d-c-fix346-0306 Decorative Self-Adhesive Film, Grey Marble, 17" x 78" Roll

I used this marble contact paper as part of a makeover on two ikea dressers. I was hopeful yet skeptical, so I was thrilled at the quality and the results! It looks amazingly real! Everyone who sees it has thought that it was real - I only know this because I proudly announce, "DUDEEEEEEE THIS IS CONTACT PAPER!" to anyone that sees them, whether they care to know or not.It's only a little bit of a pain in the butt to put on, which is ok because I expected it to be a large pain in the butt.Here are a few tips:1) I think the most important thing is to unroll it slowly as you work so that you can hold the excess paper as tight and taut as possible while you smooth it on. I used a 6 inch plastic ruler to work out the air bubbles. Slow and steady wins the race when putting this on, but the results are worth it for the money!2) I followed the suggestion of another reviewer and googled "how to do corners with contact paper" and found a lot of helpful suggestions. As usual, the internet makes everything look a little bit easier than it really is, but I was able to finagle a few ideas together and make them work for me.3) The paper was just a little too narrow to cover the entire top of the dressers, so I had to use two strips. There's a seam where the two meet - this would be almost impossible to avoid as it's not an actual slab of marble and I am not some sort of contact paper whisperer. For my purposes, this is totally fine - I used as wide of a piece as possible and then used a smaller strip at the back of the dresser. Since the dressers are against a wall, and I have various tchotchkes on them, it's really not noticeable. If you are covering a large and/or highly visible surface, this something I would consider.It's hard to get the patterns to match up along a seam - and even if you did, it would likely mean wasting a lot of paper AND the seam would still be visible if you were looking at it from close up. If this is the type of thing that would drive you bonkers, it might not be the right fit for you. I also think curved surfaces/corners would be tough. Do-able for those folks out there that are pluckier and more patient than me, but I probably would have lost my marbles.4) Have your tools laid out within arm's reach before you start - once you remove the backing from the adhesive, it's really all systems go time. Here are the things I found most helpful:• Plastic ruler to use for a "squeegee". Obviously it doesn't have to be plastic, or even a ruler, but you are going to want something rigid/strong for this. I found the advantage of the ruler to be that there's no handle - I did this project on my own, so I found myself contorted at odd angles for much of the time, and a squeegee handle would have been unwieldy to manage.• Scissors• X-acto knife - I used the scissors for making big cuts and the x-acto knife for cleaning up the edges and doing the corners.• Pencil - helpful to measure/mark the back of the paper for extra strips/pieces.All in all, for the price, it's a seriously awesome product for small projects. I ended up needing to buy two rolls for this project (two dressers), but have most of the second roll leftover for a rainy day DIY.

This review is for folks who want to know how well this paper holds up -- in my experience: amazingly well!I applied the paper to my Formica kitchen countertops (see before and after pics) over two years ago. Since then, the paper has not peeled or stained -- it looks like when I applied it. Honestly, I'm shocked. I thought the edges would pop up at some point, but nope, everything has stayed stuck. These counters are pretty high traffic since my kitchen is tiny. To keep the paper nice, I just make sure of a few obvious things: 1) I don't put anything hot directly on it; 2) I wipe it regularly; 3) I keep sharp things away (don't cut stuff on it, duh). The last point I was actually a bit lax on, so I have some superficial scuffs where i dragged a coffeemaker back and forth every day for like a year before I realized I was scratching the paper.The bottom line is, the paper was only meant to be a temporary glow-up until I remodeled my kitchen, but it's held up so well, I'm fine with keeping it and continuing to save money!I won't go in-depth into the application process since many other reviewers have shared tips -- I'll just say I watched a couple Youtube videos and used an Exacto knife and credit card. It was pretty easy, and it turned out really well -- just a few tiny bubbles that I fixed easily. My one minor beef (because I am anal) is that I got two rolls, and I swear one roll had a warm undertone and the other had a cool undertone. No one has said anything or probably even notices, and I stopped obsessing about it as soon as I put down the paper and saw how good it looked compared to mint green laminate (sorry, retro fans).I haven't tried removing it, so can't speak to that. But if you're into the long-term outlook, I say go for it!

The paper itself is great!! The grid on the back is extremely helpful. My sink only needed 1.25 rolls to complete (probably could have just been one, but I messed up a few pieces and had to discard).As far as the application, watch YouTube videos first!! I should’ve watched more with my type of sink before trying this. All of the videos I saw were for non-sunken, square sinks, if that makes sense. Where I messed up is I cut the paper before getting to the sink and then tried to cut smaller pieces around the sink. DON’T DO THIS!!!!! You can see the lines and it makes it more obvious that it’s fake. Also, because the width of the paper only covered 3/4 of the width of the sink, I thought overlapping the bottom 1/4 with the top 3/4 would make the pattern blend better... DON’T DO THIS EITHER!!!! You can see the overlap! I attached pics to try and show what I mean.Also with the application, I tried using the windex and squeegee method to apply. It worked for the top left corner, but I couldn’t get the bottom/edge part right. Maybe I used too much windex, but the corners kept sliding. I finally just wiped off the windex, cut a new piece, and just laid it using a credit card to press out the air bubbles. It worked but it took MUCH longer than the windex method.Doing the curve into the sink was a bit of a challenge. I watched some YouTube videos and they said to use a hair dryer (blow dryer) to get the plastic to bend. It worked well.I’m going to order another roll and redo. The sink looks good from afar, but up close it’ll drive me mad to stay like that where I can see the lines. What I’ll do differently next time is measure out the paper from the wall to the right edge and cut out holes for the sink and faucet. I’ll get a nice clean layout without att the lines around the sink. Also, I will not overlap the bottom part to avoid those lines too.The whole thing took me two hours, but my method was not very efficient. When I redo, I will update my review with pics and how much time it took.I will say I am the most DIY-inept person on the planet, so if I can do this (once I try again lol), you can too!