There is a good chance that, at some point, you will live somewhere where someone wants to stifle your interior-decorating whims. Maybe your parents aren’t cool with that One Direction mural you want to paint on your ceiling, or maybe your landlord insists that the giant castle you want to install for your cat is a “fire hazard.” When I moved to college this past August, I was concerned about how plain and sterile my dorm room looked. I’d spent the last 18 years cultivating the perfect amount of decorative clutter in my childhood bedroom, and suddenly I had to live somewhere where I wasn’t even allowed to paint the walls or hang pictures.

However, one night, as I procrastinated experimented with interior design, I discovered a way to spruce up my desk without causing any permanent damage. Using a few office supplies and a little patience, you can make a cute scalloped border for any piece of furniture that has an edge. Now that my desk is so adorable, I’m more likely to spend hours there watching Netflix on my laptop—I mean studying.

You’ll need:

  • A stack of Post-it notes in a color of your choice
  • Paper tape, aka washi tape. It is very important that you use paper tape, because it doesn’t damage surfaces when it’s peeled off! Plus, it comes in the best variety of patterns and colors. I bought mine at Target, but you can find it here, here, and on Etsy.
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Cup/mug with a round bottom whose diameter is slightly smaller than your sticky notes

1. With the glued edge of the Post-it note facing away from you, place the cup in the middle of the page. Using your pencil, trace a circle around the bottom.

2. Draw a line from the corner of each note to your circle. Peel off the Post-it note and cut along the lines. This shape will now serve as your scallop template!

3. Stick the template back on the stack of Post-it notes so that the glued edges meet. Trace the edge of the template onto the note below. Cut out and repeat to create as many scallops as you need to fill the length of your surface. For two desk shelves, I needed about 30.

4. Stick the scallops next to one another on the edge of the furniture until it’s covered.

5. Roll the washi tape along the edge, on top of the scallops, smoothing with your thumb as you go.

Since the tape can be removed so easily, you can swap colors and patterns as much as you’d like. Unlike an elaborate shrine to Harry Styles, this is one DIY you will never regret. ♦