DIY Doormat- COVID Style

Decorating can be pricey, and custom decor even more so. However, if you are like me, being stuck at home for the past four months (and counting) is really pressuring my “itch to switch”. A large doormat like the one I made could cost you in upwards of $30 plus shipping on Etsy. Now don’t get me wrong, those people deserve that money, because it requires a bit skill to do this right. If you follow my instructions and take your time, you can make your own mat for much much less depending on what you already have at home!

What you need

Coir doormat- I like the Ikea Trampa 2’x 2’11” and Ikea Trampa 1’4″x 2′ because the quality is great and they’re $10 and $5 respectively. Another option could be this one, easy pick up but $20.
Acrylic paint– I’ve used this brand twice now and it works perfectly. Once acrylic dries it becomes waterproof.
Small hard bristle brush
Stencil Vinyl – make sure you get this brand, it will make all the difference. I pictured the Cricut brand below and it does not work well for this.
Pins
Painter’s tape
SVG cut file or make your own on Cricut or Silhouette- I’ll link some of my designs below

How to:

Find your perfect design. At the bottom I will link some cute one’s I made on illustrator that can be used on Cricut or Silhouette
Measure out how big you need your design. If your design is bigger than your cutting mat then I suggest slicing your image at a good mid point. Cut on stencil vinyl setting.
Peel off the entire sheet of stencil vinyl. It is ok if the positive, AKA the words, stay on the page. just be careful not to loose the middle of letters like the “o”, “d”, “e”, etc.
Then place entire sheet on your rug. Make sure to place it centered both vertically and horizontally. As well as make sure if you had to split the image that you space that correctly.
Use pins and painters tape to hold down stencil and inside of letters to rug.
Take your brush and press paint down into rug. I like to lightly mark the stencil and then remove it and fill in the spaces without the stencil in place.
I like to saturate the paint so that no part of the coir shows where the design is. We have had a rug I made outside for 10 months and it hasn’t faded a bit, so I think that helps.
Finally, let dry and make sure to layer it on top of a larger woven rug right on your doorstep! This one would be great for the smaller coir mat.

My biggest advice to you, is TAKE YOUR TIME! If you are not confident in vinyl and moving it around, another way I’ve done this successfully is by using poster board and taping it down. I think the best trick is to make sure you lightly mark the stencil and then remove and fill it in. It’s easy to accidentally get paint under the stencil so I try to avoid doing that at all costs. Most important of all, have fun! And for those of you who aren’t crafty, I will link some cute rugs you can buy from the hard working peeps on Etsy!