GOODBYE, WALLPAPER!

It's been a busy few months of home renovations. Remember the wallpaper that lined our center hallway and it's partner in crime, the dark burgundy paint beneath the chair rail? GONE. It's amazing how much lighter and brighter the hall is now! And, as intimidating as the project seemed with the high ceilings, a great friend a the right tools made it a fairly simple process. I knew absolutely nothing about removing wallpaper before diving into this project, but we learned a few things along the way. First and foremost, there was no need to buy special tools. After experimenting with a variety of methods, the best supplies to get the job done were:

Supplies
1) A spray bottle filled with warm water. {We also tried a clothes steamer, but it was much harder to maneuver than a simple spray bottle.}

2) A large plastic spatula straight from the kitchen or a plastic spackler/scraper {the thing you use to smooth out joint compound when you fill holes in your wall}. For high or hard to reach places, a long handled ice scraper.

3) A desk or chair to stand on.

4) Some bleach spray for any mold spots you may uncover.

5) Arm muscle and patience!

The Method

1) Start with a small, isolated section of the wall if possible. This way you figure out what you're getting yourself into before passing the point of no return, just in case you decide to abort mission!

2) Spray the seams of the wallpaper with warm water and begin to peel it off. 

3) Once the actual wallpaper is down, you'll see the glue backing still on the wall. Drench this with as much hot water as possible using the spray bottle and then scrape it off with the plastic spatula {a metal one will damage the wall}.

4) Be as thorough as possible so that you don't have to go back over the wall for small pieces. But where there are pieces left, sand paper takes care of a lot of it without having to re-wet the wall.

5) If you find any mold spots {we had a few}, spray them down with hot water and bleach cleaner and then rub down the surrounding areas.

The New Paint
We used Walmart's basic white interior paint for the upper portion of the wall and then Valspar's Frappe, from Lowes, under the chair rail. This is the second home we've used Frappe in and it's a great color!

For more detailed how-to instructions and different method reviews, check out this post.

Happy De-Wallpapering!