Matte black. That was my dream. Most people want a stainless-steel fridge, but something about the matte black really appealed to me. I could either paint the fridge we currently have or buy a new one.
However, a new fridge would cost a lot of money and there is nothing wrong with ours. I couldn’t see spending the money to buy a new fridge only because I didn’t like its color. Not in this season of life anyway.
Our fridge is a standard off-white fridge with the same handles that everyone else has. It was left in our home by the previous owners and you can tell by the wearing on the handle just where they always grabbed to open that fridge door.
I’ve been working on sprucing up our kitchen with budget friendly hacks. I painted all the cabinetry, covered our countertops with contact paper and updated the hardware to a beautiful matte black.
Kitchen Makeover- Painting Cabinets and Updating Countertops
Contact Paper on Countertops? Everything You Need to Know!
I’m loving all the changes, but with everything else getting a facelift, it just shows how yellow our fridge was really looking. It doesn’t belong. While my kitchen is slowly transforming into having a more modern look, this fridge is making the whole room come to a complete halt with this retro-yellowy look.
I longed for the matte black fridge. For awhile I considered painting it. I was committed for a bit and even did all my research for it.
I knew I needed to sand it, get some sort of appliance primer to make sure the paint would stick to it and then make sure I got a strong paint that wouldn’t chip or scratch off every time I opened the door.
As I was getting ready to go shopping for supplies, I decided to check out a few other blogs before I made my list to make sure I wasn’t going to forget anything I needed for this project. As I was scrolling through Pinterest looking at everyone’s beautifully painted fridges, I noticed someone who did something else.
They used contact paper on their fridge. They had gone a little more eccentric than traditional matte black, but I still loved the idea. Why couldn’t I get my matte black fridge with contact paper?
Needless to say, I skipped my shopping trip that was intended to get stuff to paint the fridge and spent the time researching contact paper on the fridge instead. Since I had just put contact paper on my countertops, I knew quite a bit with dealing with contact paper and how it held up.
If you really want to learn about contact paper on your countertops or contact paper in general, check this post out.
My decision to use contact paper on the fridge rather than paint the fridge came easy. It all comes down to one major bonus for me. With contact paper, if I don’t like it, if it gets ruined, if I change my mind, if I want to sell this fridge later down the road, I can just peel it off.
Paint is more permanent. My biggest concern with paint was painting it just right to make sure the paint bonded with the slippery surface of the fridge and that it wouldn’t scratch off. With contact paper, that isn’t even a concern.
With contact paper, the prep work is easy, the process is fast, and the cost is about the same as paint.
Putting Contact Paper on Your Fridge
Trial and Error
Here’s the part where I share what I did wrong in this project. I do this so you can learn from my mistakes and hopefully not make the same ones I did. I’m here for you, friend! Consider me your DIY guinea pig.
I loved the contact paper brand (d-c-fix) I had used to cover our countertops. I knew it was durable and good quality so I went for that brand first. However, using the matte black in that brand, I was going to need at LEAST 5 rolls at $20 a roll just to cover the front, one side and the top of the fridge. (I did not cover the side next to the wall because it won’t be seen and I thought it would be a waste of money.)
Not wanting to spend that much, I started searching for a cheaper alternative.
I wanted my matte black fridge, but I also wanted to keep this DIY project as cost friendly as possible. It would be pointless to make the fridge be almost as expensive as buying a new one and once I started looking at the different options, it was getting easy to start heading in that direction.
This might be an opportunity to branch out and get creative. Maybe I could turn this yellow-white fridge into a beautiful accent piece that your eye is immediately drawn to when you walk in my kitchen.
Then, I thought of this brilliant idea. Well, I thought so at the time. I found this contact paper at Target that I had used as inserts for my cabinet drawers and shelves. It matched my kitchen perfectly. I loved the pattern it had for the inside of my drawers, so maybe it would look good on my fridge too, right?
The best part about it was it was around $5 for a roll and I only needed one. I figured I could cover the front of my fridge with the durable d-c-fix brand of matte black contact paper and cover the rest with this cheaper brand.
