Happy weekend, everybody!
So on Tuesday I was on TV (see my segment details HERE) talking about 3 hot trends in frugality. DIY projects was one of them. But my “take-home message” was that…
just because you do it yourself doesn't necessarily mean it will save you money…you need to do your research first!
I gave an example of how my husband and I “made” a huge area rug out of remnant carpet, but didn't do the entire thing ourselves. Here is more detail on that project:
How to make an area rug from remnant carpet
We just moved into a new house. On the main floor the floors are hardwood and tile…NOT very friendly for babies and toddlers, if you ask me (but beautiful nonetheless). We needed a rug ASAP…
and we needed it HUGE.
(Here are pics of the room I took with my phone the day we moved in)
We needed it at least 12'x13′. Have you ever shopped for a sturdy, soft, classy rug that size? Here were our options (and keep in mind this is page 3…and they were STILL almost $2k!)
Not only was that way beyond our price range, but we just weren't liking anything we saw. So we decided to get creative!
We went to the RC Willey clearance outlet here in Utah. They had an enormous selection of remnant carpet (which are rolls of carpet leftover from a large project. Often times it'd be enough to carpet a small room…or in our case, make a rug for a huge room.)
Measure and decide what you want BEFORE buying remnant carpet. Most of the time it's final sale, so no buyer's remorse please!
We saw this one and fell in love. The good news? It was one of the only remnants large enough! (as you can see by the dimensions we even had leftover carpet to spare that we decided to make into smaller other smaller rugs.)
This much carpet would've cost $1,454 if we had just bought it from their carpet department. Since it was remnant we got the entire roll for just over $500.
(Once again, there were smaller and cheaper rolls, but we had to get one of the largest ones.)
This carpet roll was HUGE. It was so huge, there's no way it would've fit in an SUV or even truck. Luckily my parents were in town and had a Uhaul trailer with them, so we were able to squeeze it in there.
Think about transportation BEFORE buying remnant carpet! In RC Willey's clearance dept there are no deliveries, so don't buy something before thinking through from points A to Z.
When you make a rug out of remnant carpet you need to bind the edges. Often times the remnant isn't cut straight, so binding it gives your rug straight, clean lines, keeps it from unravelling or fraying, and protects you (raw carpet edges are sharp!).
We looked online for a DIY kit, assuming it would be cheaper. However, with a rug our size we quickly discovered a few things:
1) We would be out a LOT of money if we did it ourselves and messed up (it was a huge project to “practice” on)
2) We would need a LOT of binding materials.
3) It would take a LOT of time.
4) The DIY kits didn't seem as sturdy as professional binding because it just sticks to your carpet rather than being sewn on. With a 100lb dog and lots of kids (and planning on LOTS of wear and tear with this rug) we figured that binding would only be a temporary solution.
So we called RC Willey and asked if they bind carpet. They don't, but they referred us to someone locally who does it out of her garage and only charges $1 per linear foot.
DONE.
We dropped it off at her house and it was done that afternoon.
She cut it and actually sewed the binding off with a machine, so it's nice and permanent.
She cut it perfectly even (there's no WAY I could've done that. I can't even cut a straight line in paper, let alone thick carpet!)
All we had to do was give her the measurements and it was done. For the large rug it only cost $50.
See my kids enjoying their new soft floor?
The other cool thing is that we still had 8'x12′ leftover. That's another HUGE rug worth of carpet! We had her cut it in half and made two 4×12 runners. We put one by our front door.
It's rain and snow season here in Utah and our real wood floors are getting a beating. It's not the most fashionable runner ever, but it's so practical.
We made a mistake and didn't plan where to put the other runner before having it bound. DON'T DO THAT! Turns out we really have no place for it, so it was a waste of $32. However, we're thinking in the summer we'll put it out on our huge patio by the patio sectional seating set we plan to get someday.
So…while we do plan to use it in the future, we should've waited to have it bound until we 100% had a plan. Oh well, live and learn, right?
So there you have it. While there are ways to bind carpet yourself, I question the durability and how long it will last. For us, this rug is in the main room of our house, so it's getting a lot of wear and tear. If it's a small project and is in a more formal room where it won't get much use, I think DIY could work just fine.
