Losing My Marbles?

So I did something a little crazy in my office…

I had to get a new desk to accommodate my new work computer, and I was lucky enough to find a long and narrow conference-y style desk for $20 at my local Habitat store. I really wanted something that I could have the computer and a sewing machine on at the same time. After checking 5 stores, this one fit the bill…the only problem was that there was some damage to the top.

But I loved the perfect fit of the desk so much that I was willing to overlook it for awhile until I figured something out.

Initially I thought I’d use aluminum foil like this coffee table makeover I did awhile ago when I had my antiques booth.

But, I decided to cruise around Pinterest to see what other ideas I could find. It turns out that contact paper has become a popular other-than-cabinet-shelves surface covering, and there are all kinds of new patterns available. Marble seemed to be the most common version popping up in home projects, but the cost ranged from $5-$65/roll depending on the realistic quality and color. I figured I would start with something pretty cheap just to get my feet wet with this new technique. I went to my local Walmart and picked up a roll of this stuff.

I cleaned the desk well- making sure to remove any dust particles-and planned my layout. Basically I just wanted the visible areas to look nice, so that definitely helped. I think I’d want a wider roll if I was doing the whole desk so I could wrap it seamlessly around both sides. I’ll spare you the details of applying it, it’s really very easy to do: peel and stick! The result looks pretty decent, what do you think?

It’s definitely not my favorite coloring of marble, but it does brighten up the space and covers the damaged areas (which kept catching my sweater sleeves, how annoying!). I think the biggest change is the view when you walk in.

It’s definitely more clean looking, and a table skirt is likely to happen in the near future. Overall, I’m content with my $5 fix…it’s possible I’ll change it down the road but you can’t beat the cost and time investment here! Have ya’ll ever used the “fancier” contact paper for a project other than in the kitchen?