Make Your Own Beach House Chic Bathmat

Dear Marc:
I love going to the cottage! It’s my home away from home. I recently closed up the cottage for winter and have been missing it. Do you have any ideas on how I can make my home in the city feel more like a cottage getaway on the weekends?
Lisa

Dear Lisa:

Beach house chic is quickly becoming a sought after design style. For those of us who love the cottage scenery of sand and water, we are drawn to this back-to-nature nautical look.

The wonderful thing about nautical themes is that they can be integrated both at the cottage or at home. I love the idea of taking certain pieces from the cottage and bringing them back to the city to remind ourselves of those wonderful summer memories during the cold winter months.

While walking on the beach while closing up the cottage, I came across some driftwood. I adore the look of driftwood. It has a unique look and holds a lot of character. It has come a long journey to finally drift on the sandy beaches where I collected the pieces for my project.

The project is quite simple so for beginners launching in the world of design, put on your coat and grab some driftwood; we’re going to have a little design fun.

The materials needed for this project include:

Small pieces of driftwood in a variety of sizes (Pieces must be longer than 3 inches)
2 pieces of driftwood 18 inches in length used on the ends of the mat
5-7 pieces of 40 inch leather string
Electric drill
Small drill bit

Step 1: Take one of your two 18 inch long pieces of driftwood. With the help of your drill and drill bit, make holes every three inches along the branch.

Step 2: Grab your precut leather strings, which, can be bought in rolls from a local craft store and tie a knot at the end of each string. Then pass the first string through the first hole and tie another knot immediately after the opening. Therefore you should have a knot on each side of the piece of driftwood. Repeat the same process for the remaining five holes and strings.

Step 3: Now comes the fun part. Lay all your pieces of wood on a table as to create an 18 inch by 30 inch rectangle. Think of it as if you were building a puzzle. You want each piece to fit into the overall look of the mat and to create an imaginary rectangle. Then take your longest piece of driftwood with its six attached strings and lay the strings on top of the rectangle driftwood shape. Analyze where the strings meet the wood on each piece of driftwood. You want to make sure that each piece of driftwood whether big or small will be attached to a piece of string at each of its opposing ends.

Step 4: Pick up one piece at a time starting at the top of the rectangle and drill a hole where the string meets the wood. Then place the wood back in place and pass the string through the hole on each end. This will secure the driftwood in place. You then want to tie a knot beside the newly placed wood. This way, you should have a knot on each side of the driftwood so that it doesn’t move around.

Step 5: Continue this process with the rest of the driftwood till you reach your maximum length of 30 inches.

Step 6: Voilà, your new beach house chic driftwood bathmat is now complete. You can now place it in your bathtub and enjoy the spa look right in your very own bathroom.

Tip: Be sure to hang the mat between uses so as to have it drain to keep it in premium condition.

Marc Atiyolil, celebrity designer and home trend expert is the Editor-in-Chief of Home Trends Magazine, and the host of the Marc Atiyolil Show – www.MarcAtiyolil.com.

To submit a question for Marc Atiyolil, visit www.MarcAtiyolil.com