Favorite Projects of 2009 Part 3

Well, this favorite projects of 2009 bit is lasting way longer than I intended. I think my all time favorite project of last year was the half-bath redo. Here's what it looked like when we moved in. These pictures were taken when we were looking at the house so the lovely (mismatched) green toilet cover and rug were all part of the seller's brilliant presentation skills.

 

 

The walls were papered in an interesting green and burgundy pattern that resembled sponge painting. As you can see, the wallpaper was torn, but it was stuck on good. So good in fact, that most people didn't even realize it was wallpaper. They thought the room was painted. I knew this teeny tiny room would give me fits when I tried to remove the paper so I committed the ultimate remodeling sin... I painted over it. I know every where you look, the experts say DON'T DO IT! But the experts all seem to live in dream homes where wallpaper peels right off in one nice big piece and the wall is in pristine condition underneath and ready to go. Unfortunately, Hubby and I have a penchant for buying houses that seemed to have been previously owned by wallpaper moguls or something so I've dealt with quite a bit of wallpaper in my time and none of it comes off that easily.
Now I'm not recommending you go out and paint over every inch of wallpaper in your house, but there are times when it seems to be the only option. So, if that's the case at your house, here's what to do:

1) Take care of any loose ends by gluing them back down or carefully peeling away.
2) Cover the walls with an oil-based primer, such as Kilz. I know, oil-based paint is a total pain, but using a latex (i.e water-based) primer may cause the wallpaper to bubble up or come loose over time. Not what you want to see after all your hard work.
3) Use drywall compound to repair any flaws from torn wallpaper or to cover any seams. Remember how I told you my wallpaper was really stuck? Well you couldn't even find the seams after one coat of Kilz so I lucked out and got to skip this step.
4) Apply another coat of oil-based primer just to be on the safe side.
5) If you need to apply more primer it is safe to go with a latex-based one at this point.
6) Now for the fun part, cover with at least two coats of your chosen color (latex or oil-based).

Here's my new half-bath. I know the pictures aren't the greatest, but it's a small room. What'd you expect?

 

 

Wanna see more makeovers? Head over to Thrifty Decor Chick for a Before and After Party link-up.