Updated front porch rug and a spray painted pillow

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.

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.

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!

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