Oh my dear sweet lovely peeps… I have a confession to make: this might actually be one of my favourite DIYs ever. It’s cheap, it’s quick and the end result looks a million bucks. Oh yes, I wish I was exaggerating but trust me, I really am not.

Now as you probably know from my previous post, I recently repainted my chest of drawers in the dressing room a lovely soft mint green.

When I was initially questioning what to do with it, one of my lovely readers Jetta commented suggesting either a mirror or faux marble top. While mirror would be a bit too much upkeep (I use a lot of product for this crazy mane of mine, I could just imagine how difficult it would be to keep clean), the idea of the faux marble stuck. I’d of course seen it done on blogs before, most recently in Shannon from Burlap and Lace’s office remodel and it looked utterly amazing. (In fact, her entire office remodel was stunning so go check that out after you finish this post! ;))

Of course, I’d only seen it on American blogs and despite endless searches, I couldn’t find any ‘Marble Contact Paper’ here in the UK. Hmm. What to do, what to do…

Well, lo and behold, like so many things wonderfully British, it turns out there is such a thing. Except here (and I’ve got to love the way the British are so literal in their nomenclature), it’s called ‘Sticky Back Plastic’. Eureka!

Oh my lovely friends, this is the best part… I purchased it from Amazon for SIX POUNDS. Oh yes, now that’s what I call pretty on the cheap!!

Here’s how we created my faux marble slab for under a tenner…

As part of the renovation of our guest bedroom, we tore down the old closet in the corner of the room. The doors were still in there, waiting to be discarded or used for something else and I realised I could easily get my top by cutting one of the doors down to the size needed for the top of the chest of drawers. (Cost: £0)

The first picture is the underside of the original door. We cut the door to size, removed the hardware and sanded down all the knobbly bits of paint etc so that we had a totally smooth surface to apply the sticky back plastic. You want to ensure the surface you plan on covering is clean of any dust or uneven surfaces so be sure to start with that.

Next, lay your sheet of sticky back plastic so that it’s nice and straight with a bit of an overhang on all sides (you’ll be wrapping the paper around the edges to get that ‘slab’ effect so you want to make sure there’s enough overhang to do that) and begin to pull the backing paper off slowly from underneath the sheet.  As you do this, use a plastic scraper to work out any air pockets that might appear, pushing them towards the unstuck edge.

When you get to the end, wrap the paper around the edge and use the scraper to create a nice sharp edge.

Once wrapped around the edges, cut off any excess paper to create a sharp corner.

Now as you can see, the roll wasn’t wide enough to cover the entire piece of MDF so there is a seam where we had to join the paper. The pattern, however, is such that it’s surprisingly not too noticeable as we did our best to match up the pattern and you can’t even tell except when you really look for it. Very impressive.

The whole project took less than an hour!

Here’s how my ‘faux marble slab’ looks on top of my chest of drawers.

Hard to believe that chest of drawers looked like this not long ago…

Apologies I can’t show you a more ‘pulled back’ picture just yet as the rest of the room is still in a bit of chaos with my Billy Bookcase Hack but you’ll be happy to know the last coat of paint is now drying on the shelving and I’ll be backing them with wallpaper very soon! They are looking rather wonderful already though – can’t wait to share!

So what do you think of my new marble topped chest of drawers? I love that it’s really just a piece of MDF that’s sat on top (it’s heavy enough that it doesn’t move around so I didn’t need to attach it in any way) but if I ever wanted to change it or remove it, I could do so pretty easily. Honestly, for just around £7 with shipping, I’m loving this little makeover! I’ve already ordered more, anticipating the fact that I kind of want to cover my entire house in this stuff…

Any projects you can see yourself using this product? Or perhaps you already have and would like to share? I’d love to hear!!

Don’t miss a thing!

P.S….

Good news! My Joss & Main Sale has been extended for an extra day!! There’s still time to get a Swoon Worthy bargain for your home! Easily sign up here.

I’m also on Plume, Joss & Main’s blog, talking about how to get the “Eclectic Boho Glam” look in your home as well as a Q&A with me where I reveal my must-have pick for the season and what I think the next big ‘thing’ in interiors will be :)


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