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How to Step Up Your Entry Design With a New Welcome Mat
Welcome Mat 1: Caela McKeever, original photo on Houzz
Say Hello
A lettered mat can help you say exactly what you want to say when someone comes to your door. Obviously nothing says hello more than the word “hello.”
The simple greeting might also draw visitors’ eyes to the ground and remind them to take off their shoes before they step inside.
Coordinate Colors
If you have a colorful front door, use that as doormat inspiration. If your door lacks color, maybe it’s time to paint it.
Door paint: Scarlet Ribbons, Dulux
Welcome Mat 2: Zack | de Vito Architecture + Construction, original photo on Houzz
The whole mat doesn’t need to match the door. This striped mat draws on other colors found on the home’s exterior.
Welcome Mat 3: Rustic Porch, original photo on Houzz
Think Outside the Rectangle
Many front doors feature rectangular doormats, but other options exist. The semicircle mat in the photo works nicely with the rustic rockers, porch swing and shutters.
Welcome Mat 4: Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc., original photo on Houzz
Roll Out a Rug
A big, bold rug in front of the door adds color and life to this home’s entry, designed by Garrison Hullinger.
A large porch rug can also make the space feel like another room of the house. If you add a few chairs, people can stop, relax and enjoy the outdoors. Plus, more rug means more chances for it to pick up any water or dirt from the shoes of incoming guests.
Welcome Mat 5: Seattle Staged to Sell and Design LLC, original photo on Houzz
Play With Patterns
An intricate design gives guests a reason to notice this front door mat. A mat’s design can also pull together all the elements of a porch, such as the front door, mailbox, planted blooms and exterior paint.
“I chose the mat because it is fun, colorful, and it accentuated the colors of the house and the plants,” says Shirin Sarikhani, the owner of Staged to Sell and Design in Seattle.
Keep It Natural
If the entry is already bursting with details, such as eye-catching hardware and light fixtures, a neutral mat will help keep the attention on them. Natural doesn’t have to mean boring.
Welcome Mat 6: Grandin Road, original photo on Houzz
Personalize the Space
This contemporary monogrammed mat is hard to miss. “Don’t be afraid to choose a doormat with personality, says Kate Beebe of Grandin Road. “Work some wit and whimsy into your entrance, and choose something that will put a smile on your guests’ faces.”
She also recommends picking a mat that covers at least three-quarters of the entrance’s width and allows the door to open easily.
Change With the Seasons
While you are changing the front porch decor, swap a plain doormat for a festive option.
After the holidays, clean off your seasonal doormat and store it until the following year.
Match Materials
Doormats come in many materials, including ones that mimic entryway hardware. A rubber mat offers the wrought iron look without the weight and expense of the real material.
The punched-out spaces in a rubber mat also catch a lot of little pebbles, which can then be easily swept away with a broom.
Make It Feel Like Home
Doormat options are pretty much endless, so it shouldn’t be hard to find one that works for you.
How to Live Through a Home Remodel
Live Remodel 1: JLB Property Developments, original photo on Houzz
As much as you may be able to glean from friends and family, articles and TV, there’s no experience quite like personally getting down into the dirt (more on this later) of a remodel. And what you don’t often hear about are the harsh realities of wading through such a detailed, often stressful project.
We’ve written before about how remodeling a home is the ultimate litmus test for your relationship. And that’s why I think understanding a few of the common negative things that happen during remodel is a vital component of being prepared.
I’ve not only braved a few remodels myself, but I’ve worked on the other end as a general contractor, and while I can’t claim I know everything, I do think I have a lot to share. Here are a few things you should know about what it’s really like to live through a renovation.
Related: How to Survive the ‘Punch List’ Phase of a Remodel
Live Remodel 2: Turnbull Griffin Haesloop, original photo on Houzz
It Will Upset Your Daily Schedule
Say, for example, every day before you leave for work you like to brew a cup of tea, settle in with your tablet at your breakfast nook and prepare for the day by going through your emails.
