I recently revamped my laundry/craft room and decided to do two separate postings on the project. Part 1 is the revamp project itself that can be found by clicking here. This posting is Part 2 and is the tutorial for the painted subway sign floor mat that I did for the laundry/craft room.
The inspiration for my painted floor mat came straight from the super creative Sarah from the fabulous blog Sarah Wandering. For weeks, I searched everywhere for a fun and inexpensive rug for my laundry/craft room. I almost gave up until I stumbled across an amazing and gorgeous floor mat painted by Sarah and I was instantly inspired and ran as fast as I could to Home Depot for my mat! Sarah brilliantly turned an interlocking floor mat into a work of art:
Sarah did an amazing job with her free hand painting on her mat. The colors and design are just beautiful and I can't get over the sheer brilliance of painting on these inexpensive interlocking mats. Oh my, the possibilities are endless!
With Sarah's inspirational post and instructions, I took the project in a slightly different direction and did not free hand paint, but rather I spray painted foam letters to the mat and then removed them after they dried. Sarah used acrylic paints, which she details her technique in her tutorial here.
The first thing I did was locate the mats that would work for my space. I found these large interlocking floor mats at Home Depot for $16.00, which includes a package of four large squares. My runner ended measuring 6'x 2'.2" and I used three of the four squares:
Just like Sarah did, I turned my mat over and put the pieces together as a runner (the bottom side is foam and does not have a sealant on it and can accept paint- unlike the top side of the mat). I panicked because the last side of the puzzle piece wouldn't work as a runner until I switched out two of the side puzzle pieces and the runner finally came together (just play with it and try ALL of the pieces).
Next, I primed the runner with a spray plastic primer in white. I also sprayed the sides. I thoroughly sprayed the runner once with primer:
I then used a yard stick to draw straight lines in pencil for me to place my foam sticker letters for my subway art. I used the EVA block foam letters:
After I placed my foam letters on the mat where I wanted them, my fabulous and beautiful assistant Bella, helped me by using a wallpaper seam roller to roll over the letters to make sure they were completely attached around each letter edge.
Next, I spray painted the mat and letters with an all-purpose matte black spray paint. I sprayed around the runner evenly until I no longer saw the white primer. I was careful to evenly and thinly spray and wait a few minutes not to saturate.
Next, my assistant helped me remove the letter stickers after letting the mat partially dry for about an hour. Unfortunately, after removing only a couple of letters, my assistant got sidetracked:
This is what the mat looked like after we removed the letters:
I used a Testors Enamel Paint Pen in red to fill in the numbers for a slight touch of red.
This project was so easy and fun to do. I can't wait to try another mat somewhere else in the house. The next time I think I will attempt to free hand with acrylics like Sarah did. Speaking of which, thank you so much Sarah for your inspiration and sharing this fabulous idea!
Thank you for your sweet emails, comments and notes! I so appreciate your feedback!
Cheers!
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very cool! nicely done.
ReplyDeleteWOW! It looks perfect on you laundry room/craft room. BTW, that room is outstanding....so organized!!!
ReplyDeleteWow!! It looks So great Nice job!!!
ReplyDeleteLove your laundry ROOM !!!!
ReplyDeletevery cool idea - I wonder if this would work in my kitchen by my sink area - I am getting so tired of standing on the hardwood (my back starts hurting) and I don't love those boring gel mats... hmmm this might be a cool project -thanks for the inspiration and yeah my helpers also get easily distracted! LOL
ReplyDeletethis is an awesome idea...way to think out of the box...and the wrapping station is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing, I never would have thought of using these mats in this way! thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteCyndy! It's amazing! I love love love it and will be using you as inspiration now with this theme. It's absolutely perfect for my kitchen! I'll be sure to share with my readers!
ReplyDeletesarah of sarah.wandering
What a neat idea! I love this. It's such a creative change from the usual subway art. Love it.
ReplyDeleteTHAT is FANTASTIC! Great job. Guess what my next project is going to be?!! LOVE IT!
ReplyDeleteHow very clever!!!! :o)
ReplyDeleteFun Idea! Very Creative! You helper is sweet too!
ReplyDeleteI have been looking for a fun gift for my mom for valentine's day and i think this is it. she would love something like this for her kitchen.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. :) I tweeted about it. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, you are so creative! I can't wait to try this!
ReplyDeleteHi there! I'm your newest follower; I found you through Skip To My Lou.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this idea! It looks so awesome and I have to say goes with your fabulous looking laundry room perfectly! Great job! :)
Wow! So, I have seen a thousand subway art projects, but never a painted floor mat. Turned out wonderful, thanks for sharing a great idea. Hope you will stop by my new blog and link up your creative blog under inspiring places.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Love it! I'm your newest follower :)
ReplyDeleteYou really did a super job on that. What a clever way of using subway art. Thanks so much for stopping by and joining the party. Hope to see you again next week.
ReplyDeleteHi there! I just found you through DIY By Design and I'm loving your blog! This mat is amazing and looks so easy to do, great job!
ReplyDeleteMegan
New follower now!
http://1funkywoman.blogspot.com
This is a really great idea. Did you use a protective sealer over the top?
ReplyDeleteGenius in every way!
ReplyDeleteOh that is just the coolest laundry I have ever seen!!!! Fabulous little splashes of colour really make it come alive. However, how do you keep the dust, fluffie things, spider webs at bay? Or is that just me? (I DO live way out in the bush with all sorts of creepies - as well as kangaroos and gorgeous birds! - and have just been flooded twice in the last month with all the rain we have had in Oz. It probably is just me).
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your wonderful inspiration! Hugs from Down Under, Jasmine xxxx
This is such a fun idea and probably feels great on your feet while doing the laundry!
ReplyDeleteWow. I love your laundry room and this mat is like icing on the cake! I'm now following along to see what else you come up with.
ReplyDeletelove this - very creative and just plain cool :) i love anything with typography!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE this! Another hit for those stick on letters! YOU ARE the master. :)
ReplyDeleteDonna
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/
GREAT tutorial! I am in love with your laundry/craft room. I don't think I'd mind matching up socks in that room! I would love for you to link up any of your projects to my Ten Buck Tuesday link parties!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm a new follower :)
www.youngnester.blogspot.com
Very cool! Love this idea! It looks great!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea I'm booking marking it for inspiration!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is simply awesome! I love how it turned out. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSo unique! Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteTeresa
Could you please tell EXACTLY what spray paints you used for each step? there are so many kinds/brands/and types out there, and sales people know very little about what's best for what! also, what sealer you used.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!!
Cory
Brilliant ideas, as usual!
ReplyDeleteGenerally, the choices range between floor mats made of carpet and those made of rubber. If you are looking for style, then choose a carpeted floor mat, but ensure the mat has a stain resistant coating like StainMaster or a similar protective product.
ReplyDeleteWow, these are handpainted? They look really great! Do you sell them? How much?
ReplyDeleteHi...Your post really got me thinking man..... an intelligent piece,I must say. Find great information about.
ReplyDeleteThe hand-painted mats look awesome! Love it!
ReplyDelete