Have you ever painted your own door mat? Did you know you could? With Ontario being in lockdown for months now, I’ve had to come up with creative solutions for outdoor decorating and I also wanted to keep myself busy.
The first outdoor DIY project I pulled together was this BoHo Inspired Spring Wreath that has promininently found a place by my front door. What I needed was a coordinating door mat and with stores closed, I decided to do it myself.
DIY Painted Door Mats Are Possible!
All you need for this project is:
- 1 outdoor utility mat in your desired size (black)
- Painters tape in desired thickness
- 2 cans of contrasting outdoor spray paint (not black)
With a little Google snooping, it wasn’t hard to figure out there is really no harm in using spray paint on a synthetic door mat. The key is to ensure you’re using proper exterior supplies. For the mat itself, I had this 2×3 ft black utility mat laying around my garage. If you don’t have one, they’re cheap and easy to find.
For a design, I wanted to do a gingham pattern to match the bow on my wreath. It’s a simple pattern as demonstrated by Damask Love, which I adapted for a floor mat.
I purchased some 2″ think painters tape from Dollarama and two cans of Beauti-Tone spray paint in contrasting colours. I like this brand because it can be used on multiple surfaces.
Let’s Get Painting!!
Check out the quick 30-second video below for a full demonstration. Or, follow these steps!
Step One:
- Prep your space. Make sure you’re in a well ventilated area whenever using spray paint. To protect your surface, you may want to lay down a tarp or other covering.
Step Two:
- Ensure your mat is free of debris. If your mat has a rubber edge, tape over that. If there is no edge, tape around the border and extend the tape past the mat so you can hold it down firmly.
Step Three:
- Starting away from the edge, lay tape across the mat horizontally leaving an even amount of space between strips. With 2″ tape, I left about 2″ between. You can either measure your tape lines or, if you’re like me, you might prefer to eyeball-it. If that’s the case, I’d recommend you alternate the strips from top to bottom so you can even it out as you reach the middle.
Step Four:
- Using the brightest colour (in my case White), generously spray paint the exposed mat. For this first coat, you’ll want good coverage so that it will show through your cross-section coat of paint. Consider painting at least 2-3 coats.
- Leave overnight to dry completely, then remove paint tape.
Step Five:
- Starting at the edge, lay tape across the mat vertically using the same method used in Step Three.
Step Six:
- Using the darker colour (in my case Espresso), lightly spray the exposed mat. For this step, one coat is all you need! But if there are any uneven or uncovered bits you may want to fill those in.
- Allow to dry for 1-2 hours, then remove paint tape.
Step Seven:
- You will want to allow your mat to completely dry before you put it outside. Leave it overnight for best results and ta-da, you’re done with your painted door mat!
Watch the Painted Door Mat Video
I hope you enjoyed this DIY! If you try it, let me know how it goes 🙂 I love reading feedback in the comments.
To add a little “pop” to this look, you could also add a printed coir mat in the middle, as shown here.
Have fun with it and enjoy your outdoor space!
