I never thought I would say this but THANK GOODNESS IT’s MONDAY! I’m so excited about today’s post!
A few weeks ago Jen Woodhouse of the blog House of Wood asked me if I would participate in a virtual DIY project party with Home Depot, her and several other bloggers. Being a true friend that has trouble maintaining her competitive cool, of course I accepted so that I could win the title of “Princess of the World” and the prize of a golden throne that Jen herself would build me.
But first we had to make the coolest doormat in all the land.
The challenge was to take wood and rope and do our own spin on this classic Home Depot version…
All materials had to be purchased at the Home Depot and they provided us with a gift card to buy the items we needed.
Now….if we are going to be completely honest….I thought that we had to make that EXACT doormat. EXACTLY. And the creative part was the finish. So I figured, go party or go home. That’s how I roll. So I cut all my pieces and painted them white.
Yes, a white doormat will show dirt. I gather that. Jeremy reminded me of the fact several times.
But the plan is to not keep it white and then seal it so well that dirt will literally not even want to go near this thing. Dirt will actually cease to exist near this doormat. It’s magical.
After the paint was dry, I picked out some of my paint swatches from Home Decorators collection paint section. Their pamphlet showed a colorful hex wall and I decided that would be my inspiration and I would sacrifice my swatches in the doormat’s honor.
My little helper and I cut those circles till we felt like we died and went to circle heaven…(see that pamphlet?!)
Then I tried to glue them on. So the first time, I just wiped some glue on the backs of each one and put them on….but they didn’t stick. Then I tried dumping a whole slew of Mod Podge on the boards and pressing them into place….that’s when the edges started curling. Either way, this wasn’t going to work.
I then went through the seven stages of remorse….
PLAN B.
Paint them suckers. I got out my stash of half used spray paints and decided to pull a Titanic and never let go.
After all – the prize is a glute lift curtesy of Home Depot (that’s not true but sometimes I just make things up to make doormat posts sound more interesting!)
I sprayed a little paint in the corner of a bowl and then used that as the circles…
It helps to space them out so that they look like confetti…
Then I let that dry.
So after it was dried and sealed, I put the rope through and called it a party.
It’s fun right!?
I love the youthful and colorful vibe it gives off….perfect for special occasions like little boy’s birthday parties! Oh look – I have several of those 🙂
So that is where this story goes a little crazy.
First – you should know that legitimately I love that girl Jen and I only half-joke when I say I want to have a wig made from her hair. Secondly – I texted her half way through the week and asked her if her doormat was done and she was like Yup and I was like um can I see it pleeeeeeaaassse? And then she sent me a picture (you’ll have to go here to see it) and I was like this…
And then I got like this…
Girl just threw down.
Literally. There was a giant DIY golden hammer and Woodhouse just mic-dropped it.
So I knew that I would have to up my game. Hence a late night run to Home Depot for more wood and a plan to make a new much-more fancy rug. Thankfully I have an equally competitive boyfriend that supports me when I am trying to win a Home Depot snuggie. (no prizes will be awarded)
We cut 157 pieces of wood to 3 inches long. Then we needed to drill holes….a whole truckload of holes….ya know if that was possible.
77 of the pieces were single hole pieces. That means we had to drill a hole down the length of the wood.
80 of the pieces were double hole pieces. That means we had to drill two holes in the side of the wood.
Jeremy figured out this fun method to maximize his drilling speed without a drill press 🙂
The double holes took much longer without a jig. Finally all 237 holes were drilled and Jeremy got to go ice his hand 🙂
So what the heck are we doing?!
Why so many wood pieces?!
Well….we are doing a herringbone mat people….a very awesome herringbone mat that looks like this….
What you don’t see herringbone?!
If you string that pattern over and over….it will look like this…it’s all about how you lay out those single pieces and double pieces. The single pieces are the ones in green….the other pieces are double holes. The rope attaches them all running diagonally.
We stained them up with Rust-Oleum’s Weathered Gray to match our deck planters….
And then crossed our fingers that my theory of strings and straight lines and wood mats would come together in perfect unison…
Please note that not all the pieces are shown in these photos for the final result.
