How to Hang a Large, Heavy Rug

I'm pretty lucky to be able to say that I grew up around the world. Along the way, my family picked up some priceless objects that we'll take with us wherever we go, and it's pretty amazing to think that my (eventual) kids, their kids, and their kids' kids, could continue to hold onto the stuff that we've garnered over the years. I think that's an appropriate amount of gushiness for one post, so moving on.

My parents bought this rug when we lived in Brazil, and when I moved out of their house after college a few years ago, I persuaded (begged) them to let me take it with me. Being the amazingly generous people that they generally are, they let me drag it up to Arlington. My initial intention was to use it on the floor, you know, as rugs tend to be used, but the more I lived with it the more I wanted to see it up on the wall. In my last apartment, I ended up hanging it behind my bed as a pseudo headboard. I hung it with a curtain rod, which looked admittedly janky because 1) it wasn't the nicest curtain rod and 2) the rug was entirely too heavy to be supported by the rod without bowing.

When I moved into my current apartment, I decided that I'd figure out a more appropriate way to hang it up that would both properly support it and look decent. I googled options for hanging heavy rugs, like anyone would. Most of what I found involved using carpet tack strips--thin boards of wood with sharp tacks sticking from them, generally used for carpeting--but they didn't seem sturdy enough to hold up the rug, and I was afraid that all of those tacks would damage it somehow.  I moseyed on over to the Home Depot to loiter about and see what I could put together. I came across some PVC pipe and came up with a solution that is super easy, super quick, and on trend.

Here's what you'll need for this DIY:

-A heavy (or light, really) rug that you'd like to hang. Mine is about 15 pounds. -PVC pipe (as far as I can tell, these are only sold in 10 foot lengths?). I used a 3/4 inch pipe. -A saw to cut the PVC pipe -Twine -Screws -An electric screwdriver

1) Cut the PVC pipe to the width of your rug. I cut mine slightly shorter than the width to ensure that it wouldn't be visible underneath the rug. You might want to clean the pipe with Lysol wipes before touching it to your awesome rug... those hardware stores aren't necessarily the cleanest places.

2) Cut 2-3 pieces of twine to about double the length of the pipe. The more pieces you use, the sturdier it'll be.

3) String the twine through the pipe. It'll be easiest if you tie a washer or a screw to the end of all 2-3 pieces and drop the weight through the pipe.

4) Place the pipe, with twine threaded through, at the center of the rug, and fold the rug over. 

5) Tie the loose ends of the twine into knots. I used two pieces of twine, so I tied two knots. Make sure to tie the knots as close to the pipe as possible (i.e don't give the twine any slack) because when you hang it up, it'll stretch out quite a bit. After tying the knots, pull the twine through so that the knots are on the inside of the pipe, unless you want them on the outside.

6) Hang it up! If your rug is pretty heavy, you'll want to either drill a screw into a stud, or use a drywall anchor for some extra strength. One screw should do it!

Unfortunately, my rug was still weighing down the pipe quite a bit in the middle, which caused it to sag a little. I drilled another screw into the wall where I wanted the pipe to rest, and just sat the rug/pipe on top of that screw. Pretty simple.

This seems like such a long post for such a simple project.