Easy Dollhouse Rug DIY + Rug Roundup
Just like a real home, rugs add a great finishing touch to a dollhouse! But unlike a real home, you are not limited by budget or even sizes available! Using a simple at home printer, you can create life-like rugs for your dollhouse in minutes.
Materials
Home printer
Ruler and X-acto knife, or sharp scissors
Craft Glue, optional for making thicker rugs
How to Make Dollhouse Rugs
The first step is the most fun part—find a rug you love online! Who doesn’t love online shopping? Take away all your usual budget constraints and head to your favorite online home retailer. Most retailers will include a full, flat-down view of their rugs. Download the image to your computer.
I usually print off a couple of test rugs in various sizes to see what I like best. You can scale your image in your printer dialog box by selecting Scale: [Enter a Percentage]. Depending on your rug image size, you may need to select a different scale per rug. For these test prints, use standard printer paper. This is also a great way to try out different rugs in your dollhouse space if you are undecided between designs.
Printer Settings for Rugs
After you have decided on a scale for your rug image (usually scaled by percentage), you need to check the print quality settings available on your printer. This will look slightly different based on your computer and printer. But typically you can navigate to “advanced settings” through the printer dialog box (the box that appears after you hit ‘print’). Find a setting for print quality and select “High” or “Best.” I find a noticeable difference in color and detail when I forget this setting. It’s important!
To achieve a life-like look for your dollhouse rug, you need Velour Paper to print on. This is 8.5 x 11 sized paper that is thicker and fuzzy on one side. It is very printer friendly, especially for at-home printers. Load your Velour Paper into your printer so that the image is printed on the fuzzy side. This special paper is an easy way to get a realistic look for dollhouse rugs for DIYers!
If desired, you can make the rug appear a little thicker by gluing another sheet of Velour Paper to the back of your rug (fuzzy sides facing out, or fuzzy sides facing away from each other.) Simple craft glue like tacky glue can be spread in a very thin layer to adhere the two sheets together.
Trim the excess margins of the rug so that no white space is left around the rug. You can use a pair of sharp scissors, or my personal favorite method for trimming paper is a metal ruler and X-Acto knife combo. After trimming, your rug is ready!
My Favorite Rugs for Dollhouses
With millions of rugs out there on the internet, where do you start your search? I have compiled a mini-round of some recent rug favorites to get you started.
Boho Rugs from Anthropologie
Coastal Rugs from Serena & Lily
Earthy Rugs from West Elm
Happy fake rug shopping!
