Contact the Fridge

Well hello there friends. You are probably expecting a picture of the spare room now that it is painted. Well, I might just do that. Maybe.

We did paint the room. We put on the first coat Friday night and I was wailing and freaking out as the color was NOT the color I was anticipating. I was calmed with soothing phrases like "It's just the first coat" and "maybe the beige underneath has something to do with it". They didn't help much because what was supposed to be a lovely purple looked like Barbie pink. 

My wonderful went to work (he does night shift) and came home the next morning at 7 and immediately jumped in to finish the room before I woke up. The second coat helped, and once it dried it did look a lot better, but it still didn't look right. The lighting is most likely the issue because when I used a special mode on my camera, it came out closer to the sample than in real life. Maybe once I get some curtains in there and furniture, things will look better.

The furniture and such will probably be slow coming (especially the most expensive piece which is the futon). But the rest I'm hoping to grab from thrift stores and yard sales before they end for the year (a big stretch I know). Since that will come much later, I will give you what I've got.

This was our first time painting a room. Furniture is much easier.... If you look closely (please don't) you will see the crazy terribly gaps around the trim and windows. I cropped the ceiling out completely cause it just makes me laugh and laugh.... till I hang my head in shame.

This is his new favorite spot in the house I think. He never has taken an interest in mirrors... till this one came about. I painted the vanity because it was a cheesy gold. I'm not into gold.

BUT! This has nothing to do with the post name!

I saw a pin on Pinterest about putting place mats in your fridge for easy cleaning and because they looked pretty. I thought, "Hey I can do that." But after thinking about the uneven placements moving around every time I grabbed something, I thought, "CONTACT PAPER!"

Bonus: You get to see our fridge full of crap.

I even did the door, kinda. 

Using Contact Paper

Now, I'm no expert, but I have used contact paper a couple times now. Here are a few things I have to say about Contact Paper.

Pros

• Comes in a variety of prints (with more and more pretty/attractive ones being made)
• It's basically a sticker so there is no yucky adhesive to deal with
• Easy to remove if you mess up (You will....)
• Can use it on all sorts of stuff!
• Affordable (you can get a pretty huge roll for about $5-6. It goes a Looooong way
• Easy to clean!

Cons

• Can be a pain to place, sometimes takes a lot of removal and replacing
• It's like wrapping paper in that you can never cut it straight! (IF you can, I hate you)

Here are a few things I suggest:

If you can, cut it into smaller, more manageable pieces. That way it isn't getting stuck to everything or falling in ways that leave lumps. If not, get someone to help you place larger pieces. (Not cat, cat's aren't helpful in this regard.)

Make sure the surface is clean. You want it to lay as flat as possible and having bits of wood or dirt, or mustard is going to be a problem. 

Be creative! There are lots of things you can dress up with just a little bit of contact paper. I'm going to be using it on the back of a bookcase to give it that nice touch. People suggest using wrapping paper or wallpaper for different things, this doesn't involve applying any adhesive so use it instead. 

I hope this is helpful and would love to see crafts or projects you do with contact paper. If you do something with it, email me photos so I can have a looksey and maybe I'll post them here for others to see!