Does it matter which doormat you choose? Actually, it does — because a doormat does more than just scrub the bottom of your shoes.
“It really sets the tone when you come to someone’s front door,” said Garrow Kedigian, an interior designer in New York.
So style matters: “It’s a crucial first hint to the personality of the person who lives in the house,” he said.
At Mr. Kedigian’s apartment in Manhattan, for instance, the first thing visitors see is a doormat made from coconut-husk fibers with a Greek-key border. “It’s classic,” he said, and it nods to his love of antiques and traditional style.
Inside a home, doormats can be equally useful. Mr. Kedigian sometimes tucks them under entryway benches, for shoe storage.
He has also used overscale mats — about the size of a small rug — like the four-foot-square mat he recessed into the floor of a client’s foyer in Greenwich, Conn.
“She wanted the house to be really user-friendly,” Mr. Kedigian said, and the large mat discreetly captures dirt as people come and go.
-
How much personality is too much? A doormat is “an opportunity to be whimsical,” Mr. Kedigian said, but “it’s probably best to go with something that’s neutral” in color, to avoid overpowering the rest of the entrance.
-
Does it need to be waterproof? Some doormats are designed just to brush grit off shoes, but if yours will be used on top of a wood floor or to hold wet boots, the bottom should be impermeable.
-
How large should it be? It depends on where you plan to put it, but options range from small shoe-scrubbers to room-sized indoor-outdoor rugs.
Bonjour and Au Revoir Doormat
Coir doormat with French greetings
$48 at Anthropologie: 800-309-2500 or anthropologie.com
Shag Block Stripe Mat
Mat with impervious vinyl backing available in three sizes
From $55 at Chilewich: 888-851-7130 or chilewich.com
Cleo Navy Indoor-Outdoor Rug
Recycled PET rug available in a range of sizes
From $162 at Dash & Albert: 877-586-4771 or annieselke.com
Doormat With Bristles
Beechwood mat with synthetic bristles from Iris Hantverk
$80 at Design Within Reach: 800-944-2233 or dwr.com
Knot Weave Doormat
Woven-coir doormat available in three sizes
From $98 at Terrain: 877-583-7724 or shopterrain.com
For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate.
