help! i need a narrow doormat
Here at Shelterrific, we’re no strangers to stylish welcome mats. We’ve talked about seasonal styles, cute and kitschy gnomes, and even a mat with a humorous edge. With winter just around the corner, I’d like to get a new doormat for the snowy boots that are sure to come with it. The problem is, I live in an apartment building with particularly narrow hallways. Normal doormats take up nearly the width of the hallway, and would force my neighbor at the end of the hall to constantly traverse my mat. I’ve had one inside my apartment for the last couple of years for this reason, but I’m hoping to find a way to move it outside my door. I’m thinking if I find a narrow mat (12 inches or under), I can get away with leaving it in the hall. This one on Amazon is the right size, though I’m not thrilled with the design. I’d prefer simple graphics instead of text — even a plain mat would be more my style. Does anyone have a source for narrow doormats? –Erica P.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Hey, Erica — what about creating your own with a few blocks of Flor? You could make your own rug and use and exacto to cut them to the desired size:
http://www.flor.com/service/flor/flor_rug_ideas.html?id=rCbXfejk
September 4th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Or you could order the Bienvenue one and flip it over. I bet it’s just plain on the back.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:47 am
I have one of those Chilewich shag mats, I bet you could cut it pretty easily.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Anthropologie has some on their website. Otherwise, it’s not something I’ve seen a lot of.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:49 am
I like the Chilewich idea — those are great; I couldn’t find any in the size you need, but yeah — they aren’t that thick, so cutting one down shouldn’t be an issue.
The Bienvenue mat might be blank on the other side, but it might also have some rubbery no-stick stuff on it. That’s how one of our floormats was designed (because, yes, I did try to flip it over to a plain side).
September 4th, 2008 at 9:19 am
The architecture firm that I work for NEVER wants to keep carpet samples that we receive. I cut one from its original 2′x2′ size using a C-thru blade (more durable than Exacto) and use it outside my front door. Contact a carpet manufacturer such as Shaw. You could probably even pick a pattern off their website before calling. If they won’t send you a sample, call a local architecture firm and see if they have any extras.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:36 am
we had the same problem and made ours from several Flor carpet tiles from the House pet collection. We cut them with a exacto knife into smaller pieces to make a logical fit for our entry. In truth, they work way better than any “regular” doormat we’ve ever had. They keep the dirt outside and are easy to sweep and wash!
September 4th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Thanks, everybody. You know, I never even thought about flipping over the bienvenue mat! I called the company that sells it to find out about the underside and it turns out it is just the plain coir. I just purchased it and plan to put it out upside down. Success!
September 4th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Hooray! Now you’re set for everyday and in case you have a French visitor stopping by unexpectedly!
September 4th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Or you could paint the underside to look however you want! Cool.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:00 am
search for “stair treads” instead of “narrow doormats”, they’ll do the job just fine! all doormats at smith & hawken (<3) are on sale right now, and they have a few…
http://www.smithandhawken.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=prod540077p&categoryId=cat120235&sku=540077p
http://www.google.com/products?q=stair%20tread&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&safe=on&um=1&sa=N&tab=wf
good luck!