• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Menu
  • Home
  • Interiors
      • Stripping-paint-with-heat-gun-7-e1383003893561-700×933.jpgDIY Projects
      • Prairie House HallwayOur houses
      • black-painted-trimHow To
        • 20210127_111407$100 Dining Room Makeover Progress
        • 20210127_112842DIY dog gate for cheap ($3.75)
        • before-dining-room-leftMini Dining Room Makeover Before
  • Living
      • Simplifying
      • Pet Care
      • Making Money From Home
        • how-much-money-can-you-make-on-roverHow much money can you make on Rover?
        • scan0025Last-minute mother’s day gifts for a minimalist
        • make money from home with a hobbyHow to make money from home: start with a hobby
  • About
    • I'm Christina, a full-time web developer with a dog sitting business, home renovations, and a blog on the side.

      This blog is about restoration and decorating of our houses, currently a 50s New England ranch, previously an MCM, and before that our Little Victorian...and the homemaking in between.

      READ MORE

Little Victorian

Modern Homemaking

You are here: Home / Interior Decorating / DIY / Updated front porch rug and a spray painted pillow

Updated front porch rug and a spray painted pillow

FacebookTweetPin
DIY, Outside, The Victorian

The drop cloth rug has been repainted.  I wasn’t very happy with it in the first place, I added a border, as suggested by Courtney, and that helped a lot.  But still, the design I painted on it was nothing that I would actually pick out in a store and pay for.  So, I flipped it over and started over.  It’s not finished yet, obviously, it’s only the outline, but I ran out of time, so it’s good enough for right now.

inexpensive outdoor diy painted drop cloth rug

Last Spring, I purchased some outdoor pillows at a local discount store for only $7  a piece for the benches on our back deck.  They are a really cute purple medallion print.   As is typical for me, I left them out all year.  As in, every day since last spring, they have been sitting out on the uncovered deck.  (In my defense, again, we live in the House With No Closets, so if I had brought them inside, they would have been sitting in the corner of the living room or something.)  Anyway, these little pillows rock!  They are barely faded, if at all, and there is no sign of mold or mildew.

So I went back to that discount store yesterday to get a pillow or two for the front porch.  They had the same purple ones again, but the rest of the patterned ones were ugly.  So I picked up a plain one in a similar color as the rug.  And then I spray painted a teal stripe on it.  Because I love spray paint.  And I had a teal can on hand and I thought teal will be a nice, bright addition to all the subtle, muted colors.

Teal striped inexpensive cheap DIY spray painted outdoor pillow

The fat center stripe was really easy, just tape off your lines with painters tape and spray away.  Not really any need for photos of that.  I have heard some say painted fabric is stiff, others say it isn’t.  Some say spray painted fabric is softer than brushed-on paint.  Here’s my experience so far: the rug has been painted with a brush, and it’s a little “crunchy,” but it’s not noticeable at all when you’re just walking on it.  It still folds up nicely as well without cracking or getting too stiff.  Since the pillow is made of outdoor fabric, it was stiffer than most to begin with and the striped section is slightly stiffer than the rest, but otherwise feels the same.  In my opinion, it’s not even noticeable unless you’re looking for a difference.

I plan on having some photos of the whole porch for you on Monday.  It will never really be finished, so I won’t call them “After” photos, but you saw how it started, and it is looking a lot less embarrassing now!

subscribe for more

SUCCESS!

FacebookTweetPin

6 Comments

Read more:

◁ ...previously

up next... ▷

Reader Interactions

Comments

Add a comment

  1. sarah - dodeline design

    May 18, 2012 at 4:42 pm

    That is adorable! I am anxiously waiting to find a house before I start too many more decor projects 😉

    Reply
    • Christina

      May 18, 2012 at 5:55 pm

      Thanks, Sarah! It is really hard to make commitments to things when you don’t own the space they are supposed to pretty-up. Our last rental was very contemporary, so none of our furniture matches our own house now.

  2. onshore

    May 18, 2012 at 4:58 pm

    the pillow is fabulous! And the carpet will be excellent, looks promising.
    Didn’t know about Windows live writer, must check it out.
    No fun DIY for the weekend, plah, I have to finish the toilet, it’s getting a bit embarrasing being so unfinished for so many days.

