Wallpaper? Not a problem!

If you have ever done any kind of renovation or updating in a house, chances are you have removed wallpaper. Isn't it the worst? I mean seriously. Not only is it tedious but it's messy and it takes forever. I've had some nightmare situations when it came to wallpaper that during our last go around with it I decided to do something different. In these pictures you will see the same room. We updated other parts of the room as you'll be able to see but the area I want to focus on are the walls.

Instead of spending hours upon hours stripping the wallpaper off we decided to paint right over it. Now...hold on all of you who are screaming at me right now saying that's the worst idea ever!!! Won't the wallpaper peel? Wont it look like you painted over wallpaper? Nope and Nope. Here are things to consider and do if you take this approach.

FIRST - SAVES TIME: You are saving sooooo much time by doing this its insanely ridiculous. Because when removing wallpaper not only do you have to get the chunks of paper off but you need to sand the leftover residue down after. So it is a long, messy and ugly process. If you paint you can be in no time.

SECOND - WALLPAPER CONDITION: If your wallpaper situation is in terrible condition already, by that I mean its already got issues. Like peeling in the corners, already has tears and scratches, bubbling in places. Things like that will mean you probably should just go ahead and remove the wallpaper. This paint method is only for wallpaper that is firmly in place and not already peeling. Please don't paint over loose wallpaper and then come back and get mad at me. haha. Consider this my disclaimer. Only paint on perfect wallpaper surfaces.

THIRD - CLEAN IT: Before you paint you'll need to get a cleaning chemical like TSP. TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) can be applied with a sponge or even an extra paintbrush. Once the TSP has dried, use a damp rag to remove the chemical from the wall.

FOURTH - OIL BASED PRIMER: You need to use an oil based primer as the first layer. This will help seal any porous areas of the paper. Please note that oil based primer takes longer to dry so you will need to wait a little while longer to start painting.

FIFTH - PAINT AWAY: Depending on the paint you use you will need either one or two coats. I personally would do two just to make sure I get all the spots. If you use the one coat technology paint then you can do one coat and the second coat just make it a light floating coat.

Boom. You done! We did this with my sons room and man does it look good. You literally cant even tell its wallpaper. So next time don't be so scared of that wallpaper when redoing a room. Take the proper steps and do it this way. You'll love the final product.

Thanks for reading! Cheers!

Jack