Here’s a picture of the end result.
Not terrible, but not my style. I shared it on Instagram and some of my followers liked it, but it was too funky for me.
I kept it on for about a week and then was able to easily peel off the funky patterned contact paper. See, this is why I need projects that I can just peel off when I change my mind. I couldn’t have as easily done that if I had decided to paint the fridge.
It did leave a little bit of sticky residue, but I just took a scrubby and wiped it off.
In the end, decided to go back to my original plan of all matte black and found a cheaper brand to cover the side and top of the fridge. Moral of the story; always stay true to yourself and stick to your original plans!
Getting Down to Business
What you Need
- Contact paper (I used two brands- this is my favorite brand and this is the budget friendly brand)
- Smoother and Cutter
- Scissors
What is Contact Paper?
Contact paper is an adhesive paper typically made out of a vinyl material that you can stick onto surfaces. It’s commonly used as the lining for the inside of cabinet drawers.
However, it can also be used to cover a variety of surfaces such as, my new personal favorites, countertops and refrigerators.
Contact paper comes in a roll and can be cut to a whatever size or shape you’d like. It also comes in a variety of designs, styles and textures so have fun and get creative with whatever you choose!
This fun adhesive paper sticks well to just about any surface (I’ve found it doesn’t love wood) and peels off so easily! The fact that I can just peel it off if I don’t like it is my favorite part about it and what attracted me to it in the first place.
Prep the Fridge
Start by removing the handles. Standard fridge handles unscrew fairly easily and pop right off. You can save them to put them back on after if you choose. I decided to DIY some fun, new custom ones.
Next, clean the fridge. You’ll want to make sure the surface is free from dirt, grease and dust. Once the surface is clean, you’re ready to apply the contact paper. Just make sure it’s dry after you’ve cleaned it.
Applying the Contact Paper
Starting from the top of the fridge, unroll the contact paper and measure out the piece you need for the section you’re tackling. I used my cutter to cut each piece, but the contact paper has grids on the back so you could use scissors to cut a straight line.
Once you have your piece, peel back the edge and place it on your starting place on the fridge. I worked top to bottom. Slowly pull back the backing paper and use your smoother to help smooth and stick the paper to your fridge.
Only peel a little bit of the paper at a time as you work with it because it’s more challenging to work with one large sticky piece. Continue until you’ve covered the entire surface.
There will be different parts that you might have to cut around. Just take your cutter and try your best to cut as close as possible.
When it comes to putting the contact paper on a corner, I cut a slit in the paper using my cutter from the edge of the corner to the end of the piece of contact paper. Then, I folded each piece in.
The Handles
You can choose to screw back on the original handles or spray paint them, but I wanted to have custom and unique handles for my new fridge. This was so easy, makes a huge transitional look to our fridge and so worth it in my opinion.
For the handles, I used one inch bell clamps that I spray painted a matte black and two one inch wooden dowels.
I measured out where I wanted the dowels and how long I wanted them and then cut them with our saw.
Screwing the bell clamps in was the most challenging part and honestly, I had my husband help me with that part. I would suggest using the holes from the previous handles. We only had one hole from the old handles on the front surface of the fridge, so we had to make new holes for the other three bell clamps.
I was a little nervous about screwing a hole into the fridge. But according to what I found online, it said for most fridges (unless you have an ice maker inside the door), it is safe to screw into the door and you won’t hit any cooling lines.
Once the bell clamps were on, we were able to slide the dowels in place and tighten the clamps. I am so in love with the rustic and industrial look in brings to the fridge. Plus, I’m adding touches of natural wood in our kitchen, so it really helps bring things together in the room.
Conclusion
Alright, do I have you convinced? I’m not against the decision to paint the fridge. Trust me, I was SO CLOSE to doing it myself.
For me, personally, the decision to use contact paper for this budget friendly DIY was easy. The pros outweigh the cons and ultimately it’s easier, faster and a safer option for me than the option to paint the fridge.
I got my matte black beauty fridge at a low cost and easy process. Remember, you can always peel it off.