Wallpaper from Hell!

Don't judge me by the color of the carpeting you are about to see... LMAO! 

When my Mom - my forever friend and style guru - did this in the 1990s, it was gorgeous.  Mauve carpeting, Italian wallpaper and custom draperies - whoo whoo!  The wallpaper had metallic accents and was stunning!  It was on the shared wall in the living room and dining room, the upstairs foyer with the coordinating stripe in the downstairs foyer.  And border all around!  My parents did all their own wallpaper and were AMAZING!  Super straight and perfect seams.  The problem is that this was actual PAPER and is a nightmare to remove.  I spend today removing the last piece of this wallpaper. It took gel remover, a steamer, patience and diligence but alas, it is gone forever!  :-) 

 My Dad was very meticulous - he would paint stripes on the walls to match the wallpaper color in case the seams shrunk they would not be visible.  Pretty smart, eh? 

After the paper was down, I had to wash the walls three times to remove all the glue residue.  The wall was in great shape so very little sanding and repair was needed.  Yay!  Since I am going to paint the walls a deep navy blue - color to be determined - I had Lowes tint my primer gray.  I LOVE Olympic primer - it has no odor, Zero Vocs and is Enviromentally Preferred.  It goes on so well and can you believe it covered the stripes with one coat?  Thank you Olympic!  I actually find myself liking the primer color!  LOL  The room is so calming.  I also painted over a royal blue experiment from last summer on all the rest of the walls.  It is now a blank canvas and I am so excited to get started!  I hope to have the room completed by Easter Sunday!  It is going to be quite the journey since - other than the fact that I have decided on the color blue - I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do with molding, draperies, a table, the hutch, chairs.... OH MY! 

*** Confession Time:  Today was a glad and sad day.  I am so glad to finally have the room ready for take-off, but it was also a little sad.  My Mom has been gone since 2004, and everytime I re-do a room, I almost feel like I am erasing them.  Although, it is solely because of their impeccable taste and many lessons that I am able to re-do these rooms at all.  They taught me to be daring and then they taught me the skills necessary so I can do it all on my own.  Thanks Mom & Dad!   I know you would love the changes I am making to our home - I so wish you were here to say, "Oh Tray - it looks so cute!"   To be continued....