DIY Weekend At Hand

My first thought when I saw this picture on the screen was that the wallpaper in question doesn’t look as bad in real life as it does in the picture. Then I realized that it almost certainly looks far, far worse in real life than it does in the picture — I’m just so used to seeing it every day for 22+ years that I don’t notice it.

I realize it’s hideous, but it’s been there for as long as we’ve been in the house, and while in general I realize that the master bedroom would look better without it, there’s that whole thing about priorities, and if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it, blah, blah, blah. Whatever justification and denial keeps me from having to deal with removing, replacing, and upgrading it.

That said, I do completely understand that when I refer to Ronnie as the Long-Suffering Wife, this wallpaper is one of the things that she’s suffered long and hard over, so it’s time to bite the bullet and start doing the next round of sweat equity.

Another consideration fueling my denial and avoidance behavior is that I’ve stripped wallpaper before, decades ago when I was a teenager and we moved into a major “fixer-upper” house. I’m the oldest kid so I got to do lots of “helping”, and I do not have fond memories of days and days and days stripping wallpaper, followed by cleaning and  prepping and painting walls. But maybe it’s easier these days.

Yeah, that’s it. It’ll be easier now. Maybe…

Anyway. With the three-day holiday weekend here and no plans for us to go out of town, Ronnie suggested tackling the wallpaper at long last. So today I went out and picked up buckets and scrapers and drop cloths and sandpaper and stripping solution and sponges and IMPLEMENTS OF DESTRUCTION!!

Tomorrow, let the games begin!

And if anyone has any pictures of examples of your favorite hideous wallpapers, share them in the comments below!