When we first looked at this house, I knew the wallpaper was going to be an issue. Most of the wallpaper was at least 20-30 years old. At least. In addition, it was in almost every room. Floor to ceiling. I had never stripped wallpaper before, and I knew it wasn’t a fun job, but I was brimming with optimism and felt like it was doable if I tackled it one room at a time. After removing wallpaper from the master bedroom walls the day we closed on the house, I quickly learned that the issue wasn’t removing the paper, but the glue. (You can read about that HERE.) The glue was the headache, and removing glue has been an ongoing project in this house for almost three years.
I hired someone to remove the wallpaper in the hall, Marshall’s room, and the dining room. (You can read about that HERE.) I removed the wallpaper from the kitchen, master bedroom, boys’ bathroom, and Calvin’s room. In addition, I’ve been slowly steaming and scraping hundreds of square feet of carpet glue from the basement floor. I’ve gotten pretty good at removing glue, but I also don’t want to do it anymore. So, I pitched the idea to Jeff of hiring out the final two rooms sporting wallpaper. He agreed.
One was the ensuite bathroom and the other was the guest room.
The thing about the wallpaper in this house is that none of it was terrible. I found several of the papers quite beautiful. The problem is that wallpaper starts to look tired after a few decades. Some was stained, faded, peeling, bubbled, or damaged by moisture. It all needed to come down.
The crew hired to remove the wallpaper in the hall, Marshall’s room, and the dining room successfully removed the wallpaper from the walls. However, they were somewhat sloppy when it came to priming the walls and lacked attention to detail. I was happy it was done, but a little disappointed that primer had been slopped over brand-new brass hardware and ceiling fixtures.
I decided to hire a different company for this job, hoping to be happier with the finished project. Two guys worked over two days to remove the paper and prime the walls. At the end of the first day, I thought they were done with the guest room, and it looked okay. I wasn’t feeling over the moon because the purple paint was visible through the coat of primer, and the walls were a little tacky. I needed to reserve judgment, though, until the job was done.
I peeked my head into the guest room when the crew was at lunch on the second day, and then I was over the moon. They had skim-coated the walls, sanded everything smooth, and applied a second coat of primer. The walls looked amazing. They produced the same high-quality work in our bathroom. It’s now a clean slate, ready for me to paint.
I don’t know if you’ve ever felt giddy at a clean slate before, but I felt giddy over these walls. The wallpaper was gone, and even with primer on the walls, the room feels fresh.
A few months after we moved in, I got wallpaper for this room. (You can see it HERE.) I figured I wouldn’t be meticulous about removing the old glue and would just apply new wallpaper. Well, this wallpaper was not going to peel off in large sheets like some of the other paper in the house. In addition, the walls underneath were lilac. There weren’t going to be any shortcuts. The wallpaper needed to be removed and the walls properly primed before anything else could happen.
Now that I have developed such a distaste for removing wallpaper, I don’t think I have the heart to paste anything to these walls! As beautiful as the paper is, I think I’ll save it for another day. At this point, I’m enjoying the clean slate and might just paint these walls white.
I need to paint the ceiling, then prime and paint the trim as part of painting this room. Although it’s still not a small project, it’s something I can complete in a couple of days. If I had to strip the wallpaper myself, even with help from my mom, it would’ve taken at least a week.
This room also got new windows, which I shared HERE, and it’ll get some window treatments and other finishing touches soon…
You can take a tour of the guest room in our previous home HERE.
29 Responses
You’re deciding not to wallpaper the guest bedroom would be music to my husband’s ears who after removing old wallpaper in our first house and have to sand and prime the walls, forbid me to ever say the word “wallpaper” in our second and current home. I do love wallpaper and last year I even mentioned maybe just wallpapering an accent wall in our foyer, but I don’t think that is something I well sell him on….lol.
I can’t blame you at all after all the work and paying as well to have the guest bedroom wallpaper removed and the walls repaired and primed to just leave it with a beautiful fresh coat of paint.
Hi Marian,
The recent design updates to your site are so nice! I especially like the cleaner fonts and the black text instead of gray.
But, I’m nearing 70 and the smaller font size is challenging to read. If I try to get around that by using the “Show Reader” option, then I miss seeing the lovely photos that accompany your text. Any chance you would consider making the text a bit larger for your older readers?
I have removed so many rooms of wallpaper that I shudder to even think about it. Hiring it out was totally worth it, IMO. It is the worst job EVER! I understand the for a clean white slate but I also took a look at the wallpaper you bought a few years ago and it is gorgeous! Either way, I know that it will look amazing.
I so agree…please do this! Not just for your older readers, but any of us with vision problems! I read several blogs daily and yours is always my first and favorite. But, now it’s more difficult to read. I admit, now if your post isn’t something that personally appeals to me, I don’t always read it. Prior to the change in font size, I never skipped reading any of your posts!
Thank you! I have asked if we can increase the font size.
Same experience here! A larger font would be so much nicer.
