Removing Wallpaper with Wagner: Welcome to the 106th Metamorphosis Monday!

Meet my new best friend, Wagner. He's a little finicky but for the most part he and I are getting along okay.



He tends to drool a little and runs out of water sooner than he is supposed to...but that's okay. He gives me an excuse to take a little break every half hour. With Wagner, I can pull off strips of wallpaper this size...




And sometimes, this size. Pretty cool, huh? Sure beats the heck out of the micro-strips I was able to peel off before Wagner came into my life.



The Nitty-Gritty: (You can skip this part if wallpaper removal isn't in your future.)

After trying M-1, DIF gel and regular DIF...and fabric softener today, I found the fabric softener worked the best out of all those. But it was still going painfully slow and very messy. So here was my thinking: Since I have at least two bathrooms I'll be removing paper from in the future, I might as well go ahead and invest in a steamer.

Lowe's had two sizes of steamers and I went with the bigger one because the handle has a little button that will lock the trigger button down so you don't have to hold it down. It's kind of like when you buy gas, you can lock the little thingy down so you don't have to keep pressing the lever the whole time while you're gassing up your car. That saves a little strain on the hand.

Wagner isn't perfect, though...he drips just like you guys with steamers warned me about. Mostly he just drips right when you first begin using him after he's been sitting a minute. Apparently, the water in the hose cools down while you're scraping, so when you press to steam some more, some hot water runs out before the steam does. So I found it's best to start at the top, that way when the hot water drips out, it just runs down the wall loosening up the paper, instead of dripping straight onto the floor.

Also, I found Wagner runs out of water after about 20-30 minutes...not 45 like the little directions say. If you buy one of these, be forewarned that the steam makes the paint/wall pretty soft so it's even easier to gouge the wall if you press too hard. I am not looking forward to repairing all my gouges and nicks. Does anyone have any great suggestions on the best product for that? I was thinking about using one of those light weight spackles.


One Thing Marked Off the "To Do" List:
I did manage to mark one thing off the "To Do" list on my sidebar today. I swapped out the old baseball door knob that went with my son's baseball-themed bedroom. It was beginning to deteriorate after 18-20 years. When my son was here for Christmas, he reached for the knob to open the door and was totally grossed out. Apparently, rubber (or whatever it was made of) starts to leak oil or ooze after 20 years. Gross, indeed.




I went with a normal brass knob. I would have considered going with a different color knob, but since all the knobs in the house are polished brass, I just went with a standard old knob...nothing fancy. Yay...one thing done...a gazillion to go. ;)




The hardwood flooring guys are coming back tomorrow and Tuesday to add the final polyurethane coatings to the flooring. Once that dries, I'll be moving the furniture into the room. The cable guy comes out on Thursday to move the connection for the High-Speed Internet to that room. In the meantime, I'm still searching for the perfect rug and light fixture. I have some ideas on the rug but just haven't found one I really love, yet. I wish I could give you guys one huge, awesome reveal...but my rooms tend to evolve as I find the pieces I really love. But it will get there, right? ;)


A Small Change for BNOTP:

I made a little change on the blog last night under the header, Tabletop♦NapkinFolds♦PartyIdeas. I separated out all the holiday tablescapes by their specific holiday.

In other words, the holiday tablescapes are no longer all in one big group, they are now separated out according to the holiday like you see in this screen shot below. (Please Note: This is just a picture so these links aren't active. To view the tablescapes, click on the subject header at the top of the blog and you'll find the live links there.)




Hopefully this will make it easier to find what you need if you're seeking some ideas or a little inspiration for an upcoming holiday tablesetting. I'm hoping to add links for "holiday decorating" real soon. Most of those will be Halloween or Christmas oriented, I think. I'm trying to make all the the old posts/content more accessible so when you want to refer back to something, you'll be able to find it with ease. :)



Thank you for all the suggestions you've been making to help with this wallpaper nightmare. But most of all, thanks for all of your encouragement! :) You guys are awesome! I can't wait to see the "Before and Afters" linked for this Met Monday!


ADDITION: I found an even better way for removing impossible wallpaper. I posted about it HERE. It even beats Wagner! It's what the professionals use and it works!



I'm linking this post to Sarah's Organize It Party. Thanks, Sarah for hosting!



