apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Here's a key to the above photos:

• 1 The funky monogram. Lova Revolutionary found her last initial in a great typeface, made a stencil for it from a manila folder, and used newspaper and tape to map out a border that's slightly askew. We love the results! View her complete set of instructions.

• 2 The house number. Australian blogger red door read used stencils of her house number in different fonts and sizes for a fun, haphazard look.

• 3 The holiday décor. The project is so easy, you can even do a temporary mat for the holiday of your choice. Martha offers well-written instructions for a traditional stenciled mat, and also shows a different technique using oil paint for a Fourth of July mat.

• 4 The funny message. In our search we came across an alarming number of hostile doormats, with messages like “Piss Off” and “Oh No, It’s You Again.” Sure, we suppose there’s humor there—a play on the annoying cutesy-ness of most doormats—but still this approach seems off-putting somehow. The "I Am Not a Doormat," from Curbly, has a nice existential irony without being rude.

• 5 The finish line. This one's not a DIY—you can buy it for $30 on amazon—but it would be easy enough to replicate with stencils. And it's clever.

And for one last take on the project, slightly more involved, from AT:LA a while back:

How to Make a Custom Doormat

Enjoy!