New Dining Room Doormat

Our dining room doormat bit the big one. The rubber underneath crumbled, then the vacuum wreaked havoc on the loose threads. Gone.

I don’t think it was ever meant to be a real doormat, it was more of a decorative jute rug meant for a kitchen or pretty laundry room. It didn't like water or dirt. It was badly stained. And it’s probably why it died so tragically - it wasn’t ever meant to handle the beating we gave it. But I loved how neutral it was and how it disappeared into the floor. The matching green one outside is actually even worse, but the rubber pieces are so stuck to the deck that it’s holding together… for now.

With all of the snow, rain and bad weather we’ve been having, our backyard is a snowy slushy messy swamp. Everyone tracks a lot of junk through this door, so it was time to upgrade to a real, heavy duty doormat that could handle the mud, snow, traffic and abuse. And of course we needed a new one right away since the snow melt was leaking through the big hole in the middle.

I went with this semi-ugly but neutral rubber backed one for utilitarian purposes. The wood floors are more important than the rug - it’s really what we needed for this spot. I ordered it off amazon because I’m kind of addicted to their prime service - I find what I need on my phone app, click and it arrives in 2 days. No shopping, no driving, no dragging a fussy toddler through a store and it arrives like magic on my doorstep.

What this rug lacks in beauty it makes up for in usefulness. It works way better than the old rug ever did. Those little grooves grab snow, grass and mud off shoes and hold the water in those valleys. Nothing leaks through that solid rubber backing. It doesn't seem to stain easily with the mottled brown color. It's also heavy enough that it doesn't shift easily and the vacuum doesn't want to suck it up. All good things.