We just thread the rope through starting at the top corner and then go at a diagonal repeating that pattern we saw above!
See how it is coming together? Pretty awesome huh?! Yeah. Angels were singing in my garage that night.
When it was all said and done, we pulled it super tight and put it outside on our deck to see how it looked….
I AM OBSESSED. It is really one of those duh-why-didn’t-i-do-this-before-or-see-this-somewhere-else-on-pinterest moments!
And the best part about it is that it is really gives off a polished look…like it deserves to be a doormat….like that tree was BORN to be a doormat for me. This is gonna be sold in stores next year. You can bet your bottom dollar on it 🙂
So now here comes the challenge – you get to make your own doormat! You can register to participate in one of the Home Depot DIY workshops yourself! They actually have three different types…..one for Kids, one for us ladies (Do-It-Herself) and one general DIY one (Do-It-Yourself) – and Home Depot stores host these workshops at each of their locations to teach folks how to build decor projects, how to tackle easy home repairs, and how to operate tools safely. They have demonstrations and hands-on time and you can learn how to hone those DIY skills no matter your age or experience level.
Click the button below to register for the DIY Workshop at your local Home Depot store to learn how to make a DIY Wooden Doormat.
- The Home Depot #DIYWorkshop
Saturday, March 26, 2016
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m
Want to learn more? Visit http://workshops.homedepot.com and be sure to mark your calendar to attend the DIY Workshop this month!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
NOW – go see all the other blogger’s doormats and come back and tell me which ones are your favorite! There is a serious amount of viral material here….
- House of Wood – TRIBAL
- Shades of Blue Interiors – SUNBURST
- Place of my Taste – REVERSIBLE
- Making Home Base – HOME
- Build Basic – ARROW
- Sawdust 2 Stitches – CLASSIC
- My Love 2 Create – CHAINLINK
- Her Toolbelt – HELLO
- Addicted 2 DIY – CACTUS
- That’s My Letter – DIAGONAL
- Ciburbanity – ETCHED
- Brooklyn Limestone – WORDY
- Wills Casa – STRIPED
- The Bold Abode – METALLIC
- Fix This Build That – MODERN
- Glued N Screwed – T NOTCH
- Build It,Craft It, Love It – MONOGRAM
- DIY Huntress – TRIANGLES
- Sawdust To Sequins – CHEVRON
- Remodelando La Casa – LEAVES
- The Batchelor Way – STENCIL
- The Kim Six Fix – DOWEL
- Heathered Nest – FOOTPRINTS
- Creatively Living – SPRING
(All of the folks have officially put up their posts now so happy browsing! I’d love to hear which ones are your favorites!)
DISCLAIMER – This is a sponsored post. The materials for these projects were provided by Home Depot. #DIYWorkshop
I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in this Workshops Program. As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting TheHome Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. This post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.
Well gold star for you, over acheiver! I like both of your mats, but the herringbone mat was definitely meant for your door 🙂
Katie, I love your design! I was thinking of something similar but more lattice looking and bailed on it because I couldn’t figure how to connect it. Holes THROUGH the length of the pieces…DUH! Seriously that never even crossed my mind. Great job and totally loved your write up. New subscriber 🙂
Wow. The dotted mat looks fun and really pretty, but that herringbone mat just might be the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. Pure genius!
Those are super cute. I think Jen’s is my favorite. I love the rope-wrapped leading edge. Though is it sort of ‘cheating’ that hers isn’t held together with rope, it’s just an embellishment?
Thanks Brad! I love puzzles so this is definitely was a brain teaser 🙂
xo – kb
Love, love, LOVE your herringbone mat!! Well done you!
My 2nd favourite would have to be the sunburst one–also different and very creative. Way to think outside the box.
You could hang this design on a wall it’s so cool!!!
WWOOOOWWW!!! I love this sooooo much Katie!!! I totally want to make it! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!
Your mat and the House of Wood mat both kicked serious booty! I will say for my personal taste that I was partial to the “The Batchelor Way – STENCIL” one. The “Hello” one was super cute, too! Bah! They’re all better than I could make. LOL.
