Hello AT,
This might be a little too Martha Stewart for AT's taste, but here goes:
where can I find good-looking, non-hideous shelf-liner paper? You know, the stuff Mom and Gramma used to line the kitchen drawers so they don't get filled with (or at least hide) the crumbs, etc?
My apt has the previous tenant's Laura Ashley drawer liner paper in the kitchen. While I appreciate the drawer liners and the efforts at cleanliness, the flowers are not to my taste. The stuff at the hardware store, KMart, etc. is not my taste either. Any thoughts? Amy
Amy, we love Martha and are surprised that her Everyday line at Kmart doesn't have anything to fit your bill. It is a tough category. We would recommend that some enterprising designer create nice ones and we'll blog it.
For ourselves, we love the heavy duty ribbed plastic liners. Here they are with a few other so-so things we found:
(Thanks, Amy!) MGR
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Comments (8)
I found some self adhesive shelf liners at www.designyourwall.com.
I too was looking for some nice graphic (non-flowery) drawer liners for my new bedroom dressers and after an hour of searching online, I found these heavy, non-adhesive, non-slip, smooth vinyl top liners that come in many different designs and sizes: http://www.duckproducts.com/products/detail.asp?catid=5&subid=23&plid=104&PID=2280. Now I just have to figure out where to buy them! The website says they sell through Home Depot, Lowe's, Kmart, Target, Office Depot, and others so I think I'll be making a few stops to find either the argyle or taupe/blue squares designs.
I don't know how apartment therapy this is either, but it's at least as at as mexican oil cloths. Anna Maria Horner is selling some cute oil cloths at present. I tend to believe that "oil cloth" should mean lacquer, not vinyl, but if it has a use: http://freespiritfabric.com/core-pages/gallery.php?gal_id=176&sw_id=2010
After reading this, I am leaning toward cork. It seems like it will cushion well and you can still wipe it off. Thinking of buying it from this place who will cut it to size. www.customcutliners.com. Anyone ever use them?
Searching on the internet, I found this website with some very nice paper styles. Maybe it will help someone.
http://www.chicshelfpaper.com
Looks like you can request samples too.
Cork is great stuff - I have some cork flooring, and have a cork desk pad that has been in use for about twenty years and still looks great. It is amazingly durable, yet stops noise and keeps stuff from sliding around. So I just jumped on the www.customcutliners.com suggestion.
Their cork is 1/8" thick, and does not have the messy adhesive back, which is unnecessary since cork gradually conforms to whatever you put it over, and stays put all by itself. You can select sizes to the 1/8", and for more precision you can have them "safety cut" another 1/16" off each edge. If a standard roll fit your job with no waste, you'd spend about 50% extra to have them custom cut it. For my sizes, the price was about the same as cutting it myself and having lots of scrap leftover.
If this turns out to be not a good deal, I'll get back to you...
Real experience with the "customcutliners" cork:
They cut it exactly to the promised sizes, square and clean, and shipped it across the country amazingly quickly. It fit perfectly...
Until my ocean climate and the rainiest spring in years hit it - then it grew about 1/8" per foot in all directions! I had to trim all the edges to keep it from bulging up randomly all over. (Best results were by using a razor blade scraper pressed straight down along a metal straightedge.) Now that summer is finally here, it has shrunk back to its original volume, leaving gaps at the edges.
That's probably because it isn't polished smooth and sealed like flooring. It has a soft, nubbly surface that is great for cushioning and holding stuff, but would be a disaster if you spilled sticky liquid on it. It is obviously unsealed against moisture, and would be impossible to wipe clean.
So plan ahead if you live in a damp climate, and if your application involves kids and goo, this isn't your material.
Target has very modern shelf liners, all different designs. Very tasteful.