This Is How Much It Costs to Cover Your Rental Cabinets in Washi Tape
There are two house tours in which the renters decided their apartments’ plain, boring kitchen cabinets weren’t cutting it. Renovating wasn’t an option, but these clever renters found a way to add color and pattern anyway: with washi tape! Both examples are vibrant and unique, but how much does it cost to cover your kitchen cabinets in tape? And how long does it take to do it? We got the lowdown.
As a designer whose job involves creating beautiful spaces, living in a rental without making big changes is doubly difficult for Anne Yvonne Stoltze. But she didn’t let those limitations get in the way of creating a beautiful and colorful New Orleans apartment. In her kitchen, she mixed and matched different washi tape patterns to create a kitchen look like no other.
“The kitchen needed some color and pattern and the tape is removable so the next resident can take it down if they would like.”
Rolls used
45: I used about three rolls of washi tape per cabinet and there are 15 cabinets.
Total cost
Washi tape costs between $1.50 – $4.00 per roll so I spent around $75 – $90 on the project.
Time spent
90 minutes: Each cabinet took about five minutes (and then another minute to use a box cutter to clean up the edges) and I did about four cabinets every morning for about four days.
Considering all the color that exists in the rest of Salvatore and Amina’s LA apartment, it’s not surprising they weren’t content with basic ol’ brown kitchen cabinets. They, too, decided to cover their cabinets with washi tape in an array of bright shades that complement their rainbow-hued home.
Rolls used
It took 40 rolls for the faces of the cabinets, an additional 10 rolls for the trim (.6 inches x 33 feet), and then eight washi tape sheets for the appliances.
Total cost
The cost was approximately $250-$300 for the entire kitchen.
Time spent
It took about 12 hours or one full day to complete the kitchen from beginning to end. [And they shot a video of how they did it!]
Thanks for all the info, Anne, Salvatore and Amina!
Weigh in! → What do you think, will you be covering your cabinets in tape any time soon? If you’ve tried this DIY before, share how many rolls it took, the cost, and how much time you spent…as well as any lessons you learned!