How to Remove Wallpaper Easily

I have a lot of wallpaper in my house- almost in every room! And well, I just love it! Except the wallpaper in my office, I was tired of it and want to try something new (keep reading to see what). Whenever I wallpaper I’m asked how easy it is to remove, so I thought I’d record the process. Well it ended taking me less than 20 minutes to take down two walls of pasted wallpaper. It was so fast!!! Want to see how to remove wallpaper easily?!

how to remove wallpaper easily

Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. P.s. I’m trying to build that page up, so if you’d subscribe, I’d really appreciate that!

SUPPLIES

step 1

Start by moving all of the furniture away from the wall. If you’d like, put a towel down. For stubborn wallpaper, you might need to really soak the wall so a towel is good for protecting the floor. If you have electrical outlets on the wall you’re working on, take off the cover, and put a piece of tape over the outlet.

Then use a scoring tool to put little holes in the wallpaper. This makes it so that when you get the wallpaper wet, the paste is dampened and the wallpaper will come down easily. You can see the little perforations below-

step 2

Next, it’s time to create a wallpaper paste softener. For that, you’ll need an empty spray bottle. Fill it with 1/3 cup white vinegar and 4 cups hot water. Them spray over the wallpaper that you’ve scored. Let the solution sit for 5 minutes to really work and loosen up the paste.

step 3

And now it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Time to pull off that wallpaper!! Use a putty knife to pull up the paper in the corner and pull the wallpaper off.

I’ve removed a LOT of wallpaper in my day and I’ve never had it come down this easily. Usually, wallpaper comes off in small chunks and then you need to use a putty knife to get off the backing after soaking it again with the wallpaper softener solution. I was grateful that it came off quickly though!

The wallpaper went up in 4 sections and came down the same way. It took maybe 20 minutes until everything was down!

step 4

Finally, you need to get all of the wallpaper past off the wall (or you’ll have problems when it’s time to paint). Combine 1 Tablespoon of dish detergent with hot water. Use a sponge to take off any leftover paste. Since the wall with water.

after

Ta da! Lol- a blank wall!

I know that this isn’t the most exciting “after,” but I have good things planned! First up will be installing baseboards on these walls! Next, I’ll be painting a rainbow mural on this wall. Here’s the inspiration for that-

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A post shared by Shawna Schoenfeld ⋒ (@arrowsandapricots) on Jul 10, 2019 at 2:01pm PDT

why take off the flower wallpaper?

Well, I didn’t like it anymore. I was tired of the wallpaper- it didn’t feel fresh to me now. And guess what?! That’s ok! It’s ok to change the things you don’t love in your house!

When I shared on Instagram stories that I’d be taking the wallpaper off, I got a lot of messages about what a mistake it was. But here’s the thing, it isn’t. I’ve been LONGING to add a rainbow mural and I KNOW that this is the right spot. And when I feel called to do something, I try my best to do it.

So it might be a mistake to someone else, but for me, this is the beginning of a new space. I’m excited to experiment and try something new! Here’s to making our homes an oasis, no matter what other people think! Check back soon for that rainbow mural tutorial!

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