A GOLD STRIPED FRIDGE

June 9, 2013

Most of our apartment’s style has many navys, reds, browns, tans, and wood tones. I love having our space decorated in a way that makes David feel at home and comfortable, and that means curtailing some of my ultra-girly design tastes. (Don’t get me wrong, I also feel 100% at home here. I don’t like when wives go overly girly with decor for their home.) Keeping with all that, I wanted to try something a bit glam in the kitchen. I love when a room has one thing that is kind of unexpected from the vibe of everything else.

Rental kitchens can be really tough to work with.

You can’t paint cabinets, replace appliances, or re-tile anything, which basically leaves it stuck as-is. Which is why this idea to change our fridge in a completely cheap and removable way was perfect for our needs. You know I’m excited about something if I instagram it before I’ve even written a post.

A Gold Striped Fridge (made of duct tape!) from Rachel Schultz

What is that? You might be asking. Duct tape! So perfectly cheap & removable, but it makes a big, fun impact. Especially in our casual and playful first apartment vibe.

Duct tape has really raised its game the past few years. I’ve seen a zillion new patterns and colors, but never thought it’d be much use to anyone other than a seventh grader decorating their english notebook. Wrong^10!

I cleaned off all our various magnets & memorabilia. (Jury’s out on if I want to return any of the stuff back to the fridge, or just let the gold shine through in all its glory.) Then, I gave the big thing a huge scrub and wipe down. I kind of love excuses to do deep cleaning on the stuff we don’t wash routinely.

Now, the fun part: putting on the tape. I was intimidated this would require a lot of meticulous measurements. I did do some occasional pencil marks to keep things straight, but you’d I think do okay to eye-ball everything. The whole fridge by myself took about one and a half hours. (I’m estimating this based on that I got through 3/4 of The King’s Speech on Netflix.) I used almost exactly 2 rolls of gold duct tape.

David says he likes it, so chalk it up as a victory. Let this be an inspiration to renters or old fridge owners everywhere! You can do it! There’s hope! Many have asked if the tape will leave a residue on the fridge when removed. Below I wrote a final report from when we moved out.

UPDATE FROM MOVING OUT

Whenever any friends who also follow the blog came over to the apartment there was always one thing they most wanted to see – the gold fridge. No doubt, it is quite a statement piece.

What was the number one question about it? Far and away: do you think it will leave a residue when you take it off?

My hunch was no. I had tested small corners to see if anything was forming and it always removed smoothly with nothing left behind. Even if there was, it would not be anything goo gone could not fix.

Well, here is what happened: it all came off! It took David about 10 minutes to remove and there was no residue.

We gave it a good wipe down when we left and it was back to being a normal, cheap fridge in a rental.

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Comments

  • Theresa

    I adore this look and am wanting to do this to my fridge, but I wanted to ask how it’s held up? I have kids so our fridge gets a lot of abuse and I don’t know if I might fair better to paint the stripes on. I appreciate your feedback as to its durability! Thank you!

    • Rachel Schultz

      We had no problems! It stayed on until we moved out.

  • Katie

    I love this idea! I’m just wondering if it leaves a mess after you remove the tape?

    • Rachel Schultz

      I’ve peeled it back to check a few times and it has not so far!

    • Lyla McLean

      I duct taped a window where a draft was coming in, Never again. What a mess was left when the tape was removed. Maybe depends on the quality of the duct tape also. Good luck. The fridge looks fabulous!

  • mandi

    i’m obsessed with this! i can’t wait to do it myself!

  • Saw this on Pinterest, and think I will use this for my fridge! COOL!

  • M

    That is Awsome!!! I love that! I live in an apartment and that is a wonderful idea!!!

  • […] A Gold Striped Fridge on Rachel Schultz […]

  • That is a genius idea. I bow down to your DIY greatness.

    Seriously, I’m in such awe and just put gold duct tape on my grocery list for this week.

    xo

  • […] is this gold-striped refrigerator from Rachel Schultz. I mean, how cute is this? I’m dying to do this to a fridge one day- not the one I have now, […]

  • This is genius! And looks amazing. Im so inspired to go get some duct tape right now!

    • Rachel Schultz

      Yay! Tell me how it goes if you try it…

  • AshleighES

    Absoultely takes the kitchen to a whole other level, love it!! I also love how you used the space on top of the fridge. How do you choose pieces to accesorize? I do not know what I am doing, I would like the top of my dresser jazzed up.

    • Rachel Schultz

      Thanks Ashleigh! First, just collect items you enjoy and that mean something to you. Also, try to vary height, shape, and texture to my the collection nice to look at for the eye.

  • Gabriela

    I absolutely love it! Look amazing! You are so creative!

    • Rachel Schultz

      Thanks Gabriela!

  • Rachel,
    I just LOVE this duct tape on your fridge! It’s so amazing and bold. Thank you for this incredible blog. I love reading all your posts. :)

    -Amanda Gay

    • Rachel Schultz

      Thanks Amanda!

  • Oh wow! What a transformation! I don’t think that would fly very well in my apartment but I really like the look…

    • Rachel Schultz

      Thanks!

  • Karen

    Won’t the duct tape leave residue on the fridge?

    • Rachel Schultz

      I peeled some back to check and that wasn’t my experience. I have goo-gone on standby though.

      • It probably will leave a residue after being left there a few years, but Goo Gone would work or any other of those removal products.

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