HELP!!!moving into apartment with hideous and old wallpaper?

Question

apartment is in a great older home with remodeled areas, has tons of potential..but what do i do with the hideous dark very old wallpaper in the kitchen?? owner has given me permission to do whatever I want..HELP!!! please..I am not very creative!!! Thanks!!

Answer 1

Take it off with a mix of 1 cap fabric softener in a large spray bottle of hot water. Let it soak in then peel off.

After that, gently wash down the walls with a bucket of hot water with a splash of dish soap.

The fill any holes with plaster mix (not latex spackle) and after it dries, sand smooth with 180 grit sandpaper.

Prime the walls (about $10 for a gallon of primer), let it dry; then paint your walls a nice soothing color.

No creativity needed...just a little patience and a lot of hot water.

Answer 2

AAHHHHH, Wallpaper....my dear enemy!! I lived in an old house that had at least four to five layers of wallpaper and after dealing with that disaster I vowed never to lay eyes on it again. But, here is a tip that really worked...I unfortunately didn't learn of it until I had about half a wall left. You definately need to get the Papertiger tool the other person told you about. Depending on the quality of the wallpaper this can be a pain in the a#@ or a piece of cake. There are many wipe on or spray on products out there but believe it or not, what really worked for me was a 50/50 mixture of water and Downy (the fabric softner). People say that the same 50/50 mix of water and vinegar works well if you can handle the smell for a few days. If you find some real trouble spots try getting a bath towel wet with hot water and strain it a bit. Apply it to the patch while holding a hot iron with steam to it for a minute...works like a charm....not nice on the arms, but works. Hope this helps...good luck!

Answer 3

This is from someone who just spent the past three weekends handling this issue in three different rooms. I would rate painting over the existing wallpaper as a last option. Depending on the age of the wallpaper, it might not be as tough to take down as you think. In two of our rooms, the paper came down fairly easily just by soaking it with a solution. There were a few problem spots, but it generally went well. In the last room, the soaking didn't work well at all, so we rented a wallpaper steamer. That worked great and the paper came off in sheets! No matter what method you use, you will need to wash down the walls with some type of solution to get as much glue off as possible. But, be prepeared to run into problem spots somewhere.

Then definitely use a primer-type paint before your final coat. BIG HINT: if you do this, consider having the paint store tint your pimer the same color as your top coat. Then you might get by with one top coat. Good luck.

Answer 4

Unless you want to make remodeling a permanent hobby, you need to find some good ideas that resonate with you. When you visit other people's houses, really look around you. What makes you feel comfortable? What makes you feel odd?

Take a look at home magazines for ideas on the high end (flipping through at Walmart is good, but your library might have several architectural periodicals, too). If you see something you like, buy the magazine (or copy the page if your library will let you) and put your favorite pages into a binder -- divide the binder into kitchen, living, bath, etc.

You can also look at model homes and take tours of other apartments with other realtors for good ideas.

Another thing is that maybe you could volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, and get some remodeling skills while you do good.

Answer 5

First of all, try not to think of "old" as bad. Old floor boards and skeleton radiators are like the creaking bones of an old woman who has lived an active life. I have an old home and I too have that style radiator. When I had my heat changed from oil to gas I had my radiators converted to hold circulating heated water. Iron radiators can really hold the heat much longer than the modern floor style. I painted them an antique gold (not bright). You can paint them any color you choose to accent your room. Try to work with the style of the apartment. You probably have great big windows too, lucky you! Maybe you could purchase swinging curtain rods on-line from Sears. They look so beautiful on big old windows. Paint of course is the fix-it for everything. Yes, you can paint over wallpaper but make sure the wallpaper is secure to the wall. Elmer's glue can tack it back on the wall where it's starting to peel. Of coarse removing the paper is ideal but sometimes in old houses the paper is actually holding cracked walls together. Good luck on the new place. Have fun with it!

Answer 6

Go to the hardware store. They sell wallpaper remover. It's kind of a messy job but once applied most often the wallpaper just peels off, or if it is really old you might have to do a little scraping with a putty knife. We did it in a day. Let the walls dry and slap on a coat of your favorite color paint. It really is a weekend project and not too costly either.

Answer 7

Well the best thing will be to peel off the old wall paper and this could be alot of work! To start you should get this tool (wal-mart sell it) called "paper tiger" it is a round tool that will put a bunch of small holes into the paper to help loosen it-then use some hot water with vinegar in it (spray bottle) and sparay about a 3ft. by 3ft. section of the wall and with a paint scraper start lifting up the paper do this till all is off and then decide what you want to do paint or paneling is the easiest I think!

Answer 8

use a small steamcleaner to get the paper wet - remove with something like a plastic ice scraper - that way you don't gouge the drywall. Remove paper and all, all all all all glue underneath. This will take elbow grease. Then paint as you like.. If the wall paper is on wall good - no peeling then you can consider painting over it. Talk to someone in paint dept. tell them what you are planning and they can help. With dark color you may need primer. All depends on how much work you want to put in.

Answer 9

if its textured you should peel it, if its in good condition and a light color go ahead and paint over it- probably best to prime it first regardless- if you dont have a lot of remodeling etc exp. painting is probably the best option, epecially since its an apartment and you dont want to spend a lof of money on something you dont keep- probably pick a neutral color - grab some paint chips from the hardware store and tape them to the wall so you get a feel for what they look like in your place not the store lighting. And have fun!!

Answer 10

Consult a professional about the best way to remove it. Yea, you can paint over it, but it's probably best if you remove it. Once the paper is off, put 1 coat of primer, 2 coats of paint. I suggest getting someone to take it down for you, then you prime and paint yourself. Taking down wallpaper is a pain in the butt if it wasn't put up properly.