DIY Your Own Doormat With These 11 Free Printables

When you invite somebody over to your house the first thing they usually see is your doormat. It’s the welcoming sign to anyone dropping off packages or the neighbor who stops by to borrow some sugar. That’s why I’ll never understand why so many doormats are, well, boring! 

Stores sell the same old doormats so it’s hard to find one that truly reflects your personality. Lucky for you, it’s not difficult to make one yourself! It’s a great opportunity to show off your personality and reflect your personal style. 

Wondering where to begin? This tutorial from Simply Self Storage is a step-by-step guide to making your own doormat. It includes detailed instructions with visuals, as well as my favorite part: 11 printables to use as stencils. There are so many options to choose from, from the basic “Live Laugh Love,” to the more playful “The Password is Guacamole.” 

Once you choose your stencil and gather all of your materials you will need to cut out the stencil. Now, this can be tricky. Those not experienced with an exacto knife might want to pick the larger, blockier designs first. 

When cutting, you’ll want to cut through the stencil AND the tape, but avoid cutting through your mat. This isn’t too difficult but does take some finesse. The straight lines will be easier to cut out than cursive designs, so plan accordingly. 

Below, I’ve included a list of materials and basic instructions for making your own DIY doormat. Follow these steps and soon you’ll your very own custom piece of outdoor art. Happy creating! 

Materials You Will Need: 

Blank coir mat (standard outdoor mat) 

Outdoor acrylic paint 

Foam paint brushes 

Exacto knife 

Cardstock 

Painter’s Tape 

Pins 

Printer 

And a downloaded stencil! 

1. Choose Your Design and Print it Out

2. Tape Your Mat Securely

3. Arrange the Stencil on Your Mat

4. CAREFULLY Cut Out Your Design

5. Paint Several Coats

6. Let Dry and Reveal Your Design

7. Enjoy Your Doormat!

Chalk Painted Octopus

Who doesn't love a little octopus? I picked up this wooden guy at Home Goods awhile back when I was starting to pull things together for my kiddos shared bathroom and hid it away for a rainy day. 

Once I painted their bathroom, the current color of Guy, the octopus, wasn't what I wanted (I had always planned to paint it anyway), so I quickly slapped a coat of WHITE chalk paint on it...

and then another. After it was fully dry, I quickly sanded down the edges with an electric sander. No wax or poly was used on guy, so this project was quickly finished and hung in their bathroom. Isn't he cute?! So glad the warm weather is back, it means paint dries faster!

Tiny Chair Makeover

I've had these tiny metal chairs, from IKEA, for a few years now and in their current home on the bookshelf, I noticed that they didn't stand out since they blended in with their background. 

A quick coat of white spray paint and a little roughening up with a sanding block and these tiny chairs have embraced their easy makeover. 

If you have items in your home that just don't seem to stand out or you wish were a different color, don't get rid of them, give them a tiny makeover first and see if you fall in love with them all over again!

Guest Bathroom Fix

I've wanted to paint our guest bathroom for quite sometime and with the flock of guests coming to visit in 2016, I took a couple of hours and finally tackled it! 

The bathroom is a bit small which is why I chose to paint one single stripe instead of the entire bathroom. Since this room is in the basement, there are no windows which means, no natural light. 

I didn't go the typical horizontal stripe route but instead brought the stripe across the entire bathroom, and up onto the ceiling, like a rainbow. 

The taping was done quickly and I've a bit of practice on painting walls with all of our moving around...so I ran a quick light coat of the original builders paint color along the inside of the tape seam, where the stripe would go. After letting that dry completely, I pulled out my roller and got to work. I used two coats because I liked how it looked but probably could've gotten away with just one.

I didn't fuss much around the toilet, just took off the top lid and covered the tank with a trash bag. Also for ease of repainting or if I decided I just didn't like the look after I was done...while taping, I kept a border around the trim, which also means I didn't have any paint running onto my trim or crazy touch ups next to the tile and I love the look of it!