Oh Katie!!! Well, now I’m heading back out to the garage to make a new one!! Hahaha!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your herringbone mat!! It’s my fave by far!!! You win the snuggie!!! Lol!!
Wow! Both mats turned out amazing!
Checked them all out and while all of them are very cute, I love the ones (including yours) where you went outside the box with your design. Nice.
I love both of your mats!! The first is super fun! There’s some serious wood cutting and assembling happening in this virtual party! 😉
Your post made me laugh out loud today! So, so good 🙂 I checked them all out, and yours is my absolute favorite. Seriously, way to go! My next favorites are the Tribal, and the Sunburst. I think I’ll give one of them a go this summer.
Um this was the funniest post I’ve read in awhile. The Gifs. My favorite. hahahaha Jen’s mat is pretty freakin sweet but your herringbone one is genius. Team Jen (that’s us) for the win!
Your herringbone is great design–the sunburst is always very good design
Katie, this is gorgeous! I am so impressed that you figured out how to make that gorgeousness happen. I so need something like this for my backyard – our mats always end up looking so ratty! This is a perfect solution.
OMG! That is amazing! I think I may have to try and bribe my buddy with a drill-press and make one these for my house. I totally think you won that HD Snuggie 😉
Could you give a cost/time breakdown? Doormats can go for as cheap as $10 so as amazing as your second one is, would it be worth it for us regular folk who have to pay for materials and dont have DIY blogs?
Well the time breakdown would be probably an hour of cutting drilling and sanding and another hour of staining and stringing it together. That is a complete guess since I had to figure it all out without a tutorial so I guess it just depends on how fast you DIY! Then as far as supplies…it’s about $6 for rope, $10 for lumber and $7 for stain.
xo kb
BLAHAHAHA! This was funny to read because I was in the same exact situation…well, almost.The only difference was that I did not see Jen’s project until 6am this morning. But then when I saw it I almost dropped dead. I was about to go get new materials and get a brand new project done but then I didn’t. I totally thought we HAVE to make the SAME mat with a small personal spin. Now I know the game.:-) Your mat is absolutely stunning, Katie! And I love your funny style. Staying along, for sure:-) Xo
I know! If I didn’t text her directly I wouldn’t have known! I seriously was like – what if we all stain the mat the same color?!
xo – kb
Wow- these are incredible! I love yours, the Hello mat and the sunburst (although they are all amazing)!
First of all, you totally won the competition. If for no other reason than that you built TWO doormats. Clearly, that’s achievement at 200%.
Question probably for a Home Depot person, but I guarantee you my local store cust. service will have no idea: I’d like to get email updates when a Kids DIY workshop is coming up. I didn’t see any sign-ups for a notification or newsletter or anything. Got any ideas on if/how that might work?
Very nice! I totally get this as a boot tray, but as a doormat I’m concerned with the height. It seems like a major trip hazard. I’d be interested in hearing how functional it ends up being.
It is slightly higher than our last doormat so if we do end up tripping, I will let you know!
xo – kb
I don’t know that one! At my local branch they have it listed in the front where you walk in and you can see what the upcoming schedule is. I don’t know if they have email notification though! Something to add to their suggestion box!
xo – kb
HA! A. You had me with the GIFs, 2. My head hurts just looking at the pattern of that doormat… I couldn’t come up with that if you bribed me with bags of baked Cheetos. C. It’s awesome! Winner winner, chicken nugget dinner ! 🙂
Katie that herringbone door mat is AMAZING, like mind blowing!! Great project, I love them both. You had me at blue and green polka dots…
I LOVE both Katie! I am cracking up too, great post! 🙂
You know it!!! Woohoo!
Look at you, you over-achiever, you! I just love both your mats, but that herringbone one had me at hello. Thank you SO much for joining me in this crazy party – and for the amazing write-up. I just love you to death!
OMG your herring bone?!!? What the – so smart to figure out that pattern. I really liked all the other different wood pattern ones: the arrow, the zig zag on monogram, and the sun burst! I also thought etched was smart to add some grip for rainy climates!