How to Make a Whimsical Floorcloth

A fun and inexpensive alternative to area rugs is to make a floorcloth. The project we show here is a fun, easy-to-do whimsical design, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. You can make a floorcloth on vinyl "fabric," canvas fabric or on the back side of vinyl flooring remnants.

This is a great project for beginners ... even if you've never picked up a paint brush before. If you can doodle, you can make this floorcloth!

1. Cut the vinyl to the desired size. Our rug is 2 feet wide and 6 feet long. If you are painting on vinyl, you do not need to do anything to "finish" the edges - just make sure you cut all edges in very straight lines.

2. Select one color of paint and paint large triangles randomly across the floorcloth. The charm of this design is that all items are painted freehand, and they don't need to be perfect. Lines that aren't straight or circles that are a bit lopsided just add to the character of the final product. (Be sure to peruse the list at the end of this project for other design ideas for floorcloths).

3. Select a second color and paint large circles randomly across the floorcloth.

4. Select a third color and create clusters of three stacked dots randomly across the floorcloth.

5. Select another color and paint large "zig zags" randomly across the floorcloth.

6. Step back and examine the floorcloth. Add other designs, where necessary, to create a balanced design with no blank spots that stand out.

7. While you are allowing the paint to dry, the next step is to create the "fringe" to be placed around the floorcloth's edges. If you or someone you know has a pile of unused needlework floss or yarn, it is perfect for this project. Otherwise, you can buy 6-10 skeins (the name for the rolls of floss) to use. Combine colors of floss or yarn and make multiple strands of combined colors, each about 10 inches long. For this project, we created about 30 of these strands.

Save time by pulling floss from several skeins at once. Use one hand to grab the skeins and then use the other hand to firmly pull on the ends of the floss.

8. Fold each combined strand in half. Use the glue gun to attach the folded point of each strand to the back of the floorcloth. To make this easy, you don't even have to turn the floorcloth all the way over. Just bend the edge up so you have access to the back.

9. To seal the floorcloth, apply a coat of polyurethane varnish to the side you painted and allow to dry. Depending on the look you want, you can select a glossy, semi-gloss or matte finish for the varnish.