DIY Fall Doormat Inspired by Anthropologie

Fall is in the air and it’s time to cozy up the front porch! One of the easiest ways to add a personalized touch is by making your own DIY fall doormat. It’s simple, fun, and budget friendly.

I saw this adorable mushroom doormat from Anthropologie and wanted to make something similar. Though there’s always a dilemma – fraction of the cost plus hours of work ORRR just pay for the premade product. But fall is one of my favorite times to get crafty, so I figured we might as well go for it! And, in the end, it was a fun project and only cost about $15.

Watch the video tutorial for this DIY Fall Doormat in my latest YouTube video: Falloween Front Porch | DIY Lit Ghosts, Spooky Hanging Candles, and a Fall Doormat.

Here’s the Step-by-Step

Choose Your Design

Decide on the design or message you want for your fall doormat. You can mix and match stencils or even make your own. I used a pack of mushroom stencils [HERE] and just played with the placement until I liked it.

Start Stenciling

Dip your sponge or stencil brush lightly into the paint, then dab off any excess onto a separate area of the plate. Typically, the key to stenciling is using a minimal amount of paint to prevent it from bleeding under the stencil. However, the coir doormat soaks up quite a bit of paint. It took some trial and error to figure out how much paint I needed on the brush at a time. But once you get started, you’ll get a feel for it. It was definitely more than when I stenciled the wall in the kids’ room (check out their Woodland Room here).

To apply the paint, gently dab the paint onto the doormat over your stencil in an up-and-down motion. The up-and-down dabbing keeps the paint from going under your stencil.

Layer Your Colors

Want to make your doormat pop even more? Use different shades of fall colors for a layered effect! I used a mix of acrylic paints in the colors ivory, golden sunset, chestnut, princess purple, and antique maroon. The key to make it look cohesive was to make sure the different types of mushrooms were the same color everywhere. Meaning – I didn’t change up colors between the same mushroom. You’ll also want to repeat the colors across the doormat so they’re evenly spread across it.

Don’t worry if you decide to redo a few of the colors as you work on it. Just wait for the paint to dry and then paint right over it until you’re happy with it! I redid a few of the mushrooms once I started to see how the colors were coming together. No problemo!

Border

To finish the doormat, I added a scalloped border around the edges. You can find scallop stencils at most craft stores. Or I just printed a scalloped edge on regular printer paper, cut it out, and used that. Since it was just regular paper, I got about half way around before the paint wore it out. So I cut out a second one to finish it off. But it only took two to make the whole border! Here’s a printable of the scallop I used if you want to use the same method: DIY Fall Doormat Scalloped Edge Stencil.

Just be careful with your edges! The paper was not nearly as sturdy as a plastic stencil.

Seal It

To protect your doormat from the elements, spray a clear sealant over the entire surface of the mat once the paint is fully dry. This step is optional but highly recommended, especially if you live in an area with a lot of moisture.

And there you have it! My favorite part of this project is that you can do any design or colors that you want. I’ve been thinking about making a Halloween one as well.

Layer Your Doormat with a Rug

I love to layer a doormat over another rug to add some character. I change both the bottom rug and doormat out seasonally – it’s a fun way to add a little “pop” to your front door!

Here are some ideas for bottom rugs to layer:

| Tylynn |