The Wallpaper Removal Project
Posted in What? on February 16th 2004 by Randy Reichardt:: Those who know me well, know that I am as good at working on home improvement projects as I am at, say, thoracic surgery or the study of lower paleolithic prehistory. As well, I am as interested in actually doing home improvement projects as I am, for example, in getting hit in the skull with a baseball bat, contracting a terminal disease, listening to country music, or eating ratatouille.
When I moved into my house in November, 1993, one of the walls in the kitchen, and in the hallway, was covered in pink wallpaper. As well, the light switch and electric outlet cover plates were also pink. As the years passed, many visitors to my home suggested that perhaps I might entertain the notion of the idea of the concept of the thought of eventually removing the wallpaper and cover plates, and repainting the walls a different colour. Obviously I wasn’t moved enough to do anything about it.
When my colleague and friend, Kathryn, saw the walls for the first time, she took it upon herself to begin nagging encouraging me to give serious consideration to removing the wallpaper, insisting that it was a relatively painless process, and could be done quickly. Such as it was, her constant pestering encouragement continued until I caved in agreed to give it a shot. Use of a wallpaper steamer would make the project easy and quick.
With that in mind, on Monday, Kathryn, and I began and completed the wallpaper removal project at my house in a mere four hours or so. Turns out she was right, and I actually had fun doing it. But imagine our surprise when we began removing the pink wallpaper only to discover that the wall behind was painted…pink. Not only that, but the exact same shade of pink as the wallpaper. Er…why would someone wallpaper a painted wall with the same shade and colour as said painted wall? We’ll never know.
In the meantime click on the picture or here to see some photos from the event, as well as a short, 27-second movie clip of the wallpaper removing action!
Next up, painting. The colour I’m liking at the moment is called Scotland Road. The three smaller colours (top to bottom) in this combination are Neptune Blue, Southern Breeze, and Parsnip.
