Jaco, Costa Rica: A Hotel Restaurant’s Outdoor Area Rug

How to make an outdoor area rug of canvas, or floor cloth, especially a LARGE canvas rug, requires the artisan to consider what the rug will endure once installed.

Point in case: We are excited to be making our first restaurant canvas rug, here in Costa Rica, which is located on the roof top level of a great hotel in Jaco. The roofing material of the restaurant is, coincidentally, canvas. It is otherwise an open-air restaurant, which means when it rains, and rains hard as it is wont to do in the tropics, the interior gets wet or at least, damp, hence, a concrete floor.

Therefore, it was mandatory to make certain the finished piece withstands not only heavy restaurant traffic and the inevitable spills but also weather conditions, as well.

This project measuring 7’6” x 16’6” has four separate pieces of the canvas material carefully joined together. A primer was first applied on one side of each of the four pieces, then, sewn to make the finished sized rug. Another primer applied to the underside, followed with two coats of base coats. Once the bamboo and basket weave designs were painted, the fun part, instead of the usual three coats of polyurethane protective coating, we applied four…on top and a coat on the under side of the rug to ensure it endures the elements.

This large restaurant dining area was in dire need of color and intimacy. I can imagine customers making reservations for the “rug room.” Well, maybe that is a bit silly, but the canvas outdoor area rug will make a dramatic change in the ambiance of the hotel’s restaurant.

Now that the prep, sewing, design painted, and protective coating applied, the restaurant’s rug will cure for several days. This canvas rug has to be ready for heavy foot traffic from day one; 'tis best to let the varnish dry as long as possible before installing.

We did a test run with a smaller sample to see how well the putty we use would secure the rug to the concrete floor and it works very well. I know the owner will be pleased with his new handmade rug. He came up with a bright lively idea and said, “Don’t be afraid of color.” Well, that has never been my problem!

The hotel’s restaurant outdoor area rug will be installed soon with photos posted on our interior design for home and hotel page.

 

 

Canvas Floor Cloths Classic Design w/ Splash of Color for Kitchen Rug

In an all white kitchen, including white floors and white cabinetry, it is clean, crisp… and boring. Patricia's kitchen isn't all white nor is it boring but she had a great idea for a canvas floor cloth: a kitchen rug of black and white checks with an added hint of color to the white. The idea originated from a ceramic tea pot.

Different painting techniques can be applied when creating a checkered design. For crisp clean lines, tape is placed along the edges before applying the paint; such an application does not look hand painted. For this kitchen rug, however, the client wanted a hand painted look for her canvas floor cloth. I put a water-base coat on the canvas before applying the black paint in order to produce a streaked effect. Then, on the white checks, painted an extra coat of white and placed just a tinge of different colors in the corners.

For the final protective coat, the oil-based polyurethane which I normally use adds a yellowish hue, which in most cases actually brings out a lovely tone to the colors. In this case, we wanted a pure white color to match the kitchen and instead applied a water-based polyurethane finish. This goes on clear and retains the crisp white color.

The final design turned out quite beautiful for this custom painted canvas floor cloth, the first of my checkered design kitchen rugs. The photo here depicts the hint of color used in this classic design.

Rug canvas floor cloths are a good choice for a kitchen rug because they withstand heavy foot traffic and are easy to maintain. Anything that spills onto a canvas kitchen rug, from food to water, is simply wet wiped clean… a big time and energy saver! If disinfecting is required, a small spray of a pine cleaner will do the job.

Patricia now has a stunning hand painted canvas floor cloth for her kitchen rug, a runner actually, that adds an interesting design feature to her now even lovelier white kitchen.  Enjoy, Patricia!

Hotel Décor Costa Rica: Decorating with Hand Painted Canvas

Upon arrival at Canciones del Mar Hotel located on Jaco Beach, I had to take a moment to ponder the ocean, directly in front of the hotel on the beach. Large, perfect tubular waves crashing onto the sand are of particular interest to me because when not watching the surf I enjoy riding them! This, however, was a business trip and off I went to meet with the owner about hotel décor for his pretty place on the beach with my hand painted canvas rugs.

