House Post: Back Bedroom Update

When last we left the back bedroom, a whole army of friends had stripped all of the wallpaper.

They were enthusiastic but not very detail-oriented, so there was still a fair bit to do.

Chiefly, I had to remove the little snagged bits of wallpaper left, and wash off the wallpaper glue. This worked much more easily than it had in any other room. I filled a bottle with half vinegar, half water, and a squirt or two of Dawn dish soap. I sprayed that on the wall, let it sit for a few minutes, and then scrubbed with a sponge dipped in hot water. Rinse the sponge, so on and so forth. It took a few days, doing one wall a day after work, but it wasn't hard work. I could have easily done it in a day if I had time.

clean walls!

Next: patching. I get kind of fanatical about patching, and this room in particular had a loooooot of little patching to do. You can see one of the holes in the photo above, leftover from the electrical work. So this took a few more days, because a layer of patching has to dry up to 24 hours before you do the next layer.

Next up: priming. Every wall gets primed with oil-based Kilz primer so that I can be neurotically safe and sure about any wallpaper residue.

Then, color: Sherwin Williams "Sand Dollar" which does not come through in photos but is essentially a warm beige. I kind of wish it had been a shade or two darker, but this is the darkest room in the house, so - it's probably good to stay light.

The last phase was supposed to be pulling up the carpet, but, well...

Oh yes, someone glued down linoleum over the gorgeous maple hardwood floor. Yeah. YEAH.

So I promptly put the carpet back down and set it aside for another day. Well, after yelling a lot and wandering around in a daze of heartbreak.

I am feeling a smidge better because as you can see in that last picture, the glue has dried up quite a bit and it might be possible to take it all up without damaging the floor too much. Before I dig into it, though, I have a call in to get it tested for asbestos. Never dull!