Metamorphosis Monday:
If you are participating in Metamorphosis Monday: Please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name, then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

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Please include a link in your MM post back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. Why is this important? When you include a link back to BNOTP, it ensures your regular readers/visitors will find the other awesome "Before and Afters" linked for this Metamorphosis Monday. If everyone links back, this maximizes the visits for all participants.

Please DO NOT type in all caps...it spreads the links waaaay out. Thanks! :-)

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course. :-)




Little Reminder: Thank-you for linking back to this post so the regular visitors to your blog will find all your fellow Blogger's posts linked here for this Met Monday. If you find your link has been deleted, it is because your post didn't mention you were participating in Metamorphosis Monday and didn't include a link back to the other participants and/or was not a "Before and After" subject/project.

House Lust

The War of the Wallpaper continues and at the suggestion of many readers, I'm giving fabric softener a try. If this doesn't work, I'm heading over to either Lowes or The Home Depot tomorrow to purchase a wallpaper steamer. I will not surrender...victory will be mine! Hear that, wallpaper!!!

See that baseball wallpaper behind the fabric softener. That's in my son's bathroom and it's adorable paper...but I guess I'll be tackling it sometime down the road, too. It went well with his baseball themed bedroom. If you'd like to see this bathroom, let me know and I'll share it with you sometime. This will be another bittersweet remodel.




As promised, I opened the sealed door this morning and...




Here's how the flooring looks so far with just one coat of poly. The color isn't quite golden enough, so we'll work on that when the flooring crew comes back on Monday, but I'm definitely liking hardwood flooring in this room...soon to become my office/study/playroom/retreat.




I'm having trouble visualizing what I want in this room besides the Pottery Barn Bedford office furniture. I envision a seating area with a lamp and table for those times when I want to sit down, relax and read a bit. This room is going to be more than office. I want it feel a little like a retreat, a fun place. I think I'm going to have to slow down and quit trying to "complete" this room in my head and let it evolve like all the other rooms in my home have done...know what I mean? I'll get the office furniture moved in and "live" in here a little while...then I'll know the direction to go from there.



On a fun note, Julia at Hooked on Houses just celebrated her Blog's 3 year birthday! Whoo Hoo! I love visiting Hooked on Houses and Julia is one of the nicest, Bloggers you would ever want to meet! In her post about how she first became inspired to start her blog, she talks about getting her inspiration from the book, House Lust: America's Obsession With Our Homes.

I've been meaning to order this book for some time and I finally did. Julia was right...it's a great read! I don't want to do anything (including remove evil wallpaper) but read this book! It delves into why we not only love our own homes but why we love seeing the homes of others. It also gets into the issue of how the grass is always greener on the other side...the "if onlys" we think about regarding our own houses.



If you haven't visited Hooked on Houses, be sure to check it out! Julia always has something fun going on...it's a must read for me every day. See you on Sunday evening for Metamorphosis Monday! Can't wait to see what you've been working on in your homes!

Installing Hard Wood Floors in Real Time: Final for Today

With the sanding complete...


It was time to evaluate the stain. The wood I always have installed is white oak (not red oak) so I can get a nice amber or yellow sunshine color. Last time a mix of equal parts Natural and Puritan Pine stain worked well to get the color I like. (These are Minwax colors, I believe.) This is the view standing in the hallway looking into the room. The Natural and PP combo is on the left and natural alone is on the right.




Look how different they look standing inside the room looking toward the door with the windows to my back. The direction of the grain of the wood really makes a difference. I went with just the natural stain because the floors always naturally amber a bit over time. We didn't want to go too dark or amber right now.


Unfortunately, they finished staining and putting on the first coat of polyurethane and sealed up the door before I realized it, so I missed getting a finished picture. I can unseal the door tomorrow morning and walk on it by 1:00 PM, so I'll share some pics tomorrow. Final coats of poly will go down on Monday and Tuesday. If you missed them, you can view Part 1, HERE and Part 2, HERE and Part 3, HERE.





Mr. Max listened to all the noise today but never acted scared. Brave kitty. :) Hope you enjoyed following the process of having wood flooring installed. See you tomorrow with a final photo. Have a wonderful weekend!

Installing Hard Wood Floors in Real Time: Part 3

Floor is in...







Closet is done, too. Sanding has begun. If you missed them, you can view Part 1, HERE and Part 2, HERE.



Several folks have emailed and asked what company I am using for my flooring. I love A.L. Thomas out of Buford, GA. (678-546-6970) They have installed/finished flooring in my home before and always do a wonderful job. Plus, they have been in business 65 years! Wow!