    Reply
    • Christina

      May 18, 2012 at 5:55 pm

      Aw, well the sooner it’s done, the sooner you can get back to the fun things right? 🙂

  3. Courtney

    May 22, 2012 at 5:45 am

    Oh that rose design looks gorgeous!! Bit more contemporary 🙂
    And LOVE the pillow!!! Such an easy update too!
    Thanks for the tip about windows live writer, sounds too good to be true! I’m not in love with dashboard so I’ll def check it out once I’m back online!! I’m just using my phone at the moment and its a little limiting!
    Your whole porch is looking fantastic!!

    Reply
    • Christina

      May 22, 2012 at 10:27 am

      Thanks Courts! Ireally think you’ll love the program. I can’t imagine only having the phone for the internet, hope you get back online soon!

What do you think? Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Recipe Rating




I have a question
I have a suggestion
I did this!

Primary Sidebar

Seen on:

Little Victorian on HGTV Country Living Brit and Co Apartment Therapy

See more popular  posts:

Meet the Prairie House

Re-painting the kitchen cabinets

How to strip paint with a heat gun

Beautiful brackets

Kitchen open shelving brackets

Instagramming

So we were making great (though last- minute) prog So we were making great (though last- minute) progress. Then we're putting the picture hanger on the DIY art I made for the room when the 80-pound dog comes in and steps STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ARTWORK. 😵 
Hubs is trying to fix it as usual. But seriously...I don't know if any more obstacles could be thrown at us during this challenge. 😂 
3 hours to go. 
#100roomchallenge
Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challen Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challenge on our dining room (that you guys haven't even seen the "before" of yet). It's a super fun challenge to stay within $100 and makeover a room in a month. We're behind schedule, but there has actually been progress. I'll try to remember to share here, but there's more on the blog! LittleVictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventua Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventually finish most of our restoration/renovation projects. I'll share the updates in the coming months as we get settled in to our new place. 😁
House update! The realtor is still confused about House update! The realtor is still confused about why "it's such a popular house." When she arrived yesterday for a showing, there were 8 cars in the driveway. 😃
We had three offers the first day, one of whom hadn't even seen the house in person yet.
@little.victorian

Before Footer

So we were making great (though last- minute) prog So we were making great (though last- minute) progress. Then we're putting the picture hanger on the DIY art I made for the room when the 80-pound dog comes in and steps STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ARTWORK. 😵 
Hubs is trying to fix it as usual. But seriously...I don't know if any more obstacles could be thrown at us during this challenge. 😂 
3 hours to go. 
#100roomchallenge
Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challen Ugly photo time! We're doing the $100 Room Challenge on our dining room (that you guys haven't even seen the "before" of yet). It's a super fun challenge to stay within $100 and makeover a room in a month. We're behind schedule, but there has actually been progress. I'll try to remember to share here, but there's more on the blog! LittleVictorian.com
#100roomchallenge
Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventua Update: the MCM is officially sold! We did eventually finish most of our restoration/renovation projects. I'll share the updates in the coming months as we get settled in to our new place. 😁
House update! The realtor is still confused about House update! The realtor is still confused about why "it's such a popular house." When she arrived yesterday for a showing, there were 8 cars in the driveway. 😃
We had three offers the first day, one of whom hadn't even seen the house in person yet.
Surprise! The house is going on the market today. Surprise! The house is going on the market today. (Long story that I'll fill you in on when I have more than 2 seconds.)
.
But we're once again with a realtor that calls our house "unique" instead of calling it a Mid Century Modern. 🤦‍♀️
.
We can't count how many locals came into this house and mentioned that those windows should be removed and walled up and the beams cut off. And then it would be a "normal" house. 🤯
.
Still can't really identify with people in this area. 🤷‍♀️ SO happy to be going back home to the East coast TOMORROW!
Right? We're getting back into the house restorat Right? 
We're getting back into the house restoration and we'll be working on the powder room in the master bed. 
Guys. It's bad. Swipe to see.
And we're going to try to make it pretty with a super tiny budget of $100 in 4 weeks and we're joining the #100roomchallenge to keep us (me) motivated.
The bedroom design is starting to come together th The bedroom design is starting to come together thanks to Craigslist and Goodwill. 
#OneRoomChallenge
Our poor aloe plant is so gnarly and gangly. But a Our poor aloe plant is so gnarly and gangly. But at least I haven't killed it in the last 4 years! Anyone know why it's growing so ugly? 
#oneroomchallenge #uglyplants #prettylamps
@little.victorian

Footer

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

Privacy Policy & Disclosure · Copyright © 2021 Little Victorian · Website by Meyne