Quick and Simple Coir Doormat Refresh

You can see how faded it was before this little update.

What You’ll Need:

Coir door mat

Paint

Polyurethane

Painters tape/stencil (optional) 

Step 1: Clean mat

Since our door mat was in use all year, I just beat it on the side of the porch to get out all of the dirt and dust. Don’t skip this step - I couldn’t believe how much dirt was in there!

(Optional) Step 2: Tape off design or create a design

If you're working with a blank mat, you can make your own stencil, or do a simple border/pattern with painters tape. 

I could have taped off my 'M' with painters tape to make crisper lines, but I skipped this step because the 'M' was rather simple, and I had a small enough brush where I felt I could be precise. Also, if I’m being honest, I was just being lazy :)

Step 3: Paint with a stippling motion

With you paint be sure to use a stippling motion (dotting up and down). You don’t want to BRUSH the paint on, especially if you’ve used a stencil or painters tape, because it’s harder to control where your paint goes, and it can “bleed” to areas you don’t want it.

Above, you can see the red line separates the completed section vs. not completed section.

I think outdoor acrylic paint would have been my best bet for a project like this, but I only had regular paint on hand. Plus our front porch is covered, so our mat won't be exposed to any elements.

Step 4: Seal with polyurethane

When the paint was still just a little wet, I went over the design with polyurethane. I’ve also seen this done with polyurethane spray, which probably would have been easier, but I only had a can, so I used a brush and it worked just fine!

Again, this was simple (& free) refresh that will get our doormat through at least another year. We've had it back outside for about a month and it's held up really well! Honestly, it's got me wondering how many times I'll be able to get away with this.... :)