easter eggs and pickles...oh my!

the wallpaper stripping project continues. sweet jesus. this is a nightmare!

allow me to set the scene.....my bathroom is really kinda yucky. the wallpaper was circa 1982 and a country heart pattern. every time i looked at it i felt like i was trapped in my childhood home and i was grounded (my mother LOVED country decorating and our house was loaded with hearts, ducks and ceramics in a putrid color of blue) (i should not she has nice taste now and a lovely home.) (i also should note that my mom rocks at home improvement and can paint/wallpaper/spackle like no other.)

i am sure you get the point that the paper was ugly. not only is the paper ugly....it was peeling. last friday night i just started pulling it off the wall. for those of you who have read charlotte perkins gilman's "the yellow wallpaper" i can tell you that i know how that lady felt! i wanted that stuff off and i do think there was something "creeping" behind the paper. i did in fact, find some fascinating things behind that paper. first off, there are layers of old paper, including a lovely green and yellow number from before i was even born. then there was a cockroach looking bug that has been glued into a corner. don't let me forget about 25 holes from nails, and the big winner of an enormous hole behind the toilet that "the boy" has been sticking his arms in. i know understand why people have chosen to wallpaper these walls.

i hate wallpaper. i always have. i have heard my mother swear and sweat and at times yell while applying paper to a wall. i don't want to go through that. so i decided to repair the walls and do a cool decorative finish to the walls. seemed simple enough.....

i went to home depot last weekend and i was full of energy and excitement. i have painted one small bathroom in my entire life and i think my ex-husband did most of it. so i am at home depot and i load up the cart with all of my supplies. once i came home with all of the goods, the steam started to simmer down to not much of anything. i realized i had a real project ahead of me. the wallpaper that has been stuck on there for decades does not want to come up. to complicate matters, the walls are made of drywall and the sheet rock is literally peeling off. i found a product on the web that helps to repair the wall and prepare it for priming. but, i had to order it. so my bathroom project was put to rest for the rest of the week as i wanted for the repair primer.

now, let's get into this weekend. i knew that i needed to do the best that i possibly could to remove the layers of paper, glue and residue from the walls. at the ace hardware the woman told me that if you mix 3 parts vinegar with 1 part water and spray onto the walls, you are able to bring up most of the junk on the walls. so i tried it.

holy mother of god. my entire house reeks!! it is like an easter egg project gone wrong. i stink so bad. it worked okay. the sheet rock is coming off with the paper. i did the areas that were the worst and i am praying that the special order drywall repair actually works. so i am waiting for the walls to dry and for the spackling to set. then i can sand and begin the 4 step process of painting. first there will be the wall repair sealer, then the primer/sealer, then a coat of regular paint, then a coat of the glaze to add the faux finish. i figured if the walls look "textured" that might cover up the actual issues with the walls.

and after all this....i still want a pickle right now. my whole house smells like one, so i guess i should eat one too.