Primed and Ready to Go

Are you ready to see the finished walls? I like pretending this is a big reveal so I can finally feel some sense of accomplishment. Up to this point we've only been demolishing everything. We've ripped up carpet, ripped up linoleum, pulled out staples, tore down wallpaper, and demolished a bathroom. I needed these walls to look pretty. I needed it bad.

They aren't perfectly smooth. They have character though. I have to remind myself that this house is 73 years old. You don't move into a 73 year old house and expect everything to be even, square, smooth, working, not falling apart, livable, etc.

So, I am a very big fan of these walls. Hubs and I put our brains together to pick the color. We make all wall color choices together. I blame this on the fact he was forced to grow up in a house with lots of purple floral wallpaper but that's a story for another day. We decided on Stone Mason Gray by Valspar but it ended up looking a lot more blue than gray. We still like it nonetheless.

So here it is...



Joint Compound = Shiny New Walls

Remember these scary walls?

They now look like this...

How did this happen you ask? Easy! (Well, not quite.)

First, we used my uber awesome steamer to steam off what was left of the wallpaper adhesive and washed down the walls. We let them dry for 48 hours. Next, I went around and scraped off all the loose plaster and paint and sanded it all down with a hand sander. (Not fun but necessary.) Then, hubby went around with joint compound and skimmed over all the holes and cracks.

We let the joint compound dry for 24 hours then went back to check on our work. I was totally impressed by hubby's skimming skills. The walls were pretty smooth but still needed a little sanding. So we busted out our hand sanders and went to town smoothing down all the rough patches and uneven spots. (**very important to wear safety goggles and masks-safety first in the Lyon household)

We used our shop vac (recent purchase) to "contain" the dust. <--I just made a joke. Anyone who has done this before knows there isn't any containing of the dust. It gets everywhere! I'm still sneezing even after wearing a mask the entire time.

We did a little Internet research (aka Google) and found a primer with really good reviews. We used Zinsser Bullseye 123 Primer. It was awesome! I was so high after painting that room that I was seeing stars...and the walls looked great too. It covered all the stains and sealed the walls nicely. We ended up buying the 5 gallon bucket because we will be using it in every room in the house. So much to look forward to...

Climbing the Walls

To quote They May Be Giants:
"I got tired of pacing the floor
Sick of it all, I'm done with the floor
Walked away ever since I got a new job climbing the walls . . . "

Now that the floors are at a stopping place (for now) we've decided to tackle the next huge kitchen project...the walls. Here's what they used to look like:

As much as I despised  loved the wallpaper, we decided that it just wasn't the look we were going for. Luckily for us each strip of wallpaper came down in an entire piece (no steamer necessary). I neatly folded them up, put them in a bag, and have left them out on the curb for the garbage man. Feel free to drop by and salvage it. I'm sure it would just look lovely in your kitchen/bathroom/bedroom. You could even frame it and put it above your mantel.

Here's what the walls look like now...more to come.