Inside: Tutorial for how to make your own vinyl floor mat; plus a selection of vinyl mats you’ll love in case DIY isn’t your thing.
This is literally one of my favourite projects of all time and it’s so dang easy! With just a few supplies and fabric of your choice, you can create a customized vinyl floor mat that will be the envy of your friends and family. I mean, vinyl floor coverings are making a HUGE comeback these days and this is a tutorial that will show you how to get that designer look for a lot less.
Trends in Designer Vinyl Floor Mats
First up is if you want to buy it. Bath mats and kitchen mats tend to be, shall we say, boring. They are utilitarian items that take a lot of abuse. After striking out on finding fun and floral mats at my regular online shopping haunts, I ended up on Etsy – where there is an abundance of PRETTY MATS!! Most of them are less than $40 and appear to be quite thick and plush.
Below is a selection of my favourite four floral-esque mats (affiliate links and descriptions are below this image).
- Lavender Bath Mat ($38 on Etsy Canada)
- Blush and Green Floral Mat . ($32 on Etsy)
- Coconut Bath Mat ($32 on Etsy)
- Customizeable Family Name Bath Mat in Green ($32 on Etsy)
Okay, but if you WANT to DIY one – you can! In fact, this is such an easy DIY you could do it over and over again each season using the same piece of vinyl. Read on and see what I mean 🙂
Here is what you need to Make your OWN Fabric Bath or Kitchen Floor Mat
- remnant piece of cotton fabric larger than the size of your desired mat
- remnant piece of vinyl flooring (preferrably in a light colour so it doesn’t bleed through)
- Spray Adhesive
- Duct Tape
- Clear Coat Polycrylic in Matte Finish
- Fabric Scissors
- Utility Knife
First use your utility knife to cut your vinyl piece down to the size you want. A good size is 2×3, but you can pick whatever size you want. Then spray a good coat of adhesive on the top of the vinyl and place your fabric squarely on top. Make sure you work quickly to get rid of the air bubbles or wrinkles!
Now fold the edges of the fabric onto the back of the vinyl like you are wrapping a present and secure it tightly with duct tape. No one is going to see this part, so just make sure it’s good and secure. 
The last step is to add a solid and thin coat of Polycrylic to the FRONT of the mat. This will take quite a while to dry and you’ll want to do two or three coats to ensure great protection. Do it in a well ventilated area and let it dry for at least three days before moving it into place in your house. 
And there you go! Your own fabric and vinyl floor mat!
Update (again!) Since I wrote this post, we have done SO MUCH work in the kitchen. It’s crazy what a year does in the life of a DIYer. Since I made this mat, we have repainted the cabinets in Navy Blue and we have installed SmartTile mosaic tiles as a backsplash.
Needless to say, thanks for reading and I hope you subscribe to my newsletter (up in the menu or via the pop up) and come back to see me really soon!
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This post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure policy here.
