Re-wallpapering & painting project

Tweet

I *have* to say while I know what is happening in the world, and it is all Corona virus this and that...It may be nice/refreshing/a good distraction to talk about something else. Even though it's hard when all around you - in the media - at work - at home - it's COVID-19. But I am going to digress. The last couple of weeks I have been busy with working my main, full time job, my seasonal part-time job, but I have been also working on vamping up my large closet. Although it's normally stuffed with clothes, shoes, and a couple dressers to hold all of it - without anything in it, it has had this creepy, dated yellow 1970s baby wallpapering. (As shown above). My goal these past couple of weeks has been to first remove all of this wallpapering, then put a fresh coat of paint on, & then apply some of this cute "peel and stick" wallpaper on (which is apparently much easier to remove if you ever choose to). I have never had any experience with removing wallpaper, ever, but I *did* learn a lot - for example, with this very old wallpapering, there's no way without a steamer to remove it. I tried using just warmed up water and vinegar or fabric softener (a more safe and "holistic" method) but I was only getting tiny chunks off at a time. I paid $50 for a "Wagner Steamer 715" and I would HIGHLY suggest it to anyone trying to remove old wallpaper. Basically, you put water in it, plug it in, and it heats up the water and steams it out of a plate that you put on the wall for about 10 seconds per spot, and then scrape it off. It's still a lot of elbow grease, but SO much easier with the steaming tool. It works wonders! After that I sanded and washed down the walls, and after taping it off and prepping, I have started with the main coat of this dark blue paint. I am NOT a "DIY"er, so this is a fun first experience with it! I have to finish up the 2nd coat of paint, and even things out a little bit, and then will work on applying the wallpaper on the bottom half. I am excited to see it coming around, and mostly just excited to be done with that nasty wallpaper removal process. Ugh! I hope to get this done by the next weekend, and then I will move on to working on my next painting project (need a fresh coat of paint on my bedroom walls). I still rent, but my sister owns the duplex, and she has given me creative freedom for the entire upstairs unit. That, and I'm paying for it all and doing all the work. But it works out. On the other hand, I was just thinking about it - if you need an excuse to be anti-social/keep your "social distance" during this pandemic, maybe a good option is home renovation / upgrading / re-decorating. Are you working on any projects around the house? Do share!