It all started with Nancy Drew.
The Hidden Staircase to be exact.
After reading the book as a middle schooler, and being a lover of all ghost stories and mysteries, I became convinced that a secret staircase was nearby.
Under my grandparent’s screened-in porch.
As I was walking around my grandparent’s house one sunny spring day collecting old glass I found buried in the ground (convinced it held a secret meant for only me), I stumbled onto their screened-in porch and began to examine it.
The porch was a simple square structure that came off their dining room. It wasn’t above their basement though, as the rest of the house was. It was supported by four sturdy walls of brick.
There had to be something under that porch, and there had to be a staircase that led to whatever was under there.
I immediately rushed up to the porch and started stomping my feet on the AstroTurf covered floor to find a hollow spot where a door leading to the staircase might be.
My feet were met by the sound of concrete.
I persisted, making my way to the outer edges of the porch where the AstroTurf carpeting ended.
I attempted to pull it up, but discovered it was securely glued down.
Darn the AstroTurf.
The secrets of the porch were never uncovered.
However, I’m now coming to love AstroTurf very very much.
Seriously, what other 6 ft. x 8 ft. rug can you find for $20?
Only AstroTurf baby.
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DIY Painted AstroTurf Rug Tutorial
This is picture heavy, but stick with me.
Materials Needed
1 – 2 quarts of gloss exterior paint depending on how intense you want your colors. I used two quarts.
Paint Roller and Tray
Steps
Step 1
Roll out the rug and begin marking your border off with FrogTape.
As you can see, I was super technical with measurements and used tape as my guide. I started on the very edge of the rug and placed three small strips of tape that would remain AstroTurf underneath, then two strips that would be painted white, then another strip for Astroturf. You want to paint inside of the tape marked Astroturf. See the photo above.
Step 2
Finish taping the rest of your border around the edges of the rug.
See photo above. You want to repeat this on each side of the rug, using the same “tape measurements.”
Step 3
You will have some overlap that needs to be cut out on the corners where the tapes meet.
Cut out the small pieces of tape that would keep your border from being continuous as shown above.
After cutting out the small pieces, your rug should look like this:
Step 4
Paint your border.
I found the best way to paint AstroTurf is with a roller. I did three coats and went in different directions with each coat to get every side of the AstroTurf fiber.
Step 5
Remove the tape around your border after your final coat. I didn’t wait for it to dry, however if you put the paint on pretty heavy, you may want to wait a bit to make sure you don’t get leakage.
Begin taping off the stripes for the inside of your border.
I just chose a spot in the middle of the rug to start a diagonal line with tape and went with it. Once more, I used tape as my measuring guides as you can see above.
Step 6
Continue with your diagonal stripes in the middle of the rug until it is covered.
It should look similar to this when its done:
Be sure to run tape along the white edges where your diagonal stripes meet it.
Step 7
Paint your diagonal stripes using the same method as with the border, then remove the tape.
The finished product:
I love how fun this rug is. I put it on the screened-in porch for photos, but am planning on moving it to the front porch when the floor out there is finished.
I did somehow mess up my “tape measurements” at one point. You can see where some of my diagonal lines are skinnier than others. No biggie – nothing’s perfect around here.
I love the Juicy Passionfruit and stark white against the green. Its a fun, unexpected element.
What do you think?
Too tacky?
If its not a little tacky, its no fun, right?!
How can you jazz up an AstroTurf rug?
Want more great ideas for rugs? Then don’t miss these 14 painted rug hacks!
Love a great cowhide rug? Here’s how I made a faux cowhide rug for about $15.
Oh, and here’s my little trick for keeping rugs from sliding on your floors.
You know you don’t wanna miss any of this crazy.
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