Alternate title: six ways that marble contact paper is about to change your life (and your home decor game) forever.

I’m obsessed with the look of milky white Carrara marble… but I’m also obsessed with doing things on the cheap. Marble contact paper is the perfect marriage of both passions: it looks luxe, but doesn’t cost big bucks.

If you haven’t worked with contact paper before, you’re in for a real treat. Contrary to its name, it’s not actually paper… it’s a thin but relatively durable material (usually some sort of vinyl laminate) with a groovy design printed on the surface, and a sticky underside that can be applied to literally whatever your heart desires.

Peel-and-stick contact paper is most commonly used to line shelves or drawers… but there’s something about marble contact paper that really conjures a spirit of ingenuity and innovation; a desire to think outside of the box (…or cover that box in marble!)

As this stuff slowly takes over my home, I’m sharing a few of my favorite marble contact paper DIY projects thus far.

First step: find the right paper for your project!

Most of these projects were made using Duck Brand’s white marble contact paper, which has a very realistic blue-tinted design and a smooth satin finish. For other projects (like my make up drawer) I used this white marble contact paper with a shiny finish and a darker, more intricate grey marbled design.

(Note: if white and grey isn’t your shtick, there are tons of other fun colors and finishes to try! Like pink, black, brown…)

Once you’ve picked your paper, it’s time to get creative…

1. Coasters

This one’s like the Girl Scout project of marble contact paper. Starting out with a small project is a good way to get familiar with the paper, and figure out which application methods work best for keeping your surface smooth and free of bubbles or wrinkling.

2. Boring Glass Tabletop? Make it Marble!

In lieu of a bar cart, I’ve been using this Vittsjö table from Ikea to display our super-small booze collection. (Can you tell we’re not big liquor people?)

On its own, this little glass table was just OK…

…so I decided to spruce up the surface with my marble contact paper!

I measured and cut…

…then I carefully pulled away the backing and applied directly onto the glass, using a cloth to gently smooth out my bubbles as I worked my way across.

Once the surface was smooth, I flipped the glass over and pulled the contact paper taut, then wrapped them around onto the underside of the glass to create smooth, crisp edges.

Glass and contact paper are a match made in heaven. Between the super-realistic look of the contact paper, and the smooth sturdy feel of the glass, my final product was the next best thing to a thin slab of actual stone:

Pretty legit, right?!

This is definitely one of my finer DIY moments…

3. Marble Utensil Holder

Ok… yes, I could have just bought an actual marble utensil holder… but what’s the fun in that? Instead, I decided to re-purpose the cheap Ikea utensil holder we’ve been hanging onto since our apartment days.

I was worried that the contact paper wouldn’t lay quite right over the holes in my utensil holder, so I covered them up with some packing tape first.

My contact paper went on smooth over the tape (nary a hole in sight!). After wrapping the canister in contact paper, I cut slits into the excess paper at the top and bottom of the utensil holder. That way, when I folded the excess paper down, I was able to get a cleaner edge:

4. Fake Marble Bath Vanity

This is the DIY that started it all! We wanted to fix up a hideous bathroom, but we had a tight budget (and an even tighter time frame).

We had a hideous bath vanity:

Initially we planned on painting the wood white, but when I discovered marble contact paper (and my life turned upside down) I decided to try creating a faux marble countertop instead. You can read more about these DIY countertops here!

5. Laptop Cover? Umm YES!

Skip the snazzy decals and bulky cases… just throw some contact paper on your laptop and call it a day!

I applied my contact paper onto the top of my laptop, then used the sharp edge on a pair of scissors to skim away the excess material:

(Yes, running a blade along the aluminum body of my MacBook Pro felt a little bit like dancing with the devil…)

Don’t worry about cutting out the apple logo… it’ll shine right through:

6. Take it Back to the Basics: Line Some Drawers

Of course one of the best ways to use contact paper is just the way God intended: for lining drawers and shelves! I laid down a layer in my make up drawer, and I’ve felt at least 10% fancier every time I’ve sat down to apply my make up since!

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