I’ve asked if we can increase the size! 🙂
Thank you for the feedback. I have asked about making the font larger. 🙂
We have removed wallpaper from 2 different houses, and we agreed never again when we had finished the second house. My husband was heartbroken when we went to an open house that he’d fallen in love with (from the outside), and I turned around and left because the first thing I saw was wallpaper!
I can certainly appreciate your perspective about not wanting to put wallpaper back on the walls. Years ago, I stripped wallpaper off the walls in the house we were living in and it was quite the undertaking. I swore I’d never wallpaper anywhere after that. So, far I’ve held to that vow. I see lots of pretty options these days but I still haven’t strayed from my vow. I love the clean smooth look of the drywall and know that if my taste changes, I can always roll on a new color with little expense and effort!
Use the wallpaper ! IF you use wallpaper glue and not the self adhesive paper then it will come off without a problem. And nothing gives a room that put together feel like wallpaper ( says the woman who hasn’t done it lately because my walls are orange peel !)
We removed a bunch of wallpaper in 1996 on our previous house. Although we’re in a completely different house now, I’m still scarred by that past experience.
Yeah, it’s pretty brutal!
I’m at the stage in my life where I don’t have the stamina to remove one more sheet of wallpaper. However I see what you mean about beautiful wallpaper. The first picture with the old striped wallpaper is an eye catcher. It made the bedcover pop!
I love the wallpaper you selected, but I can understand how fresh the room looks now. It would be difficult to cover the fresh paint. Maybe you’ll be ready for the paper in another room or in a few months.
Karen B.
Yes, I can always add the paper later!
You might want to look into sizing the walls before wallpapering, it’s a game changer for removal!
I did that in my MN house, but I never had to remove any of the wallpaper, so I’m not sure the difference it will make when the paper is removed.
I appreciate even more the fella I hired to strip the paper in my living room. It took him 8 hours, working alone and his attention to detail was amazing. It wasn’t cheap,( in the early 2000s) but so worth it. The walls were washed and ready to be primed and painted.
After seeing your painted murals —and I love both of them—I’d opt for having that done rather than wallpaper any day.
I also vote for a larger font if it’s possible!
Love the wallpaper you chose but also get the wait and see. That is why I love the fabric (your tutorial) I placed on my walls…easy off. But if wallpaper removal can be successfully hired “off,” I’d do it again in a hot second. Nothing can compare. My favorite decorating books include wallpapered rooms. It makes my heart race in a good way.
Yes, I’ve considered a fabric treatment since it’s easy to remove. I’m still pondering!
I have asked my assistant if we can make the font larger. 🙂
I, too, am facing the dilemma of having wallpaper that I love but unable to bring myself to putting it on the walls in several rooms of our new home. So a way I’ve been bringing it into the rooms so far is covering picture or photo frames, waste baskets, books and wooden tissue boxes. I am also framing a large piece in an elaborate frames to hand as art.
I’m in my early 60’s and also find the tiny print rather hard to see, especially later in the day when my eyes are tired.
I’ve never had wallpaper, but I loved the wallpaper you had in your guest room in your MN house. I loved the subtle pattern and how it looked so pretty with the gold linens and oak night stands. I also like the wallpaper you initially chose for this room. Maybe do just an accent wall at some point. I know whatever you choose will be beautiful!
Thanks for the feedback about the font! I’ll see if we can make it a bit bigger.
Im 51 and wear cheaters and this site is still hard to read now. It’s not just the font size its also the “clean” type face.
I have removed wall paper and fixed walls as part of my business as an interior painter. I have zero wall paper in my house because of this. For every 10 people that hire me to remove it, I only get one asking if I install. I know its trending on the internet in beautiful homes, but in real life few of my clients ask for it. Maybe its region specific? To me this guest room begs for color on the walls but I get the desire to just leave it white now that its fresh.
I do think it’s more popular among blogger-types who work on their homes for a living. It’s easier to justify the expense of installation and removal.
Thanks for the feedback about the font. We did make it a little larger, but I’ll ask if we can make it a bit bigger.
Oh Mary Ann, I so can relate to this share! One cannot know the turmoil of having to redo a whole house of it and go back in to re-wallpaper! Yep, glue is the worst of the worst! However, I am a big fan of it as it adds such Warmth to a room! We are color fans and have replaced the concept with color and it does well. But I still would love to do wallpaper. On a sidenote, I love that bed! I wish you well in this. You have beautiful pieces in there so it will be fun to see what you come up with. I loved the comments too.
I love wallpaper as well, but it’s tough to add it back in after how much trouble it’s been!
Marian,
I have removed so much wallpaper in my 70 plus years! One home had multiple rooms with lots of layers of very different styles. I joked to my friends and family that someone was going through a mental health crisis! It was terrible.
I love the wall paper in your Minnesota house. The classic wood trim detail and the ethereal pattern of that paper is just timeless! The new paper… doesn’t. ( I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be critical, it just feels busy and dark) You have phenomenal taste and I love all that you have done to this house inside and out!