So, I have this giant wall. Well, I have five giant, 2-story walls in my house, but today we are going to focus on one particular wall. I’ll never forget the first time I had friends over to our (then) new house, and one of them looked at it said and said, “How are you going to decorate that?”
Uh…well…hmmm…{blank stare}. The things you don’t think about when you are house shopping.
Six years later, I still had the same blank stare. Over the years, I did hang some random candle holders and an iron thingy that I found somewhere for half-off, but I never really liked it. It wasn’t me and it felt like something I just put there to have something to put there…because I did and it was.
After we had our walls painted white, I vowed to not put the random stuff back on the wall. But I did decide that I needed something giant on that giant wall. Maybe giant like the rug I’ve been coveting from Ikea? Sure, giant like that.
Okay, but let’s back up and talk about how this happened. Here’s something you guys need to know about me. I am not afraid of climbing up a ladder. But, I am TERRIFIED of climbing down a ladder. I mean, we are talking freezing up and not being able to move. I got stuck up on that ledge above my front door once, and my husband had to help me down. So, this whole hanging a 7 foot square rug on a 2-story wall above a staircase became a job for Tom.
Except for the heights, this was actually a pretty easy job (says the girl who watched from the safety of the floor). We bought a piece of wood trim and cut it to be a few inches shorter than the length of the rug. Then, Tom stapled it to the top/back of the rug.
Then, he had to climb up the ladder and find the studs on that giant wall. He likes to use masking tape to mark the location of the studs and then he draws a level line across them. We’ll talk next week about this thing we called “Ballard Overbuilt,” but I’m going to go ahead and point this out as a prime example.
After he found the location of the studs, he screwed through the rug and trim into the studs. You can see the screw heads if you look super close at the image below.
He also put a few screws into the bottom of the rug to help keep the kids from pulling on it when they are going up the stairs. We will probably have to adjust those screws as the rug gets settled and stretches a bit from hanging. It’s been there for almost a month and hasn’t sagged at all, though.
I am smitten with this rug and am delighted to use it to decorate such a large wall. I know that rugs and tapestries have been hung on walls since the beginning of time, but I love seeing a more contemporary rug hung in this way.
Do you have any giant walls in your home? How have you decorated them?
Love it. Funny thing. I bought this same rug from IKEA but it doesn’t have the colored border? I wish it did. Strange, I guess they made a couple versions of it.
Oh, really? I had no idea that they had one without the border. Luckily, the turquoise and green are my colors.
Oh, I figured it out! The square one has the border. The rectangle one doesn’t.
Love rugs as wall art. Looks awesome!
Thanks, Julia!
Fantastic! What a great way to use a cute rug. The scale and the bold print are perfect in that area.
I think the Ballard overbuild was a good thing to combat the weight of the rug and keep it from sagging. You guys were right on.
Very cool!
Yes! I think you are probably right on that. Thanks so much!
Happy New Year, it is 2019 soooo are they still hanging rugs on walls!!!
I have new home, with staircase, not a lover of gallery walls, but a
bold rug might do the trick. i see this one is from ikea, what is the material and weight of it?
I probably can find something pretty similar.
I love this idea! Looks great!
Thanks so much, Darnetha!
No, but I sure have a whole bunch of small broken-up-by-ill-placed-windows-walls! Love this!
Thanks! Any plans for those walls, Cathie?
Mostly, I try to work around them. Got any ideas?
We have a big wall that you see when you walk into our house. It’s landing to the top half of our stairs. It’s a taupy color. I stenciled it with a champagne color. I get tons of compliments on it.
Oh, I bet that looks great! I love a well-placed stencil.
LOVE the look!!!
I have a vaulted ceiling in my living room, so I found a large vertical art piece to emphasize the height. It makes me happy to see all the color it brings without painting the wall again. 🙂
Nice! You always have the best art pieces.
Such a great idea Lindsay! Thanks for the information and I love that rug!
Thanks, Summer!
Love it! Works really well 🙂
Thank you, Emma!
What a cool idea! Looks awesome. IKEA rules 🙂
Thanks so much!
There are many pieces in our home that people are shocked to realize are Ikea hacks like this. Why not??!! I don’t need brand names to make me feel better. Perfect example: TV stand for a 60″ LED? $40 Ikea glass top coffee table from Goodwill. Dark wood, look like it was made for it. Amazing. Great blog.
Nice score!
HOLY BATMAN that’s a cheap rug (not cheap looking..)!!! I love it, though!
Genius! I have that rug too… but it’s just on the ol’ ground 🙂
That is a really cool idea! Would’ve never tought of it!
-Monica
Shimmering Image
I have the same rug and love it. I’m getting ready to move to an apartment with carpeting though. Do you think the rug would be damaged from the hanging? I would want to use it again down the road if I was somewhere without carpet…
I would love to hang my 1940s Chimayo rug BUT I cannot stale it. It is a fragile family piece that is currently rolled up in it’s protective coating from he cleaners. It is woven wool and approximately 5 X 7 with fringe …any ideas?
Hi Roni-
There is a different way to hang something that’s more fragile. You can make a hanging pocket and hand stitch it onto your rug. Then, you slip a rod in the pocket and attach that rod to the wall. I think that’s how my MIL hangs her Turkish rugs on the wall.
Here’s an example of how to make that pocket: http://quilting.about.com/od/decoratingwithquilts/ss/quilt_sleeve.htm
I love the idea. What do you think of using fabric and trim boards such as in a picture?
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Ależ, tak, to miłość. W każdej jej odsłonie.Patrz, co święty Paweł nazywa miłością. POLFIC napisał.Wszyscy mówimy to samo, a każdy inaczej!I to jest najwyższa wartość człowieka.Przyjaciółko!
Hola Mire22,no tengas miedo, por lo que va a ocurrir en el año 2012, el miedo es que va a desaparecer en el año 2012,según los Mayas no es el fin del mundo, sino solo el fin de un dÃa galictico, el fin de un ciclo, un otro ciclo va a empezar. Según los Mayas, eso va a ser un ciclo muy diferente, se llam el 6. Sol y va a vivir la 6. rasa humana. Los Mayas nos dejarón una guia, su calendario, como guia espiritual para llegar a la “edad dorada”.Te recomendo el libro: “Las nueve revelaciones de Celestin”, de James Redfield,Aprende amar, y asà estas salvado.Henry