Wow. It’s been over a year since I scraped the paint and wallpaper off our bedroom walls.
We have been living with the “distressed” look ever since.
Those are all the wallpaper bits that didn’t easily come off during the scraping phase.
Pete spent one afternoon meticulously scraping one wall, but it was slow going and he quickly abandoned the project (who could blame him?).
Last weekend, as Pete and I scraped the TV room walls, I decided to leave Pete to that room while I tackled the bedroom.
Using a natural sponge and just lukewarm water, I wiped down the walls and scraped them with a putty knife. The remaining paper easily came off just by dampening it a bit. Just one more wipe-down for good measure with clean water and the glue should be history.
Side-by-side comparison:
We are down to original, pristine 1929 plaster, baby!
Next week: No more cracks! Then, could it really be? Color on the walls?!
I’m giddy.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! The difference is amazing.
It’s the little details that mean the most! Isn’t naked plaster beautiful? And so, sooo smooth. I can’t wait to see what colors you choose!
Incredible! Maybe letting it sit open like that helped your cause. (That would be my story anyway.) Amazing what a difference it makes and it’s a very important step in the march to color!
I agree, the difference is remarkable. I really didn’t think it would make SUCH a huge difference; I really should have done it long ago. Oh well!
Water is definitely the way to go. I have had some good success removing stubborn bits of old wallpaper by using the steam blast on a spare clothes iron held an inch from the wall.