DIY Play Mat

We live in a small apartment and I was tired of having the girl’s toys scattered all over the so I wanted to make an area just for them and one of the things that was absolutely necessary in that area was sound proof flooring. I didn’t want them dropping toys, disturbing our neighbours below us. I had a few sets of these mats and I knew they would be perfect, but they were old and a little grimy from years of use, plus the colours would clash with the colour scheme

So I decided to paint them. I first measured the area where I was putting the mats then laid out as many as I would need to cover the area, it came up a bit short so I cut two of them in half to fill up the area. The finishing edge pieces for the mats were long gone so using scissors I cut off the interlocking edges to make them straight. Now for the fun part. With the mats right side up ( the bumpy side) interlock them, then tape them together  where they join with Gorilla tape.

 Once that is done flip the mats over so that the smooth side is facing up. Now it’s time to prime. I recommend using a paint roller, it makes applying the primer easier and makes for a smoother finish. 

Apply two coats of primer, I used  Bullseye 1.2.3. water based primer. Follow the instructions on your primer for the amount of time to wait in between coats. 

Once the primer has dried it’s time to paint. I used Rustoleum Chalked Paint in Linen White and applied to coats, waiting about an hour in between each coats. You can leave your mat like that or do like I did and stencil designs on it. I used two different sizes of feather stencils and acrylic paint.

Once the paint is dry seal your mat using a synthetic bristle brush or a paint roller seal your mat. I used three coats Minwax Polycrylic, I didn’t want any sealer scratching off and I wanted to be sure I can clean up any spills or dirt that got on the mat. I let the mat dry 24 hours then it was ready to use!

Feel free to share with me if you try this project. I would love to see how it went.