Cutting a (Seagrass) Rug

I'm sure you've been wondering what I'm going to do about the seagrass rug that goes all the way over the wall where my new bookcases and window seat are going to be built.  This is a rug I bought on ebay from Natural Home Rugs for about $250, including shipping.  They also do custom sizes but when I inquired about something custom in a slightly smaller size, the price was about $800. 

I'd love to be able to get a sweet little Persian number for the room but with two bathrooms and a kitchen ahead of me, it's not in the budget right now.  I don't want to spend anything I don't HAVE to right now so I thought I'd try cutting it down on my own.

Here's how it went: 

These particular rugs have a rubber backing that prevents the rug from slipping.  That probably doesn't make rugs from this maker the greenest option but it also helps protect the floor.  I remember having a coir rug from Conran's back in the day that really chewed up the hardwood floor in my apartment.  Oops.

The largest cabinet depth is going to be 18 inches so I decide I'll take the same amount off the rug.  I measured in 18 inches from the end and used my 4-foot level to connect my marks.

Once that was done, I used a box cutter to cut through the rubber backing.

By folding the rug along that cut, I could then cut through the fibers of the rug without cutting through into the rug itself.

I then put a bead of Gorilla glue along the newly cut edge and smooshed it in to prevent the edge from fraying.

Now we have to get the binding off.

Get out the handy dandy seam ripper and go to work.  There's no way I can sew the binding back on but I think glue will do the trick.

I replaced the binding over the cut edge and put a good dose of Gorilla glue on the rug as well as the back of the binding.  I'm sure hot glue would work just as well but I usually burn myself when I use it.

Press the binding down firmly just until the glue is starting to ooze out.

I used a board with some paint cans to keep weight on the edge for a few hours.

At the corner, the binding folds over and gets glued to the back. 

And voila!

If your rug has a mitered edge, you would have to sew a portion of the binding from the side edge to make it long enough to fold over on to the back.  Once the front is dry, glue the binding to the back of the rug.

And here's the new finished edge.  This back edge of the carpet won't get much traffic but even without it being sewn down, I think it's adhered well enough to stand up to traffic.