Does your cubicle inspire you to finish your daily tasks? Mine wasn’t cutting it for a long time, bringing down my emotional state. Maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but anything that can be done to improve my workweek on a budget was worth a try! In March of 2019, I decided to decorate my cubicle at work to help brighten my mood and increase my productivity.

My office had the standard cubicle fare: beige, fabric greige cubicle walls and grey-ish table tops with beige shelves.

Boring as heck, honestly.

Here is what I transformed my space into:

I installed this “wallpaper” in March 2019, and this video was filmed in March 2020 before I went on maternity leave. The video contains tips and tricks I used to transform my ugly cubicle into a much more fun one! Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, my office temporarily closed at the end of March 2020 and I wasn’t able to get back inside to film close up shots and take better photos. Since then, my department transitioned to be fully work-from-home so I was never able to return. I enjoyed this setup for a year and the wrapping paper held up very well during that time!

Welcome to My Cubicle – Video Tour

Cubicle Makeover Budget Details

I spent a grand total of $19.44 to make my desk look cute. It’s a small price to pay to create a refreshing mood among a sea of grey and beige office equipment.

DIY Wallpaper Using Wrapping Paper

I purchased inexpensive wallpaper in two different prints for Dollarama that coordinated nicely. I think I was hunting for the perfect wallpaper for months, shopping at various stores. The tricky part was finding wrapping paper that didn’t scream BIRTHDAY. I wanted a neutral palette. Winners had a lot of great options but their per-roll price was more than I wanted to spend. When Dollarama got these prints in, I pounced!

How to Wallpaper Your Cubicle with Wrapping Paper

This method is compatible with soft fabric paneled cubicles. If you have a solid panel rather than a paneled cubical, you can probably swap all the pinning steps with ordinary cello tape.

First, I wrote down the measurements of all the panels I wanted to cover. Then added approximately 2cm / 1in to each measurement to tuck around the panels.

Roll out your wrapping paper and make sure that you consider what direction your print is. If you have a cat print, for example, you’d want to make sure your cat heads are facing the correct direction and not rotated.

I used sewing pins to attach the wallpaper. You could also just thumbtack it on, but the thumbtacks will be visible.

This is a reenactment because my office closed and I couldn’t return. 🙃But, I pinned the fabric within the edge of the panels, hidden as much as possible. For left and right sides, I pinned with the heads at the pin at the top, with the pin going straight down.

To save pins, I only pinned it on the left, top, and right, letting the bottom of the panels flow freely. You could totally pin at the bottom as well if you like.

You could do all panels the same wrapping paper, but to add a design element, I did some panels in the feather print and some panels in the geometric print.

Finishing Touches

With the leftover wrapping paper, I wrapped some of my shelves and wrapped a little box to corral my chapstick and flavoured-water enhancers.

I added some decor items, framed art in matching frames, and decluttered my desk from unnecessary stuff.

One of my favourite changes was adding a hook to my cubicle for my blazer and and my purse. I work in operations, so I rarely meet up with clients. But I love having a blazer on hand in case of an emergency meetup. A blazer makes you feel immediately confident – just me? For a long time I had it hanging on the back of my chair but adding the hook made my workspace feel much more organized. The hook was from Dollarama, and I was able to squeeze it between the metal and the panel and it held up great, even with my heavy purse.

Have you decorated your office? Let the Craftcore community know in the comments what you did to brighten up your environment. 💜✨