Wallpaper Woes

Because I now have the joy of repapering the bathroom (yes, I needed one more project --*rolls eyes*) it also means that I have to strip the existing wallpaper.

Man. The sh*t I get myself into. These walls are awful!

On the plus side, stripping the walls is like unlocking a time capsule. I DID remove the vinyl wallpaper that had been up prior to this pattern, but I didn't put that stuff up. So I had no idea what awaited me.

I took down the shower curtain rod that has been up since we bought the house. Somehow, I managed to get the thing down -- something we couldn't accomplish the last time I wallpapered the bathroom. So that was a plus. And there was a piece of the time capsule: the brackets to the rod each concealed tiny swatches of the horrid blue floral wallpaper that was in the bath when we bought the house. Funny. Between the horrid blue (and accompanying blue accessories and the floor ... we won't go there. I'll have nightmares.) in the bathroom and that absolutely disgusting green floor in the kitchen, we sure looked past a whole hell of a lot to buy this place!

Luckily, I had the foresight to pick up some DIF wallpaper remover while I was at Wal-Mart on Friday. That helped me to remove the two or more layers of adhesive that was beneath the wallpaper. I found more "time capsule." Apparently, there was a tan vinyl wallpaper on the walls at some point in the past. And a long time before that, the walls were pink!

The sad part, is that after working part of the afternoon and all evening, all I managed to accomplish was removing the old paper, removing the layers of wallpaper adhesive, wiping down the surface, and applying the first layer of skim coat -- to one wall. (The largest wall, to be sure, but just ONE wall.)

I ought to be finished with this prep job around Christmas ...

A Whole New Game Plan

After getting nowhere fast yesterday, I scraped the walls above the tub surround. I had started doing it anyway in preparation for gluing up the subway tile panels. I finished the job. I'm going to have to put a skim coat on those walls to smooth them out before they're painted now that we're going to wallpaper them.

What wallpaper will we use? Hmmm. That's a toughie so far. There's a little wallpaper place in town that we have used a million times. Their prices are ridiculously low and while it's a small place, it's usually jam-packed with choices. Usually.

The economy has taken its toll on the business. Formerly working with 15 vendors to get wall coverings from, the small shop is now down to working with five. The mother said the shelves are practically bare, something I'm having a hard time imagining after all the years of floor-to-ceiling samples. (I stayed home yesterday for delivery of the mirror.)

We have a few more places to check, but these are the candidates so far:

(You'll have to ignore the odd bits of color that seem to be running through these. I think it might be because I didn't use a flash.) I think we're leaning toward the bottom one. It's probably the most similar to what's in there now. (Below)

Unfortunately, that pattern isn't advertising for bath type products like the one above. (A lot of soap, shampoo, medicine type ads.) Not that it has to, I just think it's better.

So, not sure what all is on tap today. For the moment, I'm planning a trip to the assessor's office to get that tax rebate form and to maybe trim out the shed. Other than that, not sure. On that note, I'm going back to bed for a few hours -- because I CAN!

Working on the Weekend

The weekend is here and except for today, the forecast is dry. Or so they say. I've learned not to trust the forecast. But, assuming there's no rain, where do I begin?

I'm thinking I start with the porch. There's one corner against the house where the concrete is collapsed. While caulk and paint were fine for the aesthetics, when it comes to laying brick over it, it needs to be level.

I think Lowe's has concrete on sale, too. If it's going to be dry, I can mix a small batch and get that corner filled and drying. I also need to buy four new posts for the front porch railing. I already have railing and spindles to replace what's out there now.

During our conversation last weekend, Lawrence and I talked about moving the railing off the porch and into the landscaping. (Currently, two posts are and two posts aren't on the porch. The move would put all four out there.)

Sadly, while we had made a decision on the fence, the sale was off by the time we'd discovered it. It was one of those holiday weekend deals instead of a sale from Saturday to Saturday. I know now that Lowe's puts their fliers online, so I'll never miss another one. (Eight panels at a $19 difference in price each comes to $152, or enough of a savings to make me wait it out.) There will always be another sale though. Summer hasn't even officially started yet, despite the soaring temperatures.

And there's always Bedroom 1 to get started on. I have the wallpaper, crown molding, bead board and chair rail just waiting downstairs. Of course, there's at least a day's worth of prep work to be done, too.

So rain or shine, it's going to be a busy weekend.