Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Repurposing Your Old Rug


You are considering buying a new rug, but what to do with the old one?


We want your floors to look amazing donned in the latest in rug fashion, but what to do when a rug becomes outdated. Although it's very easy to store rugs and regularly rotate your collections, there comes a time when the older pieces need to be replaced. Here's a few ideas for repurposing a rug, instead of simply tossing it out.

1. Furniture Upholstering - If you are not quite ready to part with the unique design of your old rug, it can be incorporated into your furniture. This example uncovered (no pun intended) by Apartment Therapy present a unique way of incorporating a rug into furniture design.

Chairs Upholstered with Kyle Bunting Rug


2. Pet Bed - Keep Rover cozy by adding some cushion to his crate and pet bed. Rugs are easy to clean and even add extra warmth in the winter. His house will look so stylish with your rug decor.

Rug Pet Bed from Dogster

3. Car Mats or Trunk Covering - Line the bottom of your trunk or create car floor mats with your old rug. A trunk mat serves the same purpose as car mats. The interior of the trunk is projected from dirt, spills and stains, as they end up on the rug rather than on your automobile. Simply remove the rug from the trunk for easy clean up. Your car will be so stylish, you just might start a new trend in decorative auto interiors.

4. Door Mat - Cut your rug down to size, add a non-slip substance underneath, and voila, a welcome mat for any door. If your old rug is not an indoor/outdoor rug, it may work best on at the threshold of an interior part of the house for slightly better wear and tear. Placing a mat at the doorstep from the garage to the house, for example, may work better than placing it outside of the front door, unless your front door is an interior door, then by all means, place the old rug right at your front door step.

5. Gardening Cushions or Picnic Mat - Bring some soft, cushy confort outdoors and use pieces of the old rug as a gardening mat (your knees will thank you), or as an alternative to a picnic blanket.

Photo Courtesy of This Old House

6. Yoga Mat - Whether you need to add cushion to your current yoga mat or if you need a non-slip yoga mat, consider trimming your old rug into the shape of a runner to help enhance your yoga practice.

7. Heavy Furniture Movers - Cut down part of your old rug to a few 4 x 4 inch pieces. Simply slip the pieces under each leg of the furniture (pile side down), and easily slide the furniture across the floor. Once the furniture is in place, remove the rug pieces.



8. Wall Decor - Decorative and stylish rugs can remain an important part of your decor by being incorporated into wall art. In the same fashion as adding the rug pieces to upholstery, rugs can become an artistic centerpiece.

Repurposed Rug as Wall Art

9. Camping Cushion - Trim the old rug to fit the footprint of your tent and use the rug as added cushion in your tent.

10. Donate It - If these ideas don't work for your home or if you aren't too attached, but want to encourage reuse and repurposing, donate your rug to a worthy charity.

Make that rug work for you until the very end and don't forget to shop RugPal for the perfect replacement. 

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