I’ve been making some slow progress in the laundry room and wanted to share where we currently are. If you haven’t seen my plans for our laundry room makeover be sure to check out this post. There could have been more progress made by this point, but I ran into an issue.

progress in the laundry room

Wallpaper Removal

First up was tackling the removal of the wallpaper I put up five years ago. Going into it I knew it was either going to be a quick and painless removal or a difficult one. This isn’t my first rodeo with wallpaper removal. Let me first state that I didn’t prep these walls with a wallpaper primer. I know, I know. Wallpaper primer is essential if you are covering directly over drywall (if the the wall isn’t painted) or if you are wallpapering over dark paint since the color can show through. Our walls were painted a light color.

I’ve not primed walls in the past and have had the paper come off easily without issues. I’ve papered over textured walls and non-textured walls, the removal was no different. Sometimes it’s easy and there is zero damage, other times it’s painful and parts of the drywall comes off with the paper backing. I had both scenarios happen in our laundry room.

The large wall you see when you first walk in came off quickly. The lines are level pencil lines from when I was installing the paper. The top layer of paper separated from the backing, but the backing came off easily in large sections. Other sections of wall were a total nightmare. The paper backing would not budge in areas or would take off layers of paint and sheetrock with it.

My feelings are that is just the nature of the beast. Does this change my feelings about wallpaper or whether or not I put it up in the future? No. It was work to take it down, but I don’t regret putting it up. This is just part of trying different things in my home. The walls can be repaired and I’ll move on to something new.

Other Progress

In addition to getting all the wallpaper off, I removed the shelf and hanging bar. The bar was hung so low that you couldn’t even hang a shirt up to dry. Having a drying bar hung at the correct height is what I am most looking forward to. You can also see the wall damage I was referring to in this photo.

damage to walls from wallpaper

To Do:

  • sand down walls and patch damage
  • spray texturizing on walls to match undamaged areas
  • install beadboard
  • install peg rail
  • remove old light fixture
  • install new light fixture
  • caulk and fill nail holes
  • paint beadboard
  • paint cabinets
  • paint upper wall and ceiling
  • build and install shelf
  • install drying rod
  • re-stain countertop

Ok, so that is where we stand with the progress in the laundry room! I do have a quick question for you. Do you like seeing progress shots on the blog or do you prefer I just share completed projects? It is something I have been wondering about and wanted to get your options.

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6 Comments

  1. Pamela Jones says:

    I feel your pain on the paper removal. It is what it is. I know there has been so.e amazing advances in removable paper and want to try that some day. As far as post about progress, I like seeing updates. Eager to see the beadboard and lighting.

    1. I enjoy the progress! Wallpaper is a love/hate relationship. Hang in there it’s going to be soooo good ☀️

      1. Thank you! You are so right about wallpaper being a love/hate relationship!

    2. I’m so eager to get that beadboard up! Hopefully, I can go ahead and order the light today.

    1. Slowly but surely!

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