Welcome Mat Makeover

I bought this festive jute welcome mat back in March for my Spring spruce-up in the front yard.  It was so cheerful and I loved all the yellow accents.

With all the muddy shoes from yard work and puppy dog walking that’s been going on around here the last three months, we’ve been wearing it out!  After all that wear and tear, it was starting to look like this:

Not so welcoming, huh?  So, when I saw that Kristy over at Libbie Grove Design had painted her welcome mat with plain ole craft paint, a lightbulb went off in my head.  I couldn’t bring myself to spend $12 on a new rug only three months after I had just bought one.  So, I decided to use craft paint I already had to spruce up this tired old one. 

I used a little artist’s brush for the small spots and a medium-sized stencil brush for the large areas and within an hour I had revived the rug almost back to its former glory.  See for yourself:

I put it out to welcome guests to our Memorial Day party and it must have been alright, since no one stopped at the front door to say, “Wow, what is wrong with that rug… it looks weird!”  Mission accomplished.  Now if only there were an easy fix to all the muddy dog prints on the front porch.  Guess I have some pressure washing in my future.  :)