Runner - Phase 2

After choosing the fabric for my runner I needed to get the rubber matting that it mentioned in this how to.

I really struggled to find any that didn't cost a fortune! In our local DIY shops they didn't have any, and I looked online and there were plenty of places to buy it but it was quite expensive. Costing more than £70 for the amount that I wanted! This meant the whole point of DIYing a rug would have been lost as I would still be paying more than I wanted to.

Tom and I had a bit of a brainstorm about alternatives, and I put out a wanted ad on freecycle for carpet remnants or rugs (condition or colour not an issue) and waited for a week. I was just about to give up, and try and find somewhere to buy carpet remnants, when on the Friday I got an email from Roz that they had a long rag rug runner, she had tried to dye it red but it had gone a bit patchy and they were moving and wouldn't need such a long runner so she hadn't tried to rescue it. I went to pick it up and it was massive at least 4m long and just the right width!

I could see what she had meant about the dye job but this didn't worry me as it was going to be covered up, I had debated with myself in the car on the way to pick it up trying to re-dye it grey but it had a few holes in it and was actually too long so I was going to have to chop a bit off it. It would be better to be covered by the fabric.

I love this about freecycle, Roz had a rug that had been well used and she had tried to get more life from but in the end didn't need, and I needed a long runner but its appearance didn't matter at all, so freecycle hooked us up and she got rid of the old rug, I got just what I needed and nothing went into landfill!

I've just got to gather the rest of my materials (spray adhesive, gaffer tape and polyurethane spray or some kind of sealant) then I'll get started on this project for real!