Hello Remodelaholics! Michelle here from 4men1lady and today I’m back with an easy and functional project that is perfect now that the weather is warming up. We live in a very traditional rambler built in the 70’s. It’s a perfect family home but I’ve always dreamed of living in an ultra modern house. I’m always looking for small and tasteful ways to bring in a touch of modern.
Last year I made a modern house number plaque from some free paint stir sticks that I simply stained and attached to a board. See complete instruction on my blog.
DIY Wood Stake Door Mat Tutorial
Please note: this mat is best used during the summer, as it may become icy during the winter.
This year I made a modern door mat from a box of wooden stakes I picked up from Home Depot. It was one of the easiest projects I’ve done to date and cost under $15.00.
The supplies you’ll need for this project are stain (optional), some wood stakes (found at Home Depot), sisal rope (I used 1/4 inch) and some Hex Nuts (size 3/8 inch).
The first step consists of cutting all the points off the stakes. You can use a hand saw (if you’re a glutton for punishment) but a chop saw will get all your cutting done in less than 5 minutes. After your stakes are cut make sure and give each stake a good sanding so you don’t get slivers in your little toesies.
I opted to stain my wood for a more modern look but this step is totally optional.
I began painting on the stain with a paint brush but it was time consuming and turned out much darker than I wanted. Instead, I just took an old rag, dipped it in the stain and rubbed the stain directly on the wood. This allowed me to have better control of the amount and shade of the stain.
After the stain had dried I measured and drilled two holes in to the sides of each stake. Don’t forget to give everything another sanding to remove any splinters or rough edges. (Don’t do like I did and drill over concrete on your knees. Bad, bad, bad carpentry modeling example).
Once all your holes are drilled you can now thread your rope through each stake making sure to add a nut between each stake. If you put some tape around the end of your rope it won’t fray and makes it much easier to feed through each hole. When you’ve threaded all your stakes, tie a tight knot at the last stake to hold everything together.
There you have it…your own DIY Wood Mat that looks great and keeps the dirt and sand out of your home (well, almost all of it).
To see more great projects visit our blog 4men1lady.
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Add more appeal to your porch with a cement planter (tutorial here from Michelle) or one of these 10 ways to make your porch more welcoming.
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—————Update 4/13/2016—————
Check out what this reader made using Michelle’s tutorial:
Looks fantastic! Our reader shared some useful info about purchasing wood for the mat, as well:
“I had a hard time finding wood at Home Depot that was thick enough to allow me to drill holes in the side. I explained to one of the associates what I was making and he suggested rails (the vertical posts on a wood railing), just plain ones. They were 4 feet long, so I bought 8 of them and had them cut in the store. It really came out nice. Thank you so much for this tutorial. I love it, too!!!!!!!!!!”
Thank YOU for sharing your project!
How fun is this. What a creative idea and a super tutorial. Be sure to link up to Inspire Me this afternoon. http://www.astrollthrulife.net.
Awesome idea! I have leftover bed slats from my daughter’s old toddler bed which I’ve been dying to do something with them!
Great idea, I have a bunch of bed slats from Ikea. Think I’ll give this a try.
Send us a picture when you do! 🙂 https://www.remodelaholic.com/share-brag-post/
This would make a great floor for a camp shower. I’ve been lugging around a thin pallet, but I like this idea better!
I have not tried this wooden door mat yet… but thinking perhaps some sort of metal rod that is threaded on each end might be a sturdier way to tighten this up
hmmmmmm?
Excellent, excellent, excellent,!!!
Thanks for the comment, Angela!
Sounds as tho evan a novice could handle this.
whopee!! I think a solid rod might wind up cracking the wood when body weight was added?? Your idea is clever……inexpensive……cute!
Thanks, Barbara!
I live on Cape Cod and this mat looks so “beachy”, and we have plenty of sand to keep out of the house. Need to make one. It would be great for the outdoor shower too, maybe use Thompsons water seal on it.
Great idea!
maybe my slats are wrong but every time I tried drilling into the slat it split on the other end or ended up going through to halfway ended up wasting half the rods trying to get it to go in straight as one side is rounded. How did you get your slats not to wiggle around when just laying on the ground. What size bit did you use and what kind.
Mine was doing that as well so I have to call upon my husband to come and drill. We had 2 “tester” stakes and he was about to press real hard and go real slow with it and most of them worked. The couple that split right at the end, just have to face the bottom of the mat. I’m just trying to figure out how to get that nut to slide on the rope!
I just make one of these mats. I used slat’s that go in between a railing. (pressure treated) It came out beautifully. Thank you so much !!!!
Thanks for the comment, Patricia! We’d love to see pictures! You can send pictures over on Facebook or here on the site: https://www.remodelaholic.com/share-brag-post/
Between my husband and I, we have found it literally impossible to get the 3/8 inch nut throw the 1/4 inch sisal rope. Is there a secret you used? We taped, twisted, pulled with all our might, used a pliers… you name it… That sucker ain’t going on without a fight! I know I can go to the store and buy a size bigger nut but how did you get this one to work? We are stumped.
Commenting again so I could check the notify me of followup comments. 🙂
Wood craft beads would also work well as spacers for those wanting a more traditional look, stained to match or contrast. Nice project, thanks.
Great idea! Thanks for the comment, Kim.