The one constant thing in a Portlander’s life is rain. Just that fact alone makes some people run for the hills, but I promise, Portland is an amazing place to live. Anyway, what does rain have to do with a doormat? Well, because we are constantly wiping our feet, we’ve gone through a million doormats. They all seem to fade and look worn-out quickly. And if you are already drawn to mats with fun colors and patterns like I am, those vibrant designs only end up sticking around for a month or so. The rain and just normal wear and tear washes all the fun stuff away and then you are stuck with something that looks like this:

Gross. Believe it or not, this mat used to have vibrant blue, green and brown stripes. And then the rain came, and now it just looks like a brown blob. A good excuse to go shopping I guess. These doormats were on my wish list…

These were a few of my top picks, however, I couldn’t bring myself to buy any of them because I knew in a few short months they would resemble a brown blob, just like all of my other doormats that I’ve had to kick to the curb. To solve this little problem, I bought a totally boring Coco doormat from World Market for $16.99. I bought it because it was larger  (36×24) than the average doormat (30×18) and it’s made out of durable coconut husk fibers, making it eco-friendly.

To give this blah doormat some character, I decided to personalize it and add our last initial to the mat. I didn’t have an “N” stencil that was the right size for the mat, so I printed out an “N” after experimenting with different fonts and sizes on good ‘ol Microsoft Word – no fancy PhotoShop needed. I cut out the center of the N, got out my black spray paint, newspaper and blue painters tape and headed outside.

With the “N” strategically placed and taped on the doormat, I covered the rest of the doormat with newspaper and then sprayed the black spray paint onto my homemade stencil.

After I sprayed my little heart out and let the paint dry for a few hours, I peeled away the newspaper and gently took off the stencil.  I unveiled a personalized doormat that will hopefully withstand some serious Portland rain and still look pretty darn good in a few months.

I placed the “N” in the lower right-hand corner because I thought it would get less foot action than if I placed it in the center of the mat. Also by doing it myself I had the chance to pick the exact size of the “N” as well as the font. You could easily get a different look by changing the font to something more elegant or modern. My taste usually falls somewhere in between, hence the fairly basic lowercase “N” I chose. You could also experiment with different colors of spray paint, however, I would stick with a darker color such as a dark blue, brown, or purple.

I somewhat felt silly for spending all this time on an item that people wipe their feet on, but I have been pleasantly surprised at the amount of house guests who have noticed it.

See what a difference it makes?! Last but not least, an effective doormat leaves you with less dirt and grime to clean-up, and that’s always a plus in my book.