Wallpaper. So Much Wallpaper.
I watch a ton of HGTV shows. A ton. I always have, even before HGTV was a thing. Remember Trading Spaces on TLC? I watched that religiously. This Old House, always been a goodie. In college, I would buy & refinish/repurpose/upcycle furniture, even with my $7.35/hour job and full time class load. I love this stuff. (Amazing side note, J has gotten into them too! Escape from the Chateau. Fixer to Fabulous, Good Bones - he’s hooked…or at least a little bit interested.)
If you’ve poked around the galleries on this blog, you’ll notice a theme: wallpaper. I’ve noticed in the last couple of years on the home shows that wallpaper is making more of an appearance. With the advent of peel & stick wallpaper, I can see the benefit - change up a room quickly and do something trendy and fun with low commitment. That said, I.hate.wallpaper. I can’t believe how many of these designers on these shows use it - just because it’s a trendy pattern now, it doesn’t mean you should coat the walls in it. Think of the poor people buying that house in 15+ years from now! It’s horrible for us! Wallpaper is the worst!
When we set eyes on this house and decided to put in an offer, part of my contingency with J was that we would hire out the wallpaper removal. Now that we’re here, there are a million other things we have to and want to spend money on, so say hello to Megan, The Wallpaper Remover. (I’m free.)
I’ve done a ton of research and there are basically three top ways to remove wallpaper:
Wallpaper steamer
Downy & hot water
Dawn dishsoap & hot water
As you read in the post about Guest Room 1, we started with the wallpaper border in there. Silly us, we thought it would all be that easy.
Assess wallpaper
Determine if you hate it enough to take this on
Decide that you do
Buy wallpaper steamer at Lowe’s
Wait a million years for the thing to heat up
Accept that it’s terribly designed and water sputters out everywhere
Grab another set of hands to run a towel under the steamer so it doesn’t ruin your baseboards/floors
Finally get the hang of it
Run steamer back & forth over a 1-2 foot section for about 30 seconds
Have second pair of hands use one hand to catch all the excess water and the other hand to start to peel the wallpaper slooooowlllyyyyy
If any paper is left behind, run the steamer over the paper backing, you only got the top printed part off
Use a plastic putty knife to scrape the warmed gluey papery mess off the wall
Clean up the gluey papery mess quickly - if you let it sit on the floor/wall/your foot, it will re-adhere itself to that surface
Continue around the room, patting yourself on the back for how easy this is
Clean up all of the mess, find the last remnants of paper on the walls, hit them again with the steamer, scrape them again
Wash any warmed sticky glue off the walls with TSP or if it’s really sticky, Goo Gone in small doses works (may damage paint, but you’re going to paint anyway) - note that scraping works best
Look around the room, high five your second pair of hands and smile, saying “Wow! That was easy!”
Move on to a different room while still high on the success of room 1
Realize that you were spoiled and most rooms will not be that easy
Accept defeat, the wallpaper will always win
For steps 18-20, I moved on to the West Wing bedroom, the master in the back of the house. I mean, if Guest Room 1 was so easy, I’ve got this! ON TO THE TOILE!
It was not that easy.
More to come on the West Wing!