I ran the vent cover through the dishwasher, hung the curtain back up and re accessorized. 

The little shelving rack above the toilet I picked up from World Market and it's the perfect place to hold washcloths within reach and also bottles of whatever guests bring with them. The counter space is a bit slim with just one sink, so I wanted to keep in mind that my guests would need somewhere to put their items.

 New towels are folded neatly under the sink along with a large apothecary jar filled with all sorts of hotel shampoos and such. I hope our guests will feel at home in this small but very useful space!

Paint Color : Gray Frost D57-3

Playroom Makeover

Our basement playroom was in need of a little

pizzazz, so out came the painters tape and all the 

leftover paint that has been used around our home.

Here is the wall...

"Before"

...and here is what I taped out. I used a large level to

add marks on the wall and then taped along the wall,

matching up to the pencil marks (making sure I would 

be covering them with paint).

I knew I wanted the kitchen in the right corner, so

decided to leave that blank...

A chalkboard spot for drawing on the left, I painted

over every section twice before peeling off the tape.

The yellow spot is a little too pale for my taste but 

it's where the magnetic board is hung with the kids

fridge magnets below in a basket. 

So a few hours of taping one day, painting and 

reorganizing the toys the second day and now 

there is a little more cheer in our dark basement!

"After"

DIY Magnetic Chalkboard

If you're not a fan of a messy fridge and you have

a blank wall just begging to be beautified, a DIY 

magnetic chalkboard just might be in order.

My dear hubs doesn't like clutter (which is why

we are a perfect match) and so, to drive this DIY to

the finish line...I started to "clutter" up the space where

I wanted the magnetic chalkboard to go, by taping

the kids artwork and school papers to the wall with

Washi Tape...it worked!

Shopping List:

2-1X4 Pine Fence Boards

3X2' Sheet of 1/4" thick Aluminum

Black Chalkboard Paint

(Leftover) White Paint

He started by cutting the fence boards down to size 

and adding angles for the corners. Clamped it all 

together and then painted the metal board with several

layers of Chalkboard Paint. The frame was painted 

white with some leftover paint. The magnetic

chalkboard is held behind the frame with metal 

brackets on  each corner and he also taped around the 

board, so the back would be smooth. Heavy duty metal

hangers hang this heavy duty project straight into

the studs. We had the metal filing baskets and added 

them to the wall for extra school papers.

The frame size is 42-3/4" X 31" but you can

customize it to fit your space.

The perfect way to organize all the papers and crap 

from collecting on the counter, yipee!

Furniture Makeover - Summer Porch Yellow

Warm weather means that I can paint again, yippee!

I've been wanting to give this piece of furniture

a facelift since we moved to VA last year. 

A bit banged up and scratched with moving

but it's still a great piece that sits nicely on 

our stairway landing.

Our walls are grey (darker in the main part of the

house, the photos were taken in our sunroom) and

the yellow pop on the stairway will be a nice addition

to our family sunflower canvas.

I found this scrumptious yellow at AC Moore, it's 

called Summer Porch, by FolkArt Home Decor Chalk.

I used about half of the bottle with two coats for this

project. I'm not the best painter but I like to tackle

projects and get them done and am very happy

with the end result of this one!

Two coats with two different brushes...

I waited a day in between coats since I painted

during nap time but the paint was very quick to dry.

A different day, I pulled the sander out and quickly

edged up my piece, letting the brown pop through

in various places.

Next the Polycrylic, this was very easy to apply

but you need to make sure you don't put too much

on your brush or you'll get unwanted drips

(which can be sanded off, thankfully, oops!)

Two coats of Poly, in two days...again at naptime.

I wanted to paint the drawer pull black but only

had chalkboard paint on hand...I used two nails 

poked through a piece of cardboard to hold my drawer

pull away from any surfaces. The bottom two

photos are what it looked like before. The top pic 

is right after I sprayed, still wet...

