2.24.2011

creating a guest room

our current guest room is the same room in which we have our working desk and our computers.  it also is currently stowing my (as of yet unused) sewing machine, a cedar chest with what i can't remember in it, and the drying rack.  while it's a nice enough room, it's on the road side of the house, so it's noisier and gets more direct sun (not a good thing at 7 am) and headlights at night.

we have another bedroom on the first floor that is currently a catch-all and a great room for the boy to romp.  our vision (my vision?) is that the romper room be turned into the guest bedroom (with minimal cosmetic changes), and the current guest room be reinvented as a computer/craft/media/music room for the mostly-adult set.  i want my sewing machine set up with table space for fabric and other crafty notions, and i would love to see a cool drafting area for the hubs so he can work out all his architectural ideas.

as everything in house renovation, it's a shell game.  gotta work the guest room first so the behemoth bed can be moved so that the craftyfun room can be realized.

first step, demo!  i love the demo portion of any project.  this is minor stuff.  just have to rip off some old silly wallpaper borders.  the room used to be a kid's room, and the mural is nicely done, just not our style.  so down it must come.

it was actually quite easy.  took two parts hot water, one part white vinegar.  use a sponge to soak the paper, wait a few minutes (or as long as you can - i generally am impatient to rip paper off - oooooh, the satisfaction!), then use a nice wide spackle knife to pull up the paper.  don't push too hard, as you don't want to ding up the drywall.  and if it tears, just resoak, rewait, restrip.  i was going back and forth between two sides which worked nicely, so i didn't have to wait to do something.

before with borders

the equipment

yes, it's better without.

and voila - a wall i can work with!  i will probably have to lightly sand the wall because the mural paint is heavy in places.  then prime and paint.

felt good to make some progress on something today.

2 comments:

  1. Goodness I think a world without wallpaper borders would be more sane. Thanks for leading the charge!

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