The Ongoing Saga of De-Uglifying My House

aka: Adventures in Wallpaper Removal

When we moved into the house, I knew it needed work.  And I wasn't afraid of that.  Fortunately for us, the majority of the work is cosmetic: paint, paint, and yep: more paint.  Unfortunately, our new abode also contains wallpaper.  I am not a fan myself.  I think it mostly looks dated, tacky, and generally hideous.  Particularly when adorned with teacups and green stripes.  Blech.   

We've got one wall in the kitchen with wallpaper. 

This is tucked out of the way, next to the entrance to the garage, so I'm sure it didn't really disturb anyone but me.  Note where it was peeling up.  Klassy!

We also had a large wall in the adjoining dining room covered in wallpaper. Oh, of course there is a border encircling the kitchen and dining room (I will probably forever loathe teacups and sunflowers by the time this is all done). 

Immediately after moving in, I had gotten a little overeager & tried to dry strip the wallpaper.  I was really, really hopeful it was going to just pop right off.  Too bad I wasn't really, really lucky! I ended up with a "giant" on the wall. I've been staring at this for weeks, and after yesterday's Day of Sloth, I decided a little update was in order.

 I rounded up my good friends Hot Water and Vinegar & went to town. 

 First, I scored the wallpaper with one of those "tiger paw" devices.  Then I sprayed on a 50/50 mixture of hot water and vinegar.  The online instructions said to let it sit for 15 minutes.  I found this was much too long, and most of the solution evaporated after 5-10 minutes.  I averaged about 5 minutes, then began scraping with a plastic scraper. 

My first pass.  The big wall had a lot of the vinyl portion of the wallpaper already stripped off, which was a huge help. The solution soaked right into the gluey paper, and scraped off easily.   

If you look closely, you can see where the paper is bubbling up after being soaked with water/vinegar. 

Big pieces of the paper would peel right off.  

One section down....

And Done!

Then, I got ambitious and thought "Hey, that little wall shouldn't be too bad!" ..... and 2.5 hours later I had it done!  Maybe the sunlight shining on the other wall for 15 years had helped the glue to loosen.... because despite the peeling bits on this wall, the rest of the paper was solidly attached.

Done, Part II!

Check out the piles of wet, gluey, vinegary wallpaper scraps. Ugh.  I rolled it all up into the drop cloth and dumped it into a trash bag.  My "new" walls may be scraped and dirty and smell like pickles, but they are wallpaper-free and thus HUGELY improved. The only bummer is that this is Step One in a multi-multi-step process of remodeling the kitchen.  We won't have the money for months, so while I am obviously over-eager to get the changes started, I also have to temper myself with the knowledge that a) This is a project that is far from actually starting and b) You know what?  Forget about B.  I am stoked this is done and I feel like it's totally opened up the kitchen.  So yay me!

PS: I had a chemical wallpaper stripper to use, but thought I would give the water/vinegar solution a try.  With as messy and time-consuming as this process is, I am really glad I didn't have to resort to the chemicals (especially since it's 48 degrees outside & I wasn't willing to open the windows for ventilation).  Lesson learned: give the "natural" solution a try first!    

Bathroom Transformation

Cue the Hallelujah chorus, it's (almost) done!

I love my bathroom so much that even though it is still the size of a postage stamp, it makes me feel content every time I step through the door.  

We went from 15 year old builder's basics to a slightly customized, cool, calm, and collected retreat, and with some tough decisions we kept it within budget, too.  

Honey oak cabinet transformed by Martha Stewart's "Magnetite" paint.  We kept the faucet (but will replace eventually).  Medicine cabinet replaced with white framed mirror.  We sacrificed space for looks.  Worth it.  Wall color: Martha Stewart "Heavy Goose", color matched to Behr's Premium Plus Ultra. Hard to see, but it's a pale blue-grey.  The walls were an odd grey-green color before.

15 year old carpet (in the bathroom!) replaced with TrafficMaster Allure Vinyl Plank Flooring in Clear Cherry.   Flooring was our toughest decision.  Laminate?  Tile?  Vinyl? Peel-n-Stick?  We were pretty set on peel-n-stick "for now", with the intent to tile later.  Instead, we went vinyl plank, and I am so happy.  It is a snap-together plank flooring that is waterproof, has a wood grain, and resists marks. It also has a lifetime warranty! It was in-stock at Home Depot, and the color is "Clear Cherry".  It looks like more of a beech or maple to me, but it has the light color & dark variations I wanted.  It took 2 boxes to floor the tiny, tiny bathroom, and was our biggest expense at about $50/ box.  We love it so much that we plan to (eventually) re-do the other bathroom floors using the same product. 

New towel rods from Target.  I lucked out, and these were on clearance for $8 each.  This replaced the single wooden dowel that was off-center under the window.  The mat & towels are also from Target. They were clearancing a huge aisle of bath items, so I snatched these up & they match!

                                     

Disgusting ceiling fan no more!

We took it down, vacuumed the inside, painted the ceiling, ran the light cover through the dishwasher, sprayed the plastic part with brushed nickel, installed a cfl, and VOILA! Clean & updated. 

Last but not least: mirror & vanity light.

This mirror replaced the one I custom painted to match the vanity, and then broke trying to put back into the frame.  So sad, but lesson learned.  I think it works because it echoes the white in the shower curtain and trim. The light was also a Home Depot clearance find.  It is more modern than I would usually choose, but I liked the frosted covers, and I liked that it projected the light up instead of down (down light casts hard shadows - who wants that?).  The pull on the vanity has the same curve & the towel bars also have slim, brushed nickel lines.  

What's not done:  well, my shower curtain is still at least 12" too short, the TP holder should be arriving any day, I haven't found a coordinating fabric to turn the blinds into a roman shade, still need to find shelves to go over the toilet, and I'd like to replace the faucet & shower head.  All those are minor because in the big picture I looooooooooooooove it.  Those little not-done items are the "cherries" that will make it even sweeter, but so far this bathroom is my favorite room in the house. 

Note about paint:  I am totally on board with Martha at Home Depot. The colors are really great, and the paint formulas apply & dry exactly how they are supposed to.  I also LOVE the Behr Premium Plus Ultra.  I was skeptical about a primer+paint, but it delivered the goods.  The only reason I even tried it was because they were out of stock in the Martha Stewart paint I wanted & HD agreed to price match it while using the more expensive formula.  I love it when a store does the "right thing" for a customer.  Home Depot is a 40 mile round trip for me, but I won't buy paint from the other home improvement giant again.