DIY File Cabinet Makeover (You Won’t Believe It Is Contact Paper)

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Add to your home office with this stylish DIY hack

Our dining room turned home office is definitely made up of DIY projects that created our eclectic and fun office. First, we redid a large metal tanker desk in such a unique way that anything else we added to our office, definitely had to be FUN! This easy DIY file cabinet makeover was for sure that.

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Our DIY file cabinet makeover plan

After considering the following options listed above, we totally decided to try out contact paper and spray paint on our file cabinet. We have done so many different wall paintings using painter’s tape. I knew I could pull that off, but was totally looking for a way to easily get a funky patterned file cabinet with less mess.

I have to say I have never used contact paper before. The closest I have come is to use the foam drawer liner inside our bathroom vanity. I actually had that because I thought I was ordering contact paper to use for this redone file cabinet idea.

What is contact paper?

First off, I guess we should explore what contact paper is and uses for it. As I remember it, contact paper used to mainly be used to line drawers and old shelves. However, contact paper has come a long way from the ’70’s.

Contact paper is a decorative paper that has a very strong adhesive on the opposite side. There are so many different patterns and designs that you can find for a variety of DIY projects.

How to makeover a file cabinet with contact paper?

I am sure there are all types of contact paper out there. I ordered this one to try because I loved the geometric pattern and the price was pretty cheap. 

I figured if I couldn’t pull this off, then I could just use my DIY chalk paint recipe as I did on a laminate entertainment center that I turned into dress-up storage for my daughter. 

Other contact papers we considered using on our file cabinet

One thing interesting about these choices is that they are all cheaper than the paper we used (not by much). However, I was set on wanting to use a modern, geometric blue pattern. There are so many amazing contact papers and designs that would really work for this project.

The “before” file cabinet

This file cabinet is a cheap (but functional) compressed wood file cabinet on wheels. I believe ours was bought at Staples awhile ago or you can even find these on Amazon.

When I was looking to see if I could find my a place you could buy my file cabinet, I didn’t realize how expensive nice ones are!

So I guess I am glad that I decided to take this on as a DIY furniture makeover. While looking, I did think this would make a cool DIY Ikea hack on the Iris file with drawers.

Should you cover the whole file cabinet with contact paper?

I went back in forth between covering the whole file cabinet with contact paper or just the drawers. I decided the drawers would look great with the design. You can see how it would the design would have been too much if the whole file cabinet was patterned. Choosing a color that was already in our contact paper was a great design choice.

How to cover the file cabinet drawers with contact paper?

The biggest challenge with this particular drawers is the dip for where you hand can open the drawers. To make this file cabinet look more professional than just using cheap contact paper, you have to neatly cover the edges.

Since the top edge is curved, I knew this would be a little challenging.

However, it really wasn’t bad.

Steps for contact paper file cabinet redo

1. Cut a 2 block strip. The blocks were on the back of our contact paper as a guide to help cut straight lines. I lined that up on the edge with a little hanging over the back. 

2. Carefully stick one part on the drawer edge. As you pull the backing off you need to make sure you are using your fingers to push out any air bubbles. 

3. Wrap the extra along the back. I had to cut a small slit in the back near the curve so that the contact paper would lay nicely in the parts that we could see.

4. Cut a 12” (bigger than your drawer) piece of contact paper. 

5. Try to line up the design for the front piece. You will want paper hanging off the top and enough to wrap around the sides.

6. Once you wrap the edge and corners you can use a xacto knife to carefully trim an excess. 

7. In the corners, slit a little cut in the extra part so you can fold the corners nice and flat. I was surprised and how flat this contact paper layed after that.

8. Rub your nail or piece of cardboard or old credit card on all edges to make sure that you made the contact paper stick.

How to use spray paint on the file cabinet?

On the outside of the file cabinet, I knew I just wanted it to be white. I had leftover spray paint that I knew would be perfect. Make sure that you are using spray paint that has primer in it.

Here is the spray paint I have used for many different projects, including one of our blog favorites: DIY painted flower pots.

1. Cover the wheels with painter’s tape. Any brand will work.

2. I used a deglosser just to make sure the surface was clean.

3. I also had a few rough stops that we sanded. The top isn’t perfect, but what do you expect for a cheap file cabinet to begin with.

4. Spray at least 3 coats evenly of spray paint. 

5. Let dry overnight before bringing it in your home (stinky)!

How much did this DIY file cabinet makeover cost?

This file cabinet DIY project cost us under $10. It all depends on the contact paper you choose to use, but I was very happy with this roll. And I have leftovers for another project.

Since this file cabinet makeover only used half of can of spray paint and less than half of roll of contact paper, I would say under $10 for sure.

Finished Contact Paper File Cabinet

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Now I finally can get organized with my stylish (but cheap) file cabinet makeover project!