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Painted Outdoor Canvas Floor Cloth

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Make a striking painted canvas floor cloth for your outdoor space with a bit of paint and a drop cloth. What a simple, stunning alternative to a pricier outdoor rug! PS Contributor Megan from The Homes I Have Made is here today to show you exactly how it’s done.

Hello PS Readers! It’s Megan, from The Homes I Have Made, back with another fun and simple tutorial that I hope will help make your home a bit brighter for Spring! The second the calendar officially rolled over to Spring a few weeks ago, I excitedly began pulling out our bright-colored outdoor furniture and accessories. One project that I didn’t get to last year was some sort of ground covering or rug for our covered porch, so it was at the top of my To Do List once it began to warm up!

This “rug” was very simple to make; and by using paints I had on hand along with a cheap canvas drop cloth from the hardware store, it was really affordable too! A few short hours of painting, and my porch is fresh and alive and ready for Spring!

Let me show you exactly how I did it!

I started with a 6’x9′ canvas dropcloth from the hardware store. Look in the paint section – there are lots of shapes and sizes to choose from. This one cost me about $10.

 

Before getting started, lay your drop cloth down where it’s going to be once finished to check the sizing. On my porch, it was just a little too wide and a little too long for my liking. To fix it, I cut off 11″ from both the length and the width and then hemmed it back up. I also took the time to iron out all those creases. When it came time for taping and painting, it was nice to have a smooth surface to work with.

 

Once the drop cloth is hemmed to the right size and pressed flat, wait for a clear, sunny day to do this project (unless you have a garage or workshop you can work in! I found the driveway the best place…) It was a slightly windy day, so I taped the cloth to my driveway to keep it from blowing away as I worked.

 

 

Using a ruler, a disappearing ink pen, and lots and lots of painter’s tape, tape out your desired stripe pattern.

 

 

You can certainly tape out any number and width of lines you’d like, but if you’d like to follow my stripes, here’s the pattern I used (done on a 45″ angle):

 

All the blue lines are stretches of blue painters tape. I used both 2″ wide and 1″ wide tape to achieve my pattern.
Next, it’s time to start painting. I used three different colors of latex paint that I had leftover from other projects around the house. The red is Rust-oleum’s Apple Red, the navy is Martha Stewart’s Azurite, and the turquoise is Martha Stewart’s Lagoon. I mixed all three paints with Martha Stewart’s fabric medium and applied it using a 4″ roller. The paint will bleed through the canvas so be sure to place a tarp or additional dropcloth under your dropcloth 😉

To replicate my pattern, start by painting the red skinny stripes and then the blue medium stripes; don’t paint the final turquoise color just yet!

 

First, paint the red…

 

 

Then paint the navy blue. Note – both the navy blue and the turquoise required two coats of paint; but it dries so quickly on the canvas, that you can apply one coat right after the other.

 

Next, remove ALMOST all of your tape. Peel off all the skinny tape from the red lines and the 2″ tape next to the navy blue stripes. Keep the 2″ tape that borders the red skinny stripes.

 

Before you paint the final color, re-tape OVER the navy blue stripe with the 2″ painters tape. You’ll see why we did this in a minute!

 

 

Now, go in and paint your third color, in my case, the turquoise!

 

 

When you remove all the tape, you are left with a pretty spectacular pattern! By taping over the navy blue stripe before painting the turquoise, the two colors are right next to each other instead of having a canvas-colored line in between.

 

 

I gave the canvas overnight to fully dry. I then heat set the entire dropcloth with a hot iron and press cloth before placing it on the porch and adding some of our Spring accessories!

 

Our red bench with flower cushion (made over last year), a red crate acting as a plant stand, and some bright Spring flowers bring the whole front of the house to life!

 

I also added a painted star to our big front window. Are you curious how I did it? Head on over to see me today at The Homes I Have Made and I’ll show you exactly how!

 

 

Just add a book and a glass of lemonade and I am ready for some warm-weather relaxing!

 

Thanks, as always, to Amy for the opportunity to be here with you today! See you all next month!

Thanks to Megan for stopping by to share this terrific idea today. Get to know a bit more about Megan by checking out a terrific about-me post she recently shared at The Homes I Have Made!

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Comments

  1. Ann says

    Oh my gosh you make it look so easy! I’m pretty sure this would take me a long time but it would be so worth it in the end. Love the bright colors too!

  3. Diane | An Extraordinary Day says

    Your rug is beautiful! I made one last summer and used a paintbrush which laid down a bit more paint than I could with the roller and really was quick to do. I’m wondering about the heat setting. Is that really necessary? My paint really seemed to become one with the canvas. My biggest concern is for the unpainted canvas which looks so snappy. I noticed that it easily gets dirty and isn’t easy to clean. I was thinking of coating it front and back with a sealer of some type…and that’s where the project gets expensive. I’m interested to hear how your rug fairs with the elements and soil. I pulled mine up and am not using it until I get that last detail worked out.
    Blessings!

    • Jenni says

      you can paint it with a non yellowing varnish to protect it. then you could sponge wash it.

  7. Laura Bray says

    I was wondering how you can keep it down? Maybe some two-sided tape? Once you start walking on it, does it get bunched up? I love, love, love your porch! Can I come over for some lemonade?

    • Amy @ Positively Splendid says

      Carpet tape might be a great option for preventing the rug from slipping. Thanks for stopping in!