Contact Paper Desk

I work at a WeWork, which is a coworking space. Working in a WeWork is awesome – there’s free food once a week, fresh juice water every day, and most importantly very private bathrooms. My company has 2 offices in our WeWork, which come equipped with standard wooden desks. While these desks are functional and fine, I started to think about giving mine an upgrade to make my workspace more exciting to look at for 8 hours a day. So I decided to dig into my DIY skills and revamp my office desk with contact paper.

Here’s my desk before I revamped it:

It’s totally fine, but not at all exciting or inspiring. (Except for the monitor stand I made out of wrapping a shoe box in wrapping paper LOL).

After poking around on Pinterest and google, I knew I wanted to upgrade the surface of my desk. Since I have marble taste on a non-marble budget, I chose the next best option to purchasing a slab of marble. I found this gorgeous faux marble contact paper on Amazon and knew it would be perfect for my workspace. The best part? It’s only $7.99.

Revamp An Office Desk with Contact Paper

Once my contact paper came in from Amazon, I was ready to get to work. Here’s how I executed the transformation:

Step 1: Clean your workspace

I wiped down my workspace to get rid of any dust or crumbs (I snack at my desk a LOT), before I applied the contact paper. This ensured that the paper would go onto a completely smooth surface.

Step 2: Measure the contact paper

Next, I laid the contact paper onto the desk and measured how much I would need. Yes, I could have used a measuring tape, but I’m a visual learner, okay?

I curved the paper around the edges of the table to make sure I was leaving enough excess contact paper to wrap around below and keep the paper secure.

To tackle the corners, I also curled the paper onto the underside of the desk to make sure I used enough paper.

Step 3: Apply the contact paper

This was the nerve wracking step!

I found it was easiest to start at one end, and slowly peel the backing off of the contact paper as I went, correcting any bumps on the way. I was surprised how easy it was to keep it smooth once I started the application!

This is what the situation looked like after I applied the first piece. Is the paper crooked? Possibly. But I did my best and that, my friends, is what matters.

Also, please note that I just covered up the wire holes in the back of the desk because I simply decided I did not need them. Honestly, who has the time to cut holes out of contact paper? Me, but I did not want to.

I then applied the second piece of contact paper, overlapping it on top of the first piece just a little bit. Even though there’s an overlap, it looks so smooth and natural that you can’t really tell!

The desk revamp

Finally, I added my desk supplied and monitors back on top of my desk and viola, here is the final product:

Isn’t it beautiful??

I’m including a close up of the contact paper as well – it seriously looks like real marble!

The best part of this marble paper is that it has a shiny sheen to it, which makes it waterproof and easy to clean. (Which is very important to a chronic spiller like me).

I’m so pleased with how this desk turned out! It’s brightened my work day every day to add this cute upgrade to my desk.

Have you ever upgraded your workspace? How?

xo, Liz

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