Unlike most people, I find stripping wallpaper to be a form of stress relief. I know I’m weird. But when it’s easy, it’s really quite satisfying…
I put this wallpaper up myself, about ten years ago. And now it’s falling down. I know it was put up properly – well, aside from the falling down bit…at least the walls were prepped correctly before it went up – so I know it won’t be hard to get it off. So, in a fit of nervous energy I started ripping off the printed top layer.
This corner (plus a bit – the bathroom is too tiny to stand in and take pictures) took all of 5 minutes, including the part where I went and got a trash bag after realizing the bathroom trash can was way too tiny.
And then about 15 minutes later this corner looked like this. (Really, spray the adhesive backing with warm water, wait a minute or two, pick up a corner and it comes off in big strips. Easy-peasy.) There are some rough patches on the walls, and I had forgotten about those…taking off the wallpaper that was in here a decade ago was *not* such an easy task, and the walls have some battle scars. (Believe me, it was worth removing that wallpaper. It was beyond ugly. Four shades of tan clouds dotted with black seagulls. I think I took pictures, but it was actually on film (what’s that?) and I’d have to go dig them out of a box somewhere.)
I’m contemplating adding some texture to the paint to hide the imperfections.
(Oh, and Denis, if you’re reading this, I promise the bathroom will still be in working order when you get home! You had to know if you left the country for a whole week and left me in charge of girls and dogs I’d do something crazy like this, right?)