Don't know where to find a carpet binder near you?
- Google it,
- Call carpet stores
- Call furniture stores like RC Willey that have carpet departments
- Look on craigslist. The lady we used just works independently out of her home, she has no shop and wouldn't be found online. Ask around and look in unconventional places first!
Please note…if you do it at a carpet or rug store it will probably be more expensive, so SHOP AROUND before committing!
Have any of you bound carpet yourself before? How'd it go? Would you do it again? Would you recommend it?
WHILE YOU'RE HERE…
Don't forget about my Secret Sauce online budgeting program, Budget Boot Camp! Super fun video program that makes money easy to understand. All you need is a screen and you're set!
And don't forget, if you don't save at LEAST what you paid for the program, I'll refund every dime. You've got nothing to lose! Use the code FCFBLOG to get an extra 10% off, because I love you 😉
Do you have the contact info for the lady who bound your rug/carpet? We live here in Utah and are looking to do the exact same thing.
Can you email me the lady’s info that lives in utah? I would love to use her too. 🙂 thanks
-Ilesha
[email protected]
She doesn’t do it any more, unfortunately!! So sorry!
Question- do you know if laying extra carpet over carpet will damage the original carpet due to backing material on it? I have a giant piece of left over carpet from install and wanted to use it as a rug over existing carpet in living room walk way but I don’t want the white backing stuff to damage my original carpet. Do u know if it does?
Great idea I never knew anything about carpet remnants but when I read this I thought what a great idea. I just went to my Lowes this past Sundaay for some carpet to cover a 10X12 area in our basement and I found a brown I liked that was 12X12 for 89.00 but it was to big and I didn’t know how much it would cost to deliver or if I could cut it down to size myself so I kept look then I found that was 5X12 so I got that one it didn’t have a price on it so the guy sold it to me for $10 I got that and two pacakges of the foam alphabet mats and now we have a small livng space/play area in teh basement it’s not perfect but its a huge improvement compared to before when we could even hang out down there! Thanks for the awesome idea!!!!!
Fabulous, love it. Thanks for sharing, it looks amazing
Hello,
Same as the other people…I also live in Utah and would love the name or contact info of the lady you used. I just acquired a large vintage floral carpet and would like to bind it into a large (really large) Area rug.
My email is [email protected]
Thank you!!
Gina
Wow, the rug looks fantastic in your room! Actually, the whole room looks great. We are in a similar situation with a new home and after looking at what you did, went to a local carpet remnant dealer and have found a big enough piece we think will make a nice area rug. The cost savings over trying to find a 12 by 12 foot nice area rug is significant.
Could you let us know what you used for padding? Were you able to find a reasonably priced pad that won’t damage your hardwood?
Also, love your entertainment center. If you don’t mind sharing, who makes it and where is it sold? Thanks!
I’m so glad you’re going to try it!! We didn’t do any padding, actually. We just set the carpet down straight on the floor. It works fine for a large rug that won’t be moved around or anything (will have heavy furniture on it). However, I wouldn’t recommend it for a small rug that could move around because the netting is pretty scratchy and if you lift the carpet it sheds little sandy flecks like CRAZY! But we’ve been happy with it otherwise.
YOU NEED A PAD! No matter the size, if you actually have real hardwood floors, you need to protect your floor from that scratchy webbing under your rug! Heavy furniture will only make it worse. Yes, the rug does shift slightly every time you sit on the sofa, walking around on it, etc. Luckily, it looks like you have the cheaper laminate floor since the wood grain looks artificial.
Yes I agree, you do need a pad! Our floors are real wood, and they are actually very expensive (hand-scraped), which is a horrible idea. I sure WISH they were laminate! haha! But yes, I agree, a pad is great.
I am also in Utah (the valley) and need a rug bond would you be willing to share the info on the person you used.
Thanks
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Hi! I loved your post. We are in the same situation – new house, new baby, toddler, and hardwood floors! We have been debating about carpeting or a huge rug and found your blog! Thank you so much! We are going to RC Willey’s and other carpet stores tomorrow! Do you have the contact info for the lady who did your binding? Does she want more business? I would love to find out where she is and if we might be able to use her! Thanks so much
Andi – she was just a random lady, and it was years ago. I originally got her number from the store, actually! I just called and asked if they did carpet binding. They said “no, but here’s a lady who does…” so give that a try!
