Does anyone remember these, or did anyone have these?!

[Nows]

Last night, when I was cleaning my kitchen floor (clearly I know how to have a great Saturday night), a memory came to mind of the house I grew up in. I'd completely forgotten this but outside all the downstairs interior doors we had doormats. Did anyone else have these?

This made me smile :).

I hadn't thought about them in years either until I was scrubbing floors last night.

We definitely had them when I was a child. I remember making some with a “redicut rug kit” 😂😂 they were mainly to reduce wear in the most used parts of the floor (not just carpet) and for draft exclusion- Don’t forget that it is not that long ago that central heating arrived and even then having more than one or two rooms heated was rare. Insulation was not common nor was double glazing.

Infront of the open fire to protect it from spits replaced from a stack in the cupboard

Infront of the kitchen sink

By the bed

I have lived in Edwardian and Victorian properties which had a little mat, like a doormat sized patterned Persian carpet outside the rooms on the ground floors, they were tiled or parquet floors, the tiny rugs were always a deep red base colour with a woven pattern. However I have seen other colours.

These were large houses. Also my old GP surgery which was in a large house had them, same colour rugs and matching stair carpets.

original carpets under doorways (change of rooms) seem to get worn down quickly so yes i've experienced decades where this was popular (mats on either side of the door jam or over the whole lot).
currently at my dd's home (in london) they too have course door mats built into the floors on the inside by the front door, and the door to the driveway no different than small area rugs/door mats people use in most places that are easily washable.
i certainly have a sturdy indoor/outdoor mat inside my home by the door way as well as coco mats outside due to pets and muddy feet.

I remember people having off cuts in the room but not in the hall.

I really think carpets years ago must have been disgusting. Most houses were wall-to-wall, including the bathroom (yuk) and in those days there was no dog control/fouling laws and the streets were plastered in it. So yes people covering the 'good' carpet with bits of offcuts would have made sense. I also remember a kind of transparent rubbery stuff which a lot of houses had at the front door to cover that carpet.

Yes and we also had a clear plastic bobbly hall runner thingie that everyone seemed to have at the time but no-one seems to remember.

I don't recall ever seeing those - but after looking at the Ebay listings, I want some!

Having carpet offcuts edged to use as mats was definitely a "thing". As was placing them in front of all sofas and chairs and anywhere else they might reduce wear and trip people up.

@kwetu Is this what you had. I remember we had it in the hallway and in front of the sofas too!

Yes. Plastic runner was a thing in my mid 70s upbringing.

flipping them over and walking on them was tickly weird and kind of fun ;)

My mum and dad have this as they go from the hard floors of the kitchen into the carpeted area so not at every interior door but the ones where dirt might track into the 'good' carpets - they colour match them to the decor of the room they are in! I find it very weird now but it was always there frowning up!

Loads of people had these. I'm surprised at the first few posters questioning you.

We did when I was a child - ours were little home made rugs made from Readicut kits.

I think they were intended to stop draughts. When I was little houses with central heating were rare and so were fitted carpets. Most rooms had lino on the floor with a carpet in the middle, leaving about a couple of feet of lino all around the edge. So the wind used to whistle under the doors, especially if the room was heated by an open fire drawing the air through. Some of the inside doors also had portiere curtains to stop draughts too.

You've made me remember the small rag rugs in my Mum's and grandparents houses in the 40's and 50's! I think they were made of bits of old dresses or something, and I think their main function was to keep out draughts. The house only had fires in the living rooms, so the draughts under the door could be freezing. Oh, those were the days!!!

Carpets in my mum and granny's houses had a line of small burn marks from the fireplace to the living room door, caused by carrying out ash pans that still had hot cinders in them. Coal fires made much a mess.