Removing Wallpaper!

So we have been working away.  My right shoulder is uber-sore.  We've painted 10 rooms and four closets, but the most laborious task is removing someone else's home fashion statement, in the form of wall paper and borders.  I remember when my mom put up the stripes and flowers in the kitchen and dining room in their old house.  As a teenager, I thought it was rather lovely and cheerful.  It was my favorite room in the house.  I never had the privilege of stripping it once my parents decided to sell their home, as I lived far far away. 

However, my mother-in-law gave me a taste of paper peeling through her business of painting and faux finishing.  Sometimes those jobs would include a difficult wall paper removal and she'd call me in to help pick at it.  With those memories I was dreading this room in particular:

The full bath on the main living floor.

By far, it would be one of the best rooms to finally transform from "previous owners" to "new owners."  However, I trembled at the thought of working on it.  Especially since working on the border in the Reading Room (aka "Nursery" and "Guest Bedroom") turned out to be so awful on the walls.  Here are some pictures of my six year old working hard at it:

Despite what you may think, she is a very meticulous worker.  Though she did gauge some of the drywall, she didn't gauge any more than the adults did.  The border is persistently clinging to the wall.  And to this day, we are still working on that border!  But mostly just the six-year-old.  :)

However, the bathroom proved to be much more accomodating.  Appartenly years of being in a bathroom really softened it up.  All we did was begin to peel the top layer away, spray hot water on it from a spray bottle, wipe up dripping water, wait a minute (spray some more water, wait a minute, etc) and then steadily peel and scrape at it with a wallpaper scraper thing.  It all came off in a little more than an hour I think.  And, though I have the paint picked out, I am just enjoying the new look "Sans Wallpaper."  (I wish I knew the latin for "wallpaper.")




Tah Dah!




A beautiful blank canvas.

 My brother-in-law lent us a thing that helps remove wallpaper and my six-year-old is making good progress in the Reading Room with it.  She is a super helpful six-year-old.  :)