Decorating DGD's room.... does this sound crazy?

[Claudia1]

DGD wants a rainbow wall.....no problem. Her beige carpet, however, is spotted but still in fairly decent shape otherwise.

Can I use different colors of dye to make color splashes all over the carpet, kinda like a tie-dye pattern? She is 7 and loves lots of color. I'm not thinking about tons & tons of colors, just every 1-2ft or so a splash of color that coordinates with her wall.

Has anybody ever done anything to carpet to change it?

 

[RUDisney]

DGD wants a rainbow wall.....no problem. Her beige carpet, however, is spotted but still in fairly decent shape otherwise.

Can I use different colors of dye to make color splashes all over the carpet, kinda like a tie-dye pattern? She is 7 and loves lots of color. I'm not thinking about tons & tons of colors, just every 1-2ft or so a splash of color that coordinates with her wall.

Has anybody ever done anything to carpet to change it?

That sounds really cool and would probably work, though the color on the floor will be a little different than the color on the wall because of how the carpet color will affect it.

Heck, if red wine can put a permanent stain on a rug, why not RIT dye?

However, having said that, do you have a spare square (ha ha, like Seinfeld) of carpet on which you can test this theory? My concern would be that the dye wouldn't be color fast and every time your DD sits on her floor, she'll wind up with streaks of errant color on her pants, skin or shoes.

If you find that after the test carpet works to your liking, I'd definitely dab at the stain you put on the rug to get up the excess moisture so it will dry faster.

Post pictures if you do this, please. It sounds really cool!

 

[RNMOM]

I think this sounds like a great idea but I have never tried it.

I was thinking about it and feel using a stencil would be very advisable. That way you can control how much and where it goes to a degree. The surrounding carpet might soak the dye and allow it to "bleed".

Could you use small spray bottles to apply the dye? That way you wouldn't soak it too much and with the stencil you could have some control. That's what I would do anyway.

You could just make a 'walking path' of blocks or hearts or anything you want through the room. If you are really daring you might manage rainbows. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Yeah, as the above person said, get some test carpet.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Did you try pretreating the spots with Oxyclean and then steaming the rug? This got everything out of my kids stuff, even old nailpolish. If you can get the rug cleaned maybe you could consider a few inexpensive throw rug in her theme. I love the idea of being creative but what do you do with a painted rainbow carpet when she is 12 and declares all things rainbow to be 'babyish'. In my house creative and temporary is the golden rule. My DD has sticker polka dots all over her room and I have the DIF on hand for when she is ready to move on to the next big thing

Have fun

 

[SandrA9810]

That sounds awesome.

If the carpet doesn't turn out the way you'd like it to. You can go with the carpet squares they sell at the stores. And mix them up.

Or go with a large area rug. You might be able to find one almost as big as her room. And if the bed is against the wall, you'll be able to hide some of the carpet with that.

Or at Ikea, they sell these circle rugs in all different colors. You could toss those on the floor and she can move them around whenever she feels like it.

I would steam clean it and all before trying to dye it. You don't want the dye sticking to the dirt rather than the carpet fibers.

 

[Claudia1]

Great ideas! The carpet will need to be replaced in a few years, about the time she decides she doesn't like it. DH wants to replace it now but DGD is the kind of kid that makes messes in a perfectly sterile environment, so I don't want to give her something new until she grows up a bit.

Never thought of a spray bottle. Nice idea!

I do like the idea of multiple colored rugs. That could be very cool, too.

Actually, I got the idea of coloring the rug when I was planning her rainbow wall. I want her to help me and I figured we would end up with colors on the carpet, even with wall-to-wall drop cloths, and this would be a way to cover them up.

Keep the ideas coming!

 

[SandrA9810]

You could always speckle the carpeting too with the paint. Just run the paint brush over a cardboard on an angle so it sprays the paint when it hits the edge. That way you have a slight coloring in the carpet without overdoing it.

I'd suggest going to a carpet store and asking for a 1x1 sqft piece of the same kind of carpeting for testing. Might cost you a dollar or two, but it'll be a lot better than having an oops in the middle of her room.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

I reccomend spray paint. I did both on a chunk of carpet. the paint stay on well (8+ years) and its never stained anyones clothes.

 

[wildernesslodgelover]

It does sound crazy, but awesome! You are a cool grandma!