How to Recycle an Old Rug

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By leaper
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Recycle an Old Rug

Here's a great way to recycle an old rug and turn it into a great piece of upholstered furniture. All you need is an old section of a rug, and an old footstool, or buy a footstool at a flea market, or an unpainted furniture store.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Wooden Footstool
Fabric Adhesive
Craft Scissors
Newspaper or Tracing Paper
Old Rug
Permanent Marker
Coordinating Buttons
Tassel Trim
Foam Padding (Optional)

Step 1

Place the stool upside down on your newspaper and trace the shape of the stool. You can also use craft paper for this. Add an inch or so to allow for the width of the top. Now you can cut out your template for your rug section that you will be cutting.
Step 2

An optional step here, if you want a padded top for your footstool is to cut out a piece of foam padding. Place your template you have just cut out of newspaper or craft paper, and place on the foam padding, and cut the appropriate size piece of foam, making it slightly smaller than the template. Depending on how thick the padding, you will adjust accordingly.
Step 3

Use the template you have cut out and place this on your rug, try to find a pretty section of the rug, maybe a flower, or other design, and center the template on top of the rug, trace around the template, and then cut accordingly. Remember if you have foam padding to be placed on top, allow some more room on your fabric, about an inch or two, so that it reaches far enough under the stool.
Step 4

Apply the adhesive to the top of the stool, then either apply just the rug or the padding, and then the rug on top of the padding, if you are using the foam padding. Cut half inch slits about every 2 inches into the area of the rug that hangs over the stool. Now adhere the rug to the sides of the stool, and turn the stool over and glue the slitted pieces of the rug to the underside of the stool.
Step 5

Glue the trim you have selected around the edges of the rug, then glue on buttons, if you desire. This is a great and simple way to recycle a rug, and create your own custom footstool. For even more dramatic flair, you can paint the legs on the stool, to match the color of the rug.

Comments

musicdeb said

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on 4/29/2009 I love recycling--great tips for using an old rug.5*

writeitout said

on 4/24/2009 Excellent article on how to recycle old rugs! Wonderful way to be green and reuse! 5*

npd65 said

on 4/20/2009 Great idea on how to recycle a rug!

prism said

on 4/20/2009 Awesome idea and you make it sound so easy! Great instructions. Did you make those in the picture? Would love to see a bigger picture to get a closer look. They look wonderful! Thanks for sharing! I love recycling ideas!