Monday, September 20, 2010

Hanging a rug using carpet tack strips

I had a question about how I hung my garden rug. Here's what I did: After the rug was finished and after I found a spot for it, I began to think about how I wanted to hang it. At first, I was going to sew a pocket along the top and use a wooden dowel to display it. But the rug is so heavy, I was afraid it wouldn't hang straight. I sent a message to Gene Shepard through his blog, and he suggested carpet tacking, something he had used to hang rugs. I decided that was the way to go. We went to our local hardware store and got a package of carpet tacking strips. There were three four-foot sections to a package for around $12.00. This would be enough, as I mainly wanted the full length on the top of the rug and the bottom. For the sides, I used a smaller piece and centered in the middle of the side length.


As you can see from the photo, there are small tacks sticking up with a larger screw spaced evenly along the strip. You first have to level the strip and then screw the strip to the wall. Be careful when hanging your rug as the nails are sharp. Luckily, the nails are not very long which means they won't pop through the rug. There are plenty of them to keep the rug adhered. My husband and I hung the rug, first hanging the top of the rug, then pulling the rug straight and fastening to the strip along the bottom. At this point, the rug was hanging securely, but the sides were showing some slight ripples. The side pieces took care of that.

All in all, a very easy process!

2 comments:

Gayle said...

That's how I hang my rugs too and it works really well!

Julia said...

Thanks, a photo is a worth a thousand words. I love your garden rug. JB