I met him on the front porch with my laptop in hand. He walked up the steps with a smile on his face, his eyes more relaxed than they’ve been in weeks thanks to the healing touch of our acupuncturist friend Kevin.
“Hey babe.”
Hi,” I said nervously before thrusting the laptop at him. “I wanted you to read the post I just wrote.”
His face lit up. He took the computer and headed for the door.
“Will you read it before you go inside?”
“Why?”
“Will you just read it now?” I asked stepping in front of the door.
“What did you do?” He was laughing nervously and we danced there on the porch as he tried to get inside.
“You didn’t,” he gasped dramatically.
“Well, read it, just read it, ok? I’m so sorry. It just, ah, it just happened,” my credibility was taking serious hits thanks to my giggling.
He walked in holding the laptop, chuckling and shaking his head as the relatively small expanse of wall blared its battered existence.
There were no harsh words, no “How could yous?” I am what I am and Sean, god bless him, loves me for it. Am I aggravating and impossible? You bet, but I also make a mean tray of nachos on Red Sox game nights and usually get us where we want to be by exuberantly chewing off a seemingly herculean task. He looked at me with those blue eyes of his, shrugged his shoulders and said he’d known I was going to do it eventually. I was relieved, but honestly repentant as the plaster and spackle mix took me back to the first year in this house, our Tuscan Crack House era. We worked our asses off to get out of it, through pregnancy, job loss and starting a new business.
Taking a cue from Sean, I shrugged my shoulders. I figured we’d do the rest of the wallpaper and then paint it and be done before Thanksgiving. And then this happened.
Perhaps feeling guilty that he’d jumped in feet first, Sean roped Briar into the project:
Giddy, he cheered both girls on in a bedtime hour dining room decimation:
Then, clearly crazed by the potent aroma of decades old wallpaper glue, he threw his usually cautious nature out the window (specifically his concern about me taking it easy while pregnant) and sent me up on a chair to get crackin’ on the wallpaper removal.
Now just to take you back exactly 24 hours to my post wallpaper peel horror:
Well, imagine my surprise when, less than 12 hours after the first peel, this happened:
A hole the exact size of the head of our sledgehammer. It is now a 12″ square in a wall we discovered was cosmetic. Enter: Kitchen renovations. 3 and half months pregnant, experiencing huge growth and change with Sean’s business and we’re tearing the house apart. We’re nuts, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Are you a member of our club?
I want to buy a fixer upper just so I can trash the place and have my way with it! Lol!
I like the stripped walls better than the wallpaper 🙂
oh – and my cabinets? laminate baby, laminate.
Y'know what? I love you guys.
Get it done now, my friend. Once you have three little ones you will get NOTHING done in the way of renovations or updates.
I could send you pictures of our half-tiled fireplace, unfinished trim jobs and peeling paint, but I don't think it's nice to make a pregnant woman cry. 😉
I think you are members of a very large club, indeed.
I don't own anything to renovate! But I tell you what – I just knew Sean wouldn't get all mad at you. I just knew it!
We belong. When you are seriously considering buying drywall over touching up your gray roots, you know you have a problem.
Good luck.
I started to peel the wall paper in the upstairs hall over a year ago and I still have yet to finish the job, it is so depressing to pass it each night as I exhaustedly trudge to bed. I removed the three layers of paper in the playroom in about three months but I think that is because it was on the main level for everyone to see. I hate peeling wallpaper more than anything I do not know what technique was used to attach the wallpaper in my house but it does not come off without a fight. I will never ever in my life attach wallpaper to any surface, but the feeling of success after a renovation project is worth the effort so I am in your club for sure.
I was smiling ear to ear this whole post.
I love your family.
you'll have to post the fabulous pictures of when it is done (in pink?)
I think I'm a member. Several years ago, we started peeling the hallway from a previous owner's decorating job. The wallpaper stuck so badly that we actually gouged holes in the wall just to remove it. And we tried everything — steam, vinegar, chemical solutions in a spray bottle from the hardware store. It finally came off, and my husband had to sand the walls down. You can still see the lumpy appearance of the wall under the paint! We will never wallpaper anything!
i find this absolultly hilarious that you gave him your post to read first. that is hilarious. i want to try this out next time i'm about to get in trouble. like the time i just started painting walls or when i maybe bash my tile counters
Fantastic!
Man! Did you take down PARIS???
The home improvement shows are applying thin veneer of spackle on the ridges, and then painting right over wallpaper. Makes sense!