DIY Coastal Cedar Doormat

Warm cedar planks and a navy whale welcome visitors when they arrive! This DIY Coastal Cedar Doormat is adorable, even if you don’t live right by the sea.

Summer weather is here and so are strolls to the beach with pretty shoes.

For a long time, I’ve wanted to create a cedar doormat for our entry.

I knew it would just be perfect with our red cedar shingles, brick walkway and lush plants and thought it would be a perfect project to go with Shauna’s Outdoor Extravaganza for an Outdoor Build and Paint Project.

I just had to get my guy on board. For those of you who don’t know, this is my husband, Luke. He’s pretty handy and LOVES building in our basement. Last weekend, he helped John build a Roman Shield that is 5 feet tall and he helped me build this doormat 😉

It’s our anniversary tomorrow. We’ve been married 16 years… It feels like yesterday. So much has happened in our lives. So much happiness, some sadness, and through it all we support each other. I feel so blessed to be building this life with. Incidentally, I carried Lily of the Valley in our wedding and that’s what’s in the striped bag on our steps. I’m gonna plant more on either side of our steps.

Okay, so Luke was on board and this is what we built! We’re so excited to share our tutorial.

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DIY Coastal Door Mat

Materials:
1×2 Cedar Boards
1×8 Cedar Board
1 1/4” Brass screws

Tools
Compound Miter Saw
Dremel with wood carving bits
3/4” Chisel
1/4” Chisel
Drill and Bits
Sander
Paint – I used Napoleonic Blue Chalk Paint
General Finishes’ Outdoor Oil Finish

Cuts
1. Cut 8 3’ lengths of 1×2 Cedar
2. Cut 8 2’ lengths of 1×2 Cedar
3. Cut 1 1’ length of 1×8 Cedar

Method
You’re going to construct this upside down, so that the screws come in from the bottom, and therefore are not seen from above.

1. Sand all of the edges/of the cedar boards so that they are smooth and curved

2. Draw out your silhouette on one side of the 1’x1”x8” board. We found the whale silhouette here.

3. Carve your silhouette out with the Dremel and Chisels

4. On a flat surface, lay your 1’x1”x8” board, at the top left. Now lay 4 of the 2’x1”x2” boards so that they are spaced out evenly, next to the first board. Have these so that the first board is parallel to the top, and the last is parallel to the bottom
5. Lay the 3’x1”x2” boards evenly spaced below. The left and right ends of each should all be parallel.
6. Lay the remaining 2’x1”x2” boards over the top. One board should be down the left, one down the right, one should overlap the edge between the 1×8 and the 4 2’ lengths, and the final board should be about 1’ from the right end. For me the total height of mat was 22’, so that there was some overhang of these support boards.

7. Making sure that the front boards are equally spaced along the support boards, pre-drill and screw the supports to the front. It’s best to do a couple of screws in each joint, to prevent twisting.

8. Cut off the excess backing boards so they are flat with the mat. You could use a sawsall for this.

9. Paint whale! I used navy blue chalk paint because I love blue, but you could also use black or white. If using white paint, I’d recommend priming that area to prevent the cedar from bleeding.

I thought about leaving that knot to make it the whale’s eye, but it looked a little weird…

10. Once dry, you can put the cedar mat out as is, but the mat will turn a silvery gray. I wanted our doormat to stay this warm color so we sealed it with General Finishes’ Outdoor Oil. This has UV blockers which will prevent the wood from changing color and will also repel water. Follow the manufacturers’ steps for application on the can. I have a feeling if you do paint your whale white that this oil might make it yellow. You will need to find a clear coat for outdoor application with UV blocker in it.

We’re so pleased with this little doormat and our happy little whale.

I wanted to see how it looked over by the She Shed with the fern wreath I shared yesterday.

It looked cute, but unfortunately, the shed door can’t open with it in front of it and we’re not moving the shed again. Once is enough.

They’re doing the pebble interior tomorrow for the pool and the water is going in on Saturday. I’ll be sure to share more of the progress soon. Then it will be time for planting out here and getting this shed ready for pool time!

Do you think you’ll try to make a DIY Coastal Doormat for your home? I hope so.

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