I like to do parametric tables and shelves but I suck at finishing and like the look of laminates but here is the thing. Formica down at the local home improvement store runs $60-90 a sheet. Plastic for road boxes is about half that but quite limited in colors.

So my question is, is there something out there that goes on like Formica but is reasonably durable and much less expensive?

I've seen peel and stick stuff advertised but is any of it much more than glorified shelf paper?

What about thinking outside the box? is there flooring or something I should look into?

As always, any help is much appreciated.