We are in the process of converting our front and back lawns from grass into low height meadows. "Meadowscaping" allows food for the pollinators, doesn't need to be mowed very often and prevents harmful lawn chemicals from being introduced into the environment. However, I do find myself still needing to control growth in certain areas, in this case in front of my garden shed.
One of my favorite ways to control plant growth in spots like this is to throw down an old rug. You can certainly purchase an outdoor rug, but indoor rugs from the thrift store work just as well (as long as you don't mind that they may discolor over time). I hadn't been able to find a thrifted rug yet and the meadow in this area was greedy, so I came up with the temporary solution of using placemats to create a rug - check it out:
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I found these sturdy burlap placemats for $1.99 each. They had lettering stenciled on one side, but flipping them over took care of that problem!
I quickly stitched them together in a square shape...
...and put them out in front of the shed. It's not as large of a rug as I would like, but it keeps the doorway to the shed clear for now. Once I find a rug that I like, it will extend to both sides of the door and allow a spot to put a nice chair for outdoor tea drinking.
I call this shed my 'garden' shed, but I don't keep any useful tools here. Instead it's full of faux plants and artwork, which you can see here 😄
The lamp to the side is an old broken lamp where I replaced the bulb with a solar light. This post will show you how I did the same thing with an old chandelier.
And that's my placemat rug!
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I hope you enjoyed this how-to post, thanks for stopping by!
-Jennifer
© Studio 27 by Jennifer Adams 2025
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