Painted Floorcloths for Outdoor Spaces
Add a finishing touch to your outdoor retreat with these stylish yet sturdy rugs.
Fun and Games
Fun, colorful rugs are a fabulous way to tie together your deck, patio, or porch decor. Although great-looking, weather-hardy rugs may be hard to find, they're easy to make with a little paint. The results will wow you.
Kick up your heels and have some fun with a giant ticktacktoe game rug for the garden patio. A painted floorcloth breathes new life into your outdoor space, so don't be afraid to think big and bold and bring in as many colors as you like.
- T-square with a triangle or right angle tool
- Crafts knife
- Rubber cutting mat or heavy cardboard
- Semi- or high-gloss paint (indoor or outdoor); estimate a half gallon of base color and a quart for each additional color (at least two shades of green for lily pads and two colors for flower petals)
- Small paint roller or paintbrush
- Metal cork-backed ruler
- Painter's tape
- Colored pencils (Note: Regular pencils will smudge; ink will bleed.)
- Tracing paper
- Lightweight cardboard for template
- Scissors
- Tack cloth
- Clear water-base sealer
- Rubber cement
- Floorcloth canvas (Note: We used a *Kunin felt brand material called Kreative Kanvas. You'll need enough for the floorcloth, plus the game pieces. We used approximately 3-3/4 yards of 58-inch-wide canvas)
*Note: BHG.com is not endorsing this product. Rather, it is a suggestion for a specific product that is necessary to properly complete the project.
1. Download the free patterns for this project. (Downloading requires Adobe Acrobat.)
2. Trim the floorcloth to size using a crafts knife and a T-square with a triangle to square the corners and cut a straight edge. Protect the floor underneath with a rubber cutting mat or piece of cardboard.
3. Prepare the entire floorcloth surface with one or two base coats of paint, using the shade you want for the border. Let the paint dry to the touch between coats. When the top coat is completely dry, pencil and tape off a 4-inch border around the perimeter of the rug, then tape off three rows of three squares each (ours were 16-inches square), leaving 1-inch borders between squares. Use a cork-backed ruler for all of the measuring and taping because it won't slide around as you draw your guide lines. Apply painter's tape to avoid pulling up paint.
4. Paint one coat of color on every other square. Quickly remove the tape while the paint is wet; this prevents pulling up the base color and lets you touch up any bleeding paint with your finger before it's too late. Let paint dry. Repeat the process with the alternate color in the remaining squares, and let it dry several hours or overnight.
5. Create the lily pad leaves by tracing the leaf pattern on tracing paper. Then enlarge the pattern on a copier to the right dimensions. Cut the pattern out, trace it onto cardboard, and cut it out to create a cardboard template. Trace a lily pad leaf onto each square with colored pencil. Paint each leaf the lighter color first; let dry. Then paint on the darker accents. After letting the paint dry for a few hours, wipe it off with a tack cloth to remove all debris. Seal the rug with one coat of clear sealer.
6. To make the flower-shape game pieces, follow the same steps for tracing and enlarging the lily pad pattern, using the flower patterns. We differentiated the players' pieces by size and color, making five 17-inch-wide flower pieces, and five 12-inch-wide flower pieces. Trace the templates onto blank floorcloth and cut out the curves with scissors. Coat each flower with one layer of base color, and let dry. Paint the petals as desired, let dry, and then finish each flower with a coat of clear sealer.
7. To hold the rug in place, coat the bottom with rubber cement and let it dry. The rubber cement will prevent slipping and keep the corners from turning up. Toss down your flower pieces and let the games begin!