Installing Hard Wood Floors in Real Time: Part 2

Things are moving quickly.






If you missed Part 1, you can see it HERE.

Installing Hardwood Floors in Real Time: Part 1

Come along for the journey. :)

Here's the room this morning.




This was my son's baseball-themed bedroom and I removed all the furniture recently to create a home office since he's all grown up and has flown the nest.






Bye-bye old carpet...







Wish blogs had sound and smell-a-vision. Imagine the sound of saws, air compressors and the smell of fresh wood. Sounds and smells like progress. :) See you a little later with an update...

Wallpaper H-E Double Hockey Sticks

When you die, if you've been bad...instead of going to heaven, I believe they send you to a room covered in wallpaper where the walls were never primed or sized. Then, you spend an eternity removing wallpaper, one micro-shred at the time...because an eternity is exactly how long it's going to take. :(

When the first product I bought didn't work AT. ALL., I returned to the big warehouse store and armed myself with a new arsenal of products.




This represents 2 1/2 hours of work. :'( Waaaaah



Apparently, during the last twenty years while this room was covered in a baseball themed wallpaper, the wallpaper and the paint on the walls fell madly in love and got married. They definitely took vows of "to death do we part." When I manage to get a piece of the paper to come off, the paint is totally married to the backing of the wallpaper, as in, they have become "one." You can see it in the pic below. And this is after soaking it thoroughly a gazillion times with the wallpaper remover stuff.



I've tried a paper tiger, vinegar, M-1, and two kinds of DIF and this is how the walls are looking. I'm not looking forward to repairing all this. :(


On a happy note :) the flooring is going in today, beginning around 10:00 AM EST. I'm going to publish some mini-posts (with a picture or two) documenting the progress all throughout the day...that is, if my flooring guys don't mind pics during the process. Stay tuned. :) In the meantime, don't forget to check out all the wonderful tablescapes posted for yesterday's Tablescape Thursday! :)

A Valentine's Day Breakfast Tablescape: Welcome to the 127th Tablescape Thursday!

Happy Tablescape Thursday! Hope your week is going great!

A few months ago, I found some flavored chocolate "coffee spoons" at Marshalls. The flavors are: Hazelnut, Mocha, Mint, Irish Cream, French Vanilla and Amaretto. On a trip to Trader Joes I decided to try their gingerbread.




Do these not sound like the perfect winter "comfort" foods? They also sound like the perfect ingredients for a Valentine's Day breakfast. :)




As you can see, someone decided to skip breakfast and sleep in this morning...













China is vintage International, pattern is Glenwood. I found most of it while antiquing and filled in with what I needed from eBay.




The last time I made these little heart shaped cakes for Valentine's Day, I just sprinkled them with powdered sugar and filled them with raspberry preserves.








This time I filled the center with icing I made and tinted pink.




A beautiful orchid from my son for my recent birthday...










Hope you enjoyed this Valentine's Day breakfast.




Looking forward to seeing your beautiful tablescapes!

China: Vintage International, Pattern is Glenwood, Found antiquing & on eBay
Flatware: Towle, King Richard
Domed Server: HomeGoods
Silverplate Candlesticks: Found antiquing
Candles provided by Colonial Candle
Orchid: Birthday gift from my son

I'm linking this post to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound and Foodie Friday at Designs by
Gollum. Thanks Beverly and Michael for hosting these wonderful blog parties!



Please Read:
If you are participating in Tablescape Thursday, please be sure to add your permalink below, and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on your post name. Then just copy and paste the address that shows up in the address bar at the top, into the "url" box for the picture linky. You'll also need to put your e-mail address in, but don't worry, it will not be visible to anyone.

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Please, link back to the host blog, Between Naps on the Porch. This is important because it helps those who are visiting your blog, find the other wonderful tablescapes posted for this Tablescape Thursday, thus increasing visits for all participants.

Please, don't add your post name/blog name in ALL CAPS...it tends to create big spaces between the rows of links. Thanks!

Let's try something fun today! Please visit the person who linked before you and after you...that way everyone will get some visits. Hope you'll visit more, of course. :-)


Little Reminder: Thank-you for linking back to this post so the regular visitors to your blog will find all your fellow Blogger's posts linked here for this Tablescape Thursday. Don't forget to use your permalink. : )