.
Look at how close it got to the online image!
I brought it back inside after giving it some time to dry in the sun.
I got the look I wanted! So much better…..
but hold on…
The next morning I was starting a load of laundry, opened the washing machine door and some water dripped on the rug making a huge pink mark. I guess just letting the dye dry does not work….This is where my mistake might have made a difference. Maybe hot water and less dye would have helped things set.
I took the rug back outside and hosed it down, getting rid of all the excess dye.
Once it had time to drip dry, I brought it back in for a picture.
It looks great! Because of my mistake, it didn’t turn out exactly as I had pictured (really I just wish that the fringe had stayed white) but I got the little bit of contrast between the floors and the rug that I was looking for.
Dying a rug would be great if you need to get a little extra life out of one you already have. I thought about it and I’ve dyed curtains, bedspreads, napkins, quilts, a wall hanging, clothes and WOOD. A rug was the only other thing I had wanted to try. I’m so glad I did it!
Come back Thursday for the reveal of our master bathroom! It’s full of budget friendly DIY’s which makes it that much better. Can’t wait to show you!
Thanks for reading, friends!