Now picture this exact routine while your kitchen and breakfast nook is under construction. The peace and tranquility (and cleanliness!) of your morning retreat is no more.
You may have to alter your daily routine a bit by finding a coffee shop near your house where you can relax, or by relocating to your bedroom for your beloved cup of chai.
Creatures of habit, be warned: You may have to (take a deep breath here) change a couple of your habits while your remodel is going on.
Related: Remodeling Your Kitchen? Move Your Coffee Station to Your Living Room
Contractors often like to take up shop (if permitted) in garages, as they are often places where they can make a bit more of a mess and noise while remaining close to the job site. If you want certain parts of your home, yard or garage to remain sacred, talk with your contractor about areas where work can and cannot occur.
Live Remodel 3: Kasper Custom Remodeling, LLC, original photo on Houzz
There Will Be Dust
This one may be a no-brainer to some and a shock to others (again, take a deep breath). Some contractors will give hints that the project will get dusty, such as: “We will take measures to put up dust barriers around the area of the remodel” or “we will keep a broom and dustpan on site at all times.”
But no matter how many protective products are put up, there are certain stages of construction that can get intense (for example, sanding down drywall). Not only does dust get thrown into the air while work is going on, but it stays floating around in the air for a while afterward. And floating dust’s favorite pastime is, regrettably, travel.
It may travel to different areas of the house, settling into your dog’s bed, onto your kitchen counters and even into your lungs. You may be thinking, “So what? I breathe dust all the time. That’s just life.” This is true, but the dust you’re usually inhaling is dirt and dead skin cells and other organic stuff. Remodeling dust can be made of not-so-nice things such as chemicals found in paint, fiberglass insulation or cement.
Have a conversation with your contractor to see whether he or she plans on using an air scrubber during your remodel as well as dust barriers and traditional cleaning. This combined system helps to prevent dust from traveling, and it also takes a lot of the nasty particulate out of the air before it has time to invade other areas of your house.
While most contractors genuinely work to keep your home clean, safe and comfortable during a remodel, sometimes dust control isn’t a top priority. It will quickly become front and center in your home, though, if it isn’t properly managed from the start.
Related: Bathroom Renovation? Get Ready for the Day in Peace With a Bedroom Vanity
Live Remodel 4: studiovert design, original photo on Houzz
It Can Be an Emotional Roller Coaster
Every person handles stress and emotions differently, but the fact is that having a bunch of unfamiliar faces tear your house apart before your very eyes is stressful. I know that sounds like a bit of hyperbole, but when you’re actually living through a remodel, that’s exactly how it feels.
It can be tough to keep your head on straight when you’re trying to make selections for tile and lighting fixtures that suit your budget while simultaneously worrying about whether the project will end on time. Add family and work life to that? Yikes.
Now that I’ve worked you up, let me provide some peace of mind: Contractors know what they are doing. They will do everything they can to make sure you are happy with your home and the job is completed in a timely manner. Your local YMCA provides yoga classes, which can be very helpful with managing stress. Feeling better?
Accept that you will feel some stress and some emotions, and allow yourself to be OK with that. It’s a part of the process. Freaking out about the fact that you’re freaking out will only make things, well, freakier.
Live Remodel 5: Amanda Armstrong Sava, original photo on Houzz
Now that I’ve shaken up any romanticized beliefs you may have held about remodeling, let me instill a bit of faith by saying that it’s not all bad. Remodeling can actually be quite pain-free, in fact, if you communicate. I know I’ve harped on this before, but I can’t stress the importance of it enough. Talk with your contractor before work starts about things such as scheduling, dust control and communication preferences. It makes a world and a half of difference.
So, yes, there will be dust, and yes, you might get tired of seeing your project manager every day, but there will be days when you come home after work and see new countertops being installed, and it will stop you dead in your tracks because — whoa — those look great!
Other times you might have the house to yourself for a second and you can poke around to “ooh” and “ahh” over all of the new, shiny things filling your beloved home. So not only is it not all bad, some of it is actually pretty good. So good, in fact, that you might even start thinking about your next project before the first one even ends.
