This DIY Doormat is so easy and looks professional. No one will ever believe you made this doormat yourself for less than $15!
At my front door I love to have a cute entrance as a welcome point into our home. I’ve had my current doormat for a couple years and with the weather conditions, the pups and all the traffic in and out, it has gotten very worn down over time.
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You know when you have a vision of what you’re looking for but you can’t find exactly that? I have been looking for a new doormat that was reasonably priced and would spruce up my front door and wasn’t finding exactly what I was looking for. So I had an idea… What if I made exactly what I wanted!
When I first started looking at doing this craft I was a little skeptical, but when I did it I couldn’t believe how well it turned out! It was easy and the final product looked incredible. Nobody will ever suspect your new doormat is homemade and cost you less than $15!
The steps I followed below are very simple and you do not need to be artistic to have a good result. If you are artistic then absolutely freehand the mat and then share some of your talent with me LOL! However these steps will take you through how to create a beautiful finished product with no artistic ability needed.
I purchased my doormat from Walmart for $10 however home renovation stores also have a selection of door mats.
This DIY doormat does not use a Cricut. Instead we start by finding a design we like online and printing it off. We will create our own stencil by using the xacto knife to trace along the edge!
Materials:
-Doormat
-Paintbrush (I used a thicker paint brush brush initially and and a thinner one for final touches)
-Paper/Printer/Computer
-Xacto Knife (to cut out stencil)
-Sewing pins
Instructions:
Step 1:
Choose the design you would like to have on your mat. I looked around on Pinterest for some ideas of front door mats (searched front door mat) until I found a design I wanted to use. I then went into canva (free design site!), opened a blank document, and then chose a font and typed what I wanted on my mat!
In Canva I used Abhaya Libre Extrabold for “Merry”, Playscript for “Christmas” which is my favorite font!, and then Arimo for “THE O’NEILL FAMILY”.
Note: You could also use just a word document, flip it to a landscape setting, and then type what you’re looking for there!
Step 2:
Print the design you have chosen on a piece of paper. You will want to make sure that you are printing it at a scale that you want on your doormat. Do you want the lettering to take up the whole mat? Then ensure your letter size reflects that. There may be a little trial and error here to get the correct size.
Step 3:
Using the paper cutter trace the outside of your design. The goal on this step is to be left with negative space and to essentially create a stencil. If you are cutting something but don’t want the whole space inside to be painted (for example I want the outline of the “o” not an entirely filled in black oval), then also cut out the piece you want to leave as the mat color.
Tip: If you are cutting out negative space (i.e. the inside of the “o”) keep track of what piece goes where in your masterpiece. I was left with the inside of the “e”, “h”, “s”,”a”, “s”, “O”, and “A”! They were all slightly different and I didn’t want to mix them up!
Step 4:
Use the sewing pins to pin down the stencil you created.
If you have a spot within your stencil that you want to pin down like the little island in my “h” and “a” use 2 or 3 pins! 1 pin is not enough. If you have 1 pin and start painting the paper starts to spin making it difficult to get the negative space you are looking for.
Step 5:
Paint in the stencil. I had the most success with a regular paintbrush. I just loaded the paintbrush with paint and dabbed in the stencil, I did not do strokes because I didn’t want to get under the stencil, so I only dabbed from above.
Depending on the look you are going for you most likely will have to do a couple coats. If you like a more faded style then one coat might be enough! I wanted a very concentrated black lettering with crisp lines. The first coat absorbed into the bristles of the doormat, so I let it seep in and then I repainted it again before removing the stencil.
Note: If the paper isn’t 100% pushed down and you are worried about the gap and paint seeping under the paper, don’t be! I thought I would have a fair amount of bleeding but I was surprised when I lifted the paper and there was no bleeding.
Step 6:
Remove the pins and paper and then admire your creation!
Tip: Before you call the project totally done and start cleaning up, place your doormat on the floor. This will allow you to see the doormat how you will look at it every day. I noticed when I did this the first time some of the spots I painted were a little lacking in paint. I free handed with a thin paintbrush and dabbed on a little more paint in the places I felt I needed it.
How did this DIY doormat turn out for you? What design did you do on your mat! Let me know in the comments!
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