Next the drawer, I didn't paint the bottom, since I

knew I was going to line it with something. Found 

this super cute, inexpensive grey and white chevron

drawer liner at Target. 

I unrolled it and folded it over in the corner to create

a cutting crease, pulled it out and slid my scissors

up the folded line. Before taking off the backing,

I made sure it fit inside. Just two small trims, peeled

off the back and stuck it inside. 

I'm in love with my little yellow table, 

isn't it sweet?...

DIY Frame and Valentine Mantle Decor

I asked my dear hubby to whip up another project

that's been floating around in my head. We needed 

something larger for our mantle that could be used 

to decorate with. After looking for frames at Michael's 

and a few other stores but not wanting to swallow 

the $100 or more price tag for the size we needed...

Two pieces of fence boards from Home Depot were

snatched up instead and this is what the hubs made 

that I painted with Americana Decor Chalk Paint.

 Just a simple square but it adds a bit of height

and will be so fun to switch up for all the different 

holidays this year, can't wait to continue

the crafting projects!! 

Here's our mantle this year for Valentine's Day.

Share the love and link your Valentine projects

or decor below in the comments!

Valentine Heart Banner - Kid Craft

Got all four of my chickens involved in decorating this

year for February. I die cut out these hearts in white cardstock,

and let them go to town with craft paint and Q-Tips. 

Love those sweet little hands...

After the hearts were dry, a simple hole punch for

ease of threading bakers twine (or you can use yarn)

and then die cut letters to spell your desired phrase.

You can also use stickers or draw directly onto 

the dry painted hearts with a sharpie marker, 

if you don't have die cuts for lettering.

Happy Decorating!!

DIY Valentine Decor Amore

After taking down our Christmas decor, the house

felt a little barren and although I love a clean and

uncluttered house, I also love holidays!

We are lacking in the Valentine decor

department, so when I spotted these cool

metal letters at Michael's...I put them back.

Really. I did. I put them back and walked away.

Mainly because there wasn't an "o"...and then

I walked past the Valentine row and spotted 

the perfect "o", the red metal cookie cutter

heart. I quickly ran back and snatched up

my letters and then headed to Home Depot.

Happy girl, happy girl!!!

Picked up 3 fence panels since another project

is in my head, in the works.

Just a two foot section was cut for this craft.

It needed to stand up, so a piece of scrap wood, 

an angled cut & some screws fixed that.

Already had the pink Americana Decor chalk

paint on hand, so I quickly got to work painting.

Of course a coffee break between the two coats.

Finished up the edges with a bit of white chalk paint.

I used the two pots of paint to balance the board on while

spacing the letters and hot gluing. If you wait a couple of 

seconds, the glue is the perfect temperature to smear into

the cracks with your finger without losing layers of skin.

A quick cut with an exacto knife to remove any visible glue 

that seeped out from the tops of the letters and voila!

That's Amore!

Easy DIY Painted Stripe

Checking 'to do' items off our list, one of which

was touching up all the paint in our home. With little

fingers and tiny thrown toys at times, our walls had

a few dings that needed repaired and touched up. 

This dresser had one of those beloved dings on the 

top drawer and it has bothered me for over a year.

I already had the blue paint out to touch up the 

large horizontal stripe that goes around our sons room

and decided to 'fix' up their plain jane white dresser

from IKEA while I was at it.

I eyeballed my first tape line, then grabbed a ruler 

for the second to make sure I was even from each end.

A little hole filler - no sanding on anything - a foam

brush and paint. 

First coat...I waited until completely dry. I set a mini

fan in front of the dresser to help quicken my drying

time, since my todo list seemed miles long, isn't it 

always, haha!

Second Coat

and Third Coat...you can still see a bit of the ding

but it's not as noticeable now that the dresser is painted.

I wanted to make sure the paint would hold up to my boys,

hence the third coat.

 Peeled off the tape and am in LOVE with the new look!

 Have you painted anything in the new year?