A rug can change the entire look of a room for the better. Whether you are living in a cold climate and looking to add a cozy layer for your feet, or simply just looking to snazz up the look of your room, the easiest way to instantly transform a space is with a rug.
The only problem is that rugs can be quite expensive. While many of the items that we fill our houses with can be sourced secondhand and therefore be found on the cheap, rugs are somewhat of an exception to this due to hygiene reasons. This, combined with the fact that it can be rather hard to find the exact rug design that you’re looking for, means that a lot of people turn to making their own rugs instead of buying them. Here are some of our favorite DIY rug tutorials.
Rug From Old Towels
Here is a great idea for anyone who is looking for a use for their old discarded towels. You maybe wouldn’t think that a rug made out of old towels would be comfy, but this tutorial from Team T Adventures begs to differ. It is perfect for a mudroom or kitchen.
Rug From a Hula Hoop
Sometimes crafts involve the most random of materials. Take, for example, the fact that this beautiful rug from All Parenting relies on a hula hoop to give it its beautiful round shape. Hula hoops are cheap, widely available, and perfectly round—we think this is actually quite brilliant!
Bath Mat Made of Cork
Just because you’re making your own rug, it doesn’t mean that you have to be limited to fabric materials. This rug from Crafty Nest shows exactly what happens when you use unique materials to make a rug. This particular rug is made out of corks which makes it ideal for high-moisture rooms like kitchens and bathrooms.
Celtic Knot Rug
The Celtic knot is one of the most beautiful and unique patterns out there. While it is commonly used in jewelry designs, we love the idea of making a rug that is in the form of a Celtic knot. Get the inspiration from over at Martha Stewart.
Giant Tassel Rug
Tassels are in! Although tassels often have their association with the bygone decades of the 1960s and 1970s, vintage design is more than in nowadays, and this includes tassels. You can make your own tassel rug by following this tutorial from DIYs.com.
Felt Ball Rug
Felt balls make such a cute and versatile ingredient! Instructables.com can show you how to make your very own felt ball rug by using limited materials and a whole lot of ingenuity. One of the best parts about this particular rug project is the fact that you can choose whichever colors you would like, whether you want to go with neutral tones for a home office or with bright, vibrant tones for a child’s room.
Bright Rag Rug for Kids
Speaking of rugs for kids’ rooms, here is another beautiful example of a DIY rug done right! This rag rug from Craftaholics uses only a non-skid rug mat, a latch hook tool, and various sizes of fabric scraps. You could either buy your own fabric scraps to match a particular color scheme, or you could use old fabrics that are sitting around the house.
Rope Crochet
Crochet rugs are some of the most beautiful rugs out there, but we are especially impressed with this rope crochet rug. We could easily see it going for over $100 at a specialty shop, but if you follow the tutorial from Mama in a Stitch you can make this rug for only $16 in total. You can use any color yarn that you would like, but we especially love the way it looks with white—perfect for a nautical-themed bathroom.
DIY Retro Shag Rug
Do you know how we mentioned earlier that vintage is in? That’s the idea behind this retro-inspired rug from YouTube. Just like any trend, things that are considered to be “cool” can be quite expensive. You can save a lot of money by just making it yourself!
Faux Fur
If you love the look of animal skin, but don’t want to hang the skin of an actual animal, then this rug is for you. This DIY faux zebra rug from the Decor Fix is the perfect unusual touch that your family room or office space was waiting for. A similar rug could go for as much as $1,000 in retail stores!
Denim Rag Rug
Here is another unique rag rug! Denim is one of the many fabric types that usually finds its way to the landfill—jean styles simply change too often. You can put your old jeans to work by turning them into an adorable rug that is great for indoor or outdoor use. Get the idea over at My Poppet.
Crochet and Coil
My Poppet makes an appearance again with a beautiful coil and crochet rug. One look at this rug and there is no way that you will believe that it isn’t storebought. Believe it or not, but this rug actually incorporates the use of twine, though you can also use rug yarn.
Colorful Play Matt
Sometimes we don’t just need a rug for an aesthetic purpose—often they can also serve a very practical purpose as well. This is especially true when we are looking for playmats for a child’s bedroom. You can see how to make your very own kid room play mat from Sew Homegrown. Not only does this work well indoors in a child’s room, but you can also take it to the park and use it as a picnic blanket.
Geometric Paint
Did you know that it is possible to paint a rug? Not only is it possible, but the results are incredibly beautiful. You can see how to paint your very own geometric rug from the folks over at Design Sponge. All you will need is a rug, special paint, and about 2.5 hours of time.
Woven Rags
We couldn’t resist sharing another rag rug, this time from A Beautiful Mess. This particular rug is made from torn-up kitchen rags, which is probably why it makes such a good fit for kitchen spaces. It looks complicated, but it is a lot easier to make than you might imagine. You’ll just need to know how to braid.
Braided T-Shirt Rug
Let’s round out this list with yet another braided rug. My Poppet seems to make a regular appearance on this list, and for good reason—they have some fabulous DIY ideas! You will need a sewing machine for this idea, but if you can brush up a bit on your sewing skills the end result is very much worth it.
Cozy DIY Rug
The first word that we can think of to describe this rug from Paper n’ Stitch blog is “cozy”! In fact, it looks like one of those famous wool rugs from New Zealand, except we bet that this rug comes at half the cost. This is a perfect DIY challenge.
Spray Painted Rug
Earlier we mentioned the possibility of painting a rug, but did you know that it is also possible to spray paint a rug? If you want to change the look of a rug but aren’t overly confident in your painting abilities, then you will want to check out this technique from Reality Daydream, where you can use spray paint and stencils to create a beautiful design.
Rope Rugs
Here is a rug that is perfect for outdoor spaces. While you could certainly go out and buy yourself an expensive rug made of jute, this DIY rug from Tidbits-Cami looks just as good on a back porch.
Who would have thought that it was so easy to make your own rug? We are confident that pretty soon you will have rugs for every room of your house. Which one would you like to get started on today?