The owner of the hotel, Peter, had seen my canvas rugs at a retail location in Jaco and wanted to incorporate the rugs with a recent remodel of the hotel. “We’ll start with a few and see where we go from there,” he said. I had brought several samples, mostly to show the different sizes. It often helps the customer to have sample rugs thrown about to picture where they will work and look best.

I suggested we review my website to look over some existing designs. When we came to the canvas wall decor page, he questioned, rather surprised,” You can put these on the walls?” I then showed him the custom wall hanging entitled Cahuita Life and he became so excited, "I want these! I want jungle; I want waves!"

We started out in the lobby to determine the size and design for a canvas rug. The hotel has quite a bit of bamboo construction and Peter liked the bright and cheery yellow bamboo design. Thereafter, we went on to measure for all the hotel’s guest rooms, with an order for canvas wall hangings depicting jungle and waves and bright yellow bamboo canvas rugs for the floors.

Next, we came to the tree house, made entirely of bamboo with a thatched roof. This unique guest quarters overlooks a tropical garden surrounding a small dining area. Peter wanted a canvas rug with a painted jungle scene (my jungle rug design was the inspiration) to set off this lovely area. This area rug will add color to the room and tie into the colorful plants below.

Finally, we came to the rooftop restaurant and main dining area. The flooring is decorative cement, monotone and cold. Here, Peter wanted a large canvas rug in the center to bring more warmth and a cozier feeling to this area. I suggested if he  wanted to include the bamboo motif that it be painted along the border with a weave design in the center. The dining room rug will be placed under two sets of dining tables and chairs. My biggest challenge yet: a large 7’6” x 16’6” hand painted canvas rug. Now I really need a bigger work area! This is getting wild!

 

I am thrilled to provide this beautiful jewel of a hotel with my hand painted canvas rugs and wall decor throughout the premises. This will be a showcase I will be proud to display. The restaurant rug in particular will work beautifully providing the true versatility of canvas rugs in Costa Rica as an interior design application. Photos forthcoming!

There is a good reason that I haven't had a chance to blog for awhile, fortunately it's because we are so busy working with interior design and interior decorators of Costa Rica!

Last week I had gone to Tamarindo with the hopes of installing two 7 ft x 10 ft striped canvas rugs in a condo, decorated by an interior design company based in the area. I was able to see the condo but the place needed to be cleaned up before the rugs could be laid out.

Sometimes Interior Decorators are given carte blanche for decorating with just a color guide. This particular customer preferred the use of chocolate browns and beiges within his new home. As the walls were beige and the tile floors were tan, this left a void for any color. The designer elected to incorporate the browns and beiges with a subtle grayish blue and a dark marine blue in the hand painted canvas rugs we made to add a touch of color to the room. It looked very masculine yet light and airy. The variation of blues were subtle enough to compliment the tones of the browns providing a much-needed touch of color.

I have been promised photos of the canvas rugs once they are installed. It was interesting to see how this interior designer works and am excited to see the finished products installed, which I hope to share soon.

That same day, upon returning from Tamarindo in Guanacaste, the northern part of Costa Rica and a five-hour drive, I had just enough time to shower and dress for Tamarindo Pacific Interiors' 12th Anniversary party!

Canvas rugs with a bamboo design and a very interesting sliced bamboo display provided an arresting effect to the Oriental theme of the party. It was great fun explaining, "I make hand painted canvas rugs," and to show people unfamiliar with this type of rug. I now know I have to stand in the middle of a canvas rugs as I talk, because people really don't think they are made to stand or walk on!

It has been two years from the time I made my first canvas rug. Canvas rugs now grace hotels and homes all over Costa Rica. I feel grateful for the young, interior design professionals and decorators with whom I work; they are so willing to try new concepts thus giving me the opportunity to work with them making unique creations for their clientel.