Soak, scrape, clean, soak, scrape, clean, soak, scrape, clean. Next will be patching all the spots I have dug up on the walls, the sand and prime all the walls. You see 38 years ago when we first moved in. Money was so tight. We had just built our home, we were so young and I did not have a clue. A local store was having a paint sale and the hall was still white primer.....just like the rest of the house and it was in need of paint. Well I picked a beige
safe color and it was on sale. We worked all weekend and we painted the walls. That was fine for a while, but as time passed we could afford to wallpaper and I found a paper that I loved.......so we wallpapered. It looked so nice, I loved the paper! About six months later we noticed that it was lifting at the seams so hubs repasted the seams and all looks good. Soon the paper is lifting and more than at the seams. I go to the paint store and tell them what is happening. They come out to look. Oh gosh! It is the
cheap sale paint lifting right off the walls and sticking to the paper, but then the paper can't stick to the walls. Ok, we decide to bite the bullet....22 double rolls of paper. We sand and size the walls, after the paper came off which was easy, just pulled right off. We re papered the hall. Hubby said something like, you had better love this paper because I never want to re do this hall again! Well that was 1989!! Can you believe it? I really did love the paper. Now for the last 5 or so years I have been knowing it needs to be done, but oh it is a big job and we are 22 years older. After the girls from APP were here I really knew I needed to do this. I started to look, the Loretta from
Under the Wild Cherry Trees had a paper I fell in love with. It was time. I showed hubby and he really liked the paper too. We have been talking about doing wainscoting in the downstairs front foyer and it is time. Then I find out the wall paper is discontinued, bu I know I need to get this done. The upstairs and downstairs were companion papers before and
want to paint and stencil the upstairs this time and wallpaper down. I am now having second thought for how much work this wallpaper is. The woman is the paint and wallpaper store has told me that the new papers are not that had to remove. She said not to be discouraged. So I picked up the primer for the walls. Benjamin Moore Fresh Start. The Kiltz for the woodwork. Lots of sandpaper. Then I went to Village Stencils and picked out a stencil for the upstairs border. Now this is not the colors I will be using, but how it is on the package:
It is called Traditional Oak Leaf. Now the stencil place has lots of Primitive and Traditional stencils and has been there for years. It is located on Rt 138 in Raynham, MA. This is a great shop, but imagine my surprise that they are having a half price sale and the building is for sale and they are closing. My $25.00 stencil was $12.50. The have hundreds of stencils, anything and everything. She will be on sale until everything runs out. Look it up here
http://www.villagestencils.com/
See the ugly paint, it is the same color as the background of the wallpaper. Let's just say my new paper/paint will not be beige.
So wish me luck, there is so much to still do. We need to decide just what we want the wainscoting to look like and get someone lined up to do that, also I can't pick out my paint color for upstairs until I have my supplies for downstairs and oh darn, I need to work days too. It really messes with the time I would like to spend looking for what I want to finish the hallway.
Say Goodbye beige!
Stay tuned for further developments in my hallway project and just let me say I can't wait until it is all done!
These little gems have been my new best friends. Vinegar to wash the walls, a scrubbie to you know, scrub. Then the scraper to pull all the left over paste off. There was more there then one would think. My arms and hands were so tired.
I started to paint the doors. It will take awhile and I am slowing down a bit. I love the color. It is Benjamin Moore, Northampton putty and the walls will be crown point sand. Much better than dark walnut stain!
So I needed a little break so I went for a drive to the Gingham Goose ( check out her website) and picked up some new reading material and some new scents. There were some new goods from Family Heirloom Weavers. I had a nice visit with Barbara. The shop was busy and things were flying out the door faster than she could unpack them. Don't forget the girls from A Primitive Place will be there in March. I needed a break from painting. My hand aches and needs a rest.
