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1 In Home Reno & Decor

DIY Bokeh Welcome Mat {and the evolution of a front door.}

 
Two and a half years ago we moved into our home that I lovingly refer to as “the money pit”. We have made a lot of changes to our house so far, and it has definitely become a labour of love.
 
If you want to get caught up on our money pit adventures you can click on the links below to see a few of the rooms we have begun tackling.
 
 
When we got the keys to the Money Pit house, they opened up this bright red door.
 
 
We had already switched out the builder grade door knob by time this picture was taken. We loved this dark brushed bronze lock system and it was definitely needed since our home had been a rental for years; it was about time the locks were changed and upgraded!
 
 
Then one day, on a whim, like how must of our DIY’s begin, I painted the door a glossy black and made some accessory changes. I added some shrubbery, made a burlap fall wreathe and added a graphic mat in front of our newly painted door.
You can see the burlap bubble wreath tutorial by visiting HERE.
 
And then we had a lot of visitors.
 
Our mat had seen better days.
 
The husband didn’t think it was necessary to buy a brand new welcome mat so I made do and spray painted the rug brown. It was my quick attempt to cover up the fact that it was slowly dying. 
 
The husband liked my sudden ingenuity and the spray painted brown rug lasted for a few more weeks.
 
 
Then one day I spotted these circular sponges and immediately thought of a new way to add some life to our welcome mat.
 
 
If you don’t know what Bokeh is, Wikipedia describes it best and states: “In photography, bokeh (Originally /ˈbkɛ/,[1] /ˈbk/ BOH-kay — also sometimes heard as /ˈbkə/ BOH-kə,[2] Japanese: [boke]) is the blur,[3][4] or the aesthetic quality of the blur,[5][6][7] in out-of-focus areas of an image.”
 
In other words, it is the beautiful circular light in the back ground of this picture.
 
  Source 
 
Bokeh is completely popular right now with photo editing and I love all of the apps out there that make it possible to beautify INSTAGRAM photos.
 
So, what better way to add some fun to a mat then to do my very own bokeh effect. But in my case, using #nofilter. 😉
 
I grabbed the nearest half full spray paint from my junk corner in our garage.
 
 
 
Threw the worn out mat on to some newspaper..
 
 
And gave it a few coats on the front lawn.
 
I’m sure my neighbours wonder why it looked like I was spray painting our grass green.
 
 
Then, I simply took the round sponge, dipped it into some semi gloss white paint and created a Bokeh style design on our welcome mat. I dipped the sponge and wiped it off at times in order to give the mat a layered custom look.
 
I think the final result is fun and unexpected, exactly what I was going for. 
 
Most of all it cost me close to nothing which makes the hubby happy and leaves more money for other half finished projects.
 
Like THIS ONE and THIS ONE.
 
 
For now, I am getting complete satisfaction when I complete one tiny project as the bigger ones seem to be moving at a snails pace!
 
I want to “Bokeh” much more than my photos now!
 
Are you as obsessed with Bokeh apps as much as I am? Does your husband think it is useless spending money on things you wipe your dirty feet on? Do you DIY out of the blue just so you can create something new in the middle of the day? Do you turn a blind eye to half finished projects because they are just too daunting?? If you answered yes to any of these, we should start up a support group.
 
For real.

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  • Doreen@househoneys
    September 11, 2013 at 9:01 pm

    I answered 'yes' to all those questions. Just tell me where and when the support group starts and I'll be there.