Contests

I'm making progress on the wallpaper stripping project.  Hope to be done tomorrow so I can start putting it back together.  

I don't have central air conditioning so I thought it might be nice to have a ceiling fan in this bedroom to help move air around on sticky nights.  I think it actually makes things worse and I never use it so I've been looking for a new fixture.  The ceiling are really low, about 7'4", so it's got to be pretty tight to the ceiling.  Have you ever looked for flush mount fixtures?  

They're heinous!

Send me some links if you have any ideas.  Maybe we'll have a little contest.

And speaking of contests, I'd like to sincerely thank the person that nominated me for a Homie award on Apartment Therapy.  You're my BFF!  I ended up finishing in the Top 60 out of almost 500 blogs!  I'm totally honored that so many people voted for me.  Thank you!  I knew there was little chance I would end up in the top 5 when there are so many blogs, and career bloggers, with thousands of followers.  I would have asked for your support but I wanted to save the favor for something bigger...

...oh, say, like a "This Old House" contest.

Yes, I've entered my exterior renovation in this year's "This Old House" Reader Remodel contest under the Curb Appeal section.  I would love it if you would support me by going to my entry, sliding the meter up to 100, and clicking submit.  No need to register or anything!

I learned from Karin from Life, In Small Chunks, who entered last year, that it's a straight-up popularity contest.  She didn't win but her kitchen remodel did make the magazine.

It seems like you can vote as many times as you'd like, so if you have any free time and you're bored with another game of Angry Birds, head on over and vote a few more times.  If anyone could post this to FB and/or tweet this post, I'd greatly appreciate it.

And don't forget to send my those flush mount or semi-flush mount lighting ideas!  I'll post my favorites and we can vote on them.  I've got a beautiful ceiling fan for the winner.

Stripping Wallpaper

I'm in the process of cleaning out the bedroom before stripping the wallpaper but I thought I'd take a few last shots of it.

Gone will be the wallpaper, the turquoise floor (Benjamin Moore Calypso Blue) and the vintage Cape Cod cottage kind of look that I originally thought the house should have.  So here goes...

When I bought the house just over four years ago, every single room except one had wallpaper dating from the '50s to the '70s.  It seems a little strange to be stripping this wallpaper but after having done it so many times, I've worked out a method that works pretty well.  I know they make a lot of different tools and solutions that are supposed to make it easier but I think most are a waste of money.   The only tool I use is a wallpaper scraper with a changeable blade, a spray bottle, a scouring pad and a washcloth.

 First, I look for seams up by the ceiling and starting at a corner, I peel off the top layer.  All of the paper I've stripped seemed to have a top layer that could be peeled off leaving a paper layer on the wall.  Really old wallpaper might not have this and one of those scoring tools might help the process.

Here's one wall after I've peeled off the top layer.  Once this is done, I use a spray bottle of plain water to wet the paper.

Here I've sprayed alternating layers just so you can clearly see what's wet and what's not.  I've put down a few layers of old towels just to catch overspray and water that runs down the wall.

The paper will absorb the water pretty quickly so keep spraying it so you can see a sheen.  The idea is to reconstitute the glue.  You'll see in places that the paper bubbles up as it expands.  After about four applications of water and letting it sit about 15 minutes, I start testing the edges to see if it's separating.

This piece seems ready so I start peeling it off the wall.

This first piece came off almost in one piece.

If there are any stubborn spots, just spray them again and scrape them off with a wallpaper scraper.

After the paper is removed, there's still glue on the wall so I use a scouring pad and warm, soapy water to get most of the glue off the wall.  Be sure to do this before the glue dries.  Then follow up with a clean cloth to make sure all the glue is off the wall.

Once last piece and this section of the room is done.  Isn't the pink pretty?

This section of four strips took my about half an hour.  The white stripe down the wall is where there was some old water damage that I plastered over and primed before the wallpaper went up.

I still have blinds and curtain rods to take down and a little more cleaning out to do but I hope to get at least half of the room stripped today.

This door on the bathroom is my favorite door in the house.  I just love the proportions of it.  I can't wait to try my "Silent Paint Remover" but I want to wait until I can have all the windows open for ventilation or even take it outside on the porch to strip.

It might look good from a distance...

...but it's really caked with paint like most of the woodwork in the house.

I'll also strip the hardware using the chemical-free stripping method I've found very successful in the past.  I experimented with painting the hinges silver and as you can see it wasn't really successful.

I've changed my mind at least three times about how the room will look.  I'd really like to better integrate modern, vintage and antique elements so we'll see how that works out.  I think it's easier said than successfully done.