The Wall

We haven’t been very good at house progress posts lately.  In reality, for the past number of weeks, we haven’t really done a whole lot by way of improving the house.  But there is a lot of progress we just haven’t posted about.

The most obvious thing that comes to mind is the kitchen wall madness that we started attacking mere hours after the house was ours, and completed within a matter of weeks.

Oh, the wall.  The printed panel wall.  Here’s what it looked like when we bought the place:

Again, this is a photo from the listing (i.e. THOSE UGLY THINGS ARE NOT OURS).

As if regular crappy wood paneling wasn’t enough, this paneling actually had a floral & stripe pattern printed right onto it.  That’s right: combo perma-wallpaper and crappy paneling (CPWCP).  YIKES.

After busting through the door for the first time after closing, we went straight to ripping up the carpet (as you probably remember).  Once we were assured that there actually were hardwood floors in the living room, office, and hallway, Lanny started hacking at the wall.  He revealed this nightmare lurking behind the CPWCP:

Which means we went straight from CPWCP (below, right) to the heaven-help-us-crazy-kitschy-actual-wallpaper (below, left).

Coffee carafes, coffee grinders, tea cups, baskets of fruit, flower arrangements, single pieces of assorted fruits, decorative bowls, pots of honey, radishes, MY GOD WHAT WASN’T ON THAT WALLPAPER?  Lanny was temporarily rendered insane by the wallpaper and wanted to keep it.  Some of our friends were infected by that awful virus as well.  And while I can find this type of kitschy crap charming sometimes, this wall in my house in my kitchen that already has nasty linoleum floors that need to be replaced, outdated honey oak cabinets, blue?green?grey? formica countertops, and old appliances is just not the place for it.

My parents and sister came for a visit shortly after we moved in, and thank goodness for that.  Aside from some major landscaping accomplishments (post on that yet to come) and various other projects, they helped us tackle that wall.  One wall.  So much work.  So Much Worth It.

Late one night, I reached my limit with the darn thing, and just started ripping off the paper.  (anyone ever read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman? Yeah.)  Mom joined me.

Photo Credit: Rebekah Zimmerman

GREAT NEWS! It started coming off really easily just by ripping it off without any treatment!  Photo Credit: Rebekah Zimmerman

ZEN MOMENT                                                                                                                                               Photo Credit: Rebekah Zimmerman

We just kept ripping and ripping and ripping. I was on large duty. Mom was on detail.               Photo Credit: Rebekah Zimmerman

Considering the horror stories I had read online about wallpaper removal, I guess we had it pretty easy.  But.  It was a pain, for sure.  And once we were done removing all the little bits of paper, we were left with a pretty sad wall.  And this is where it really pays off to have a Won’t Stop Until It’s Perfect Dad.  My dad sanded and spackled the heck outta that wall.  If it were up to Lanny and me, we would’ve done minimal prepping and painted the wall just to get it over with already.  But my Dad didn’t stop until that sucker was smooth as  glass.  It was an amazing feat of patience I will never know personally.

AND SO ANYWAY.  Then we could paint.  And here it is now, in all of its non-CPWCP and de-kitschified glory.

Color: Behr, Fashion Grey

I like to arrange little vignettes on the table that nod to the wall’s previous manifestations (you know, in a pretty–not nightmarish–way).

The End.

Post by Amanda