You will be glad you got real handscraped wood instead of laminate in the long run. Better looking and way way more stable if it was glued down directly to the sub-floor. Laminate will look like laminate in a few years and wood will still be beautiful. Nomuv dura-hold plus rug pads are the best available to help keep your rugs from marring the surface and keep them in place. I have worked with that product many times and it is hands down the finest rug pad you can get. Nice job on the rugs.
Greetings from Colorado! I’m boeed to tears at work so I decided tto check out your website on my iphon during lunch break.
I enjoy the info you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
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Wow thanks so much for the comment and for joining the fam!! Lots of love from UT!!
WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..more wait
.. …
Are you giving out the lady’s number via email?
I found an area rug that would be perfect but would prefer to cut off a section to create a runner for my adjacent front door area.
I too live in Utah.
Thx
Would love it someone could give me the lady’s number. I found carpet, but cant find anyone to do the binding. Im in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I don’t think she does it any more, sadly. But we got her number in the first place simply by calling the furniture store and asking for a referral for someone who binds carpet and they gave us her number. So maybe try that!
Johnson’s Carpet in Kaysville does binding for $1 a foot! 🙂
YAY! Thanks for the tip!
T & J Carpet Binding (801) 367-7167 (Tammy)
15885 Carterville Rd
Orem, UT 84097
Binding 1.00 linear ft
Serging 3.00 linear ft
Felt Backing .75 sq ft (6.75 sq yd)
Rubber Backing 1.25 sq ft (11.25 sq yd)
Where did you get the throw pillows on your couch?
If you have s.one in family can sew and stuff those??? I usually do my own and then switch colors up by tieing clothe around the pillow ,… Della Howard….
I love in SLC, any way you could get me the number for the lady who did the binding on your rug?
Unfortunately she’s not in business any more! but I recommend checking the classifieds or calling the carpet stores near you to see if they have a referral.
Could get contact for who you used.
I’m here in utah as well
Thanks
Hi! I am located in Utah as well and would love to bind a few carpet remnants. Can you share the name of the lady with me?
Thanks in advance!
Natalie
Do u remember where u took ur run. I live in salt lake and I would love to know who u used. I can call rc Willey but thought I’d ask u first. Thank you.
Where is your entertainment center from or was it custom made?
Did you have to put anything under the rug so that it doesn’t scratch the wood? I was thinking carpet has a harder back than some rugs? Thank you in advance!
We also have a large remnant of carpet left over from our basement that I want to get bound for the hard surface area in the family room. I would love your contact that did your binding. We are also in Utah. Thank you!
Holy cow that is amazing. I would never have thought of that!
This is a genius idea!! And they turned out so well!
Thanks for a great article. You have nice kids.
I love your design at first photo
Thank you, very much four there money saving idea!
Do you have the information for the lady you used? We are in Utah and would love a recomendation for someone we know has done good work.
Hi! Do you by chance still have the woman’s info who binds carpet? And does she live in salt lake? Thank you!!
Love this post! So helpful. I know I would mess mine up trying to save money and do it myself. I’m in Utah. Can I get the contact info for your binder?
Hi Ashlee! I don’t remember what her name was, so sorry! But you could try calling your local carpet store or RC Willey clearance store to see who they suggest! 🙂
I’m in Utah and desperately searching for someone to bind my rug! Can you email me her info? Thank you!!
I no longer have her info, but call your local carpeting store and they should be able to recommend someone! That’s how we got the info in the first place. 🙂
Just wondering if you put a pad under the remnant? If so did it stick to your hardwood floor? If not, did the scratchy stuff (jute backing) on the back of the carpet damage your flooring? I’m thinking of doing something similar but worried about damaging the hardwood under the carpet. Thank you!
They make rug pads for hardwood floors! Amazon has a ton of options. It will help to keep the rug in place while also protecting your hardwoods.
What is the backing of the rug like? Did you have to put something under it to protect your floor?
Hey, I’m looking for someone to bind some carpet edges in Utah. Hook a girl up with that $1/L.Ft person! Lol seriously, can I have their info? 😅