The never ending wallpaper project... -

This wallpaper project did end eventually but not until it got the best of me!

Here is the kitchen that I worked on over the summer. The wall paper shown here was applied 30 years ago. Notice the niche on the right with the wallpaper behind the shelves.
Before

When I started removing the wallpaper a new layer of paper emerged (the never ending wallpaper). At the start of the job there was no mention that the wall had been papered 40 years earlier, but when the under-paper was revealed the memories came flooding back.
Below you can see both patterns. The top layer was stuck to the under-layer like glue (literally), removing both papers was a time consuming job. Each layer had to be individually wet down with wallpaper remover and then scrubbed with a brush. After the edges began to come up I could then pull at the paper and rip off teeny tiny pieces. This went on wall after wall for three days.

The ultimate goal was to bring the walls back to their original condition as shown below on the upper left in this photo. We did get most of the paper off eventually but had to give up on perfection in a few spots. The spots that we could not conquer were sanded and left for lost.

After

Here is the kitchen with the new paper. Notice the change in the niche. I chose to paint it instead of papering it to bring out the shelving. It was a bit bright at first but after some getting used to, it became a nice focal point upon entering the space. All I needed was one “sample jar” to cover the entire area.

This project was a difficult one but it was achievable. Sometimes the hardest projects are the most gratifying of all, especially when it comes from the heart.