Welcome Home Wednesday: custom painted doormat

Your front door can go a long way toward making a home feel welcome, and this customized doormat is the perfect first step. This one was designed for an initial but, of course you could do any design. Other easy concepts are stripes, diamonds or checkers. You can also do holiday or seasonal designs.

Materials:
family initial stencil
manila folder
yardstick
pencil
coir doormat
low-tack tape
Krylon indoor/outdoor – satin Italian olive
Krylon indoor/outdoor – satin Oxford blue
old newspapers
utility knife

1. Print a family initial (or fun words) using a bold font and enlarge the letter so that it is approximately 6″ tall.

2. To make the stencil, tape the piece of paper with the letter on it to a manila folder. Trace around the letter with a permanent marker– the ink will bleed through the paper, leaving an outline on the folder. Cut out the letter (use a utility knife to cut out the inside of the letter).

2. Tape down the letter on the mat where you want it,placing the tape on the back of the letters. Don’t forget to tape down the inside of the letters you cut out, if you need them.

3. To add stripes, apply 2 rows of tape to the doormat, 2″ from the top and 1″ apart. Repeat this across the bottom of the mat, using a yardstick to help get the stripes straight or making the lines slightly askew. Cut away the blue tape where the lines intersect one another.

4. Tape off the rest of the mat with old newspapers, so you will get paint only where you want it. Press down firmly on the tape before spray-painting to ensure that it has adhered to the mat.

5. Working on old newspapers and in a well-ventilated area (outside is best), stand above and at least 12″ from the doormat and spray-paint the mat, being careful not to get the paint under the taped area (standing directly above the mat works best). Allow to dry, then remove tape.