How to Hang a Rug

On our recent family vacation to Jordan, I splurged on a few absolutely beautiful Bedouin-made rugs. This rug is hand woven from camel hair and has 9 stitches per centimeter, gah it’s so pretty (and Scarlet approved of the colors). Being that I cherish this rug like it’s my second child, I couldn’t let anyone do something so crazy as walk on it, could I?

No, I just could not allow that. Scarlet has a yellow-and-pink room, and being that she talks about Jordan every single day of our lives, it just made sense to hang it on her wall. But how does one hang a rug? You could purchase a fancy rug-hanging kit, or you just DIY it with this simple solution I came up with. Learn my easy method for how to hang a rug…

How to Hang a Rug

First you’ll want to get a cafe rod or sash rod curtain hanging system. You could also use a dowel, but the included hanging hardware in a kit like this makes hanging the rug much easier, and these kits only run a few dollars at your local linen store.

Here is how we want our rod to sit along the top of the rug.

Gather fabric scraps about two times the width of your rod. Use a heavier weight fabric or canvas to ensure your rug hanging apparatus lasts.

Fold each scrap in thirds lengthwise.

Finish the short edges with a serger or a hem, then fold each scrap in half and sew together to create a pocket for the rod to slide through. Don’t worry about sizing it perfectly, we will do that in a second.

Slide your rod through a pocket and mark a sewing line, this will be your guide to sewing the pockets onto the rug so they are nice and snug to the rod:

Mark where each rod pocket will go on your rug with a pin or air erasable marker, then hand sew the pockets to the rug (or have your husband do it) along the lines you marked. Sew only through the back of the rug, making sure your stitches don’t show on the front of the rug. You want the pocket towards the top of the rug, and the sewn edge towards the bottom.

If you have a large rug or a floppy rug, you may want to sew rod pockets along the bottom as well and attach it to the wall at the bottom and top (or even add another in the middle – my rug is only about 3’X5′ so I just did a top rod, but see how the bottom is flipping out a wee bit? So I think I will add another rod.).

Attach your hanging hardware to the wall.

Slip your rod onto the hardware.

Done!

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9 Comments

Cat

Often times I’ve heard you should have a rod at the bottom – not necessarily to attach to the wall, but to help weigh down the rug (and straighten it). I like your technique with the loops. Might consider that for something I need to hang. Thanks!

Reply
Vanessa Gaspar

I have a rug that my husband’s mother gave me years ago, it´s very beautiful but I never new what to do with it, it being so delicate. I’m hanging it for sure now, it looks easy enough to do myself. Thanks

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Ellen

OMG, I’ve just spent the last month thinking about hanging a rug on one of our walls! Thank you so much for writing a post about this, so I know I’m not going do destroy a beautiful rug my man’s grandmother made. 🙂

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Pat

I’ve been trying to figure out how to hang a decorative table runner on a wall, and didn’t know how to attach it to a rod without using staples or something “damaging”, and you solved it for me, thanks!

Reply
Merrellyn

I have a valuable Chinese silk rug that should be hung, but I was afraid to sew on it. Thanks for posting this. Now I know what to do to avoid damaging it.

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