IKEA Signe (washable) cotton mats fit our motorhome a treat! (1 Viewer)

juwlz

Free Member
Sep 30, 2008
94
71
Berkshire, UK
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4,219
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Coachbuilt
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Since 2003
We have a bit of layered flooring solution in our 24 year old Talisman. It dates from the days when 'vans had carpet everywhere you look, and it's that lovely loopy stuff that attracts and grabs dog hairs a treat. So, we've protected the carpet (at least the stuff that's on the floor) with pimple backed clear vinyl floor runners (from B&Q, and cut to shape years ago). But we're not big fans of walking on that in bare feet, so for some time I've had some cushioned stuff on top of that, but it started to perish some time ago and needed replacement.

Last time I was in my local IKEA, I saw a bin full of Signe cotton rugs for £1.90 each. At that price, I figured I'd take a punt on 4 of them, fully expecting to have to adjust them to fit. They come in various colours of stripes (all based on a cream background), but as we have a blue interior, I went with the navy blue ones. As it happens, to my mind that's the smartest colour too, which is a bonus.

I've never been a fan of tassels on rugs - they get grubby, catch in a vacuum cleaner, etc. - so I did some mods before using them.

Firstly, I'm glad to say that unlike older variations of these rugs, which had were knotted in clumps at the ends, these have a sort of continuous crocheted end, and the tassels themselves fold under nicely. (With the old style, I'd probably just have cut off the tassels and hemmed the ends instead.) With these, I cut the tassels shorter, pressed them under, and stitched them down, and then stitched some bias binding over the ends of the tassels.
IMG_20170528_111306.jpg IMG_20170528_111346.jpg IMG_20170528_115324.jpg

Pic 1: Modified end (LHS) and original tassels (RHS)
Pic 2: Underneath - bias binding covering the cut down tassels (on RHS)
Pic 3: Shortening the tassels

We have a number of island table legs mounting holes, but typically tend to use one of those more than the others, so I decided to only cut a hole in one rug, deliberately off-centre longitudinally (on the grounds that done that way, you have more options for arranging where the hole sits). I figured we can always swap the rugs around if we want to use a different one.

To do that, I started by adding a generous square of iron-on interfacing to help stop the rug from wanting to fray where I cut it, and also stitched that around the edges for extra security.

I then drew around the top of the hole cap from the 'van to get the position for the hole, and then drew a slightly larger circle around that (using a mug that was about 1-1.5cm larger in diameter), to allow a bit of leeway, and because the hole would become a little smaller when bound. A sharp knife and some scissors later, I had my hole. I zigzag stitched it to reinforce it and stop fraying, and then used some more bias binding to give a clean edge. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good, if I do say so myself, and the slightly "rustic" feel to the rug makes it a bit forgiving of a less than perfect finish.

Front: IMG_20170529_110104.jpg

Back: IMG_20170529_110117.jpg

And as a bonus, the rugs turned out to be the perfect width for the main "corridor" without any adjustment, and two of them fit the length nicely. At the rear of the 'van (kitchen / washroom end), they're just the right length to work very well turned through 90 degrees (with one of them tucked under our "door mat").

Not bad for less than a tenner and a bit of time. Robust enough not to crinkle up at the lest provocation, easy to pick up to shake loose dirt off, and easily washable if necessary. At that price, I can live with the stripes running in different directions in different parts of the 'van.

IMG_20170529_110452.jpg IMG_20170529_110418.jpg IMG_20170529_110406.jpg

Julie
 

Hollyberry

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Apr 24, 2011
5,518
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New Forest.
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4yrs
You won't be able to wear them out. I think they're on a par with cockroaches ( but nicer) in that they'll survive a nuclear apocalypse!
I had several in the motorhome , even putting them on seats to prevent cat claws catching. Yours look very smart.
 
Sep 30, 2008
340
509
Funster No
4,226
Love IKEA especially the the part you mooch through for ex display or damaged stuff.

Our 17 year old van is having a cheap and cheerful facelift, curtesy of IKEA and B&M
 

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