Wednesday, August 26, 2009

My Little Project + Post 700!

When my anxiety is at an all time high (middle school! middle school!), I like to try to alleviate some of the stress by finding a project to get my mind focused elsewhere.

After living in this house for over 5 years, I decided I was finally ready to tackle the removal of the kitchen wallpaper. Only it's not just the kitchen - it's the dining room and a small room behind the kitchen, where you can either turn right to a half bath, turn left to go on the patio or turn to go downstairs.

So, I started with the smallest area, here:



Except for a few small scraps, this room is finished. I'll finish it up today and start on the main kitchen:



And more - this is actually leading into the dining room:



All the way down to the hallway:



And there is more over the cabinets, too! I'm going to be a busy girl for a week or so.

The thing is, projects like this make the Evil Twin's asshole pucker in rage. He does not like things to be half-assed looking or not tidy. I promised him I would keep my work area as neat as possible and try to be quick about it.

Once the wallpaper has all been removed, then we'll choose paint color or colors and that's when the Evil Twin steps in to finish the project.

Then we never have to worry about it again. I'm not one of those "change my mind on color every six months" types. (not that there's anything wrong with that, but once I make up my mind, I tend to be happy with my choices and never look back).

So, that's my new stress reliever. Well, that and Ativan. And Chardonnay in the evenings. A girl has to incorporate a little bit of fun into a dreary job, huh? ;-)

24 comments:

  1. LOL... way to go on the the new plans. Luckily for me my asshole doesn't pucker when things are disorderly or I would be puckered up constantly.

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  2. Looks excellent!!

    Now I understand why my asshole is so puckered, too.

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  3. You'd be surprised how much fun decorating can be on a glass, or two or three of Chardonnay...may not look as nice as you thought the previous night but DANG if you didn't have fun the night before!

    Hope Buddy's first day of middle school started off okay. Anxious to hear how it went!!!

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  4. Oh enjoy! I consider it a great accomplishment to get all the paper off a wall.

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  5. Good for you starting a new project! That can't be a great feeling when you know you are under pressure and scrutiny from the hubs. Especially as my "projects" can sometimes span years and decades! lol

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  6. For some reason every house we have lived in has had wallpaper when we moved in...I hate wallpaper! Especially the sheep in the foyer of my last house. Who wallpapers sheep onto their walls? Anyhow, good luck with your project. My remedy for removing wallpaper is cheap liquids fabric softener and water. It works as well as the store bought concoctions and smells so nice the evil twin might be a smidge less puckered!!

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  7. I wish I liked to decorate, but I don't.
    So I'll just live vicariously through you : D

    And I'll totally drink to the ambitious project anytime you want!

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  8. Girl, that would take me 3 years to complete. I would be side tracked every 5 minutes!

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  9. What a big project! But you will be so happy when it is done. And is does do wonders for the stress to have something else to do!

    Smooches!

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  10. Yea!!! Congratulations on 700 posts. I think a glass of wine is in order. Not a bad project and before you know it, you'll be all finished.

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  11. Sure sounds like a lot of fun (not really). Paint sure is a lot easier to work with but I admit wallpaper does have strong appeal. At least once you get the old stuff off and the new paint up, it'll be a lot easier to change things if you want to later on.

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  12. I like my 'de-stressing' projects, too. No wallpaper in this house, though...Just paint - paint that has been chipped, drawn on, and had several food items splattered on it....not to mention the constant running of hands on it. I have my home improvement work cut out for me. Someday.

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  13. I'm very good at painting. And I actually like doing it. But, I can't stand taking down wallpaper. It's tedious and messy and I get so annoyed and frustrated.

    Okay, so I've only done it once, but it really sucked. ;-)

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  14. You will show us the after photos, won't you?

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  15. ooh can't beat a good project. looking forward to seeing the after pics :-)

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  16. good luck on your big project. your hubby sounds very much like mine in that mine won't tackle projects with me cuz he can't stand the mess it entails while doing it. I on the other hand can see past it and visualize the end product!! And...from the pictures..I must say it is time for a change lol :) Good luck!!

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  17. I like to take on projects too when I am under pressure.

    I had "wallpaper" in my kitchen and when I removed it there was TILE underneath. Seriously? Who wallpapers over tile? Now I am living with the tile and waiting to just re-do the whole kitchen.

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  18. I hate wallpaper, it took me 8 years to get up the energy to remove from two bathrooms. Here is a tip - before you paint, put a coat of Kilz Primer or something on the walls first. This way you are sure to cover up any left over glue or other stuff from wallpaper. It makes a huge difference, and really helps the new paint adhere to the wall.

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  19. I am so thankful our basement flooded and we had insurance money to pay someone to strip the horrendous pastel abstract designed wallpaper we had throughout our basement! Stripping wallpaper is a big job!

    That chardonnay will get you through it though! :) Can't wait to see the results!

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  20. Wallpaper - blech! I hope Buddy has a great first week of middle school.

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  21. More than disorder, wall paper in general makes my asshole pucker. I hate that shit!

    Our house was full of it when we bought it. In most cases, there were many layers. Our dining room, for instance, had 4 layers of wall paper with a layer of paint between the bottom 2 layers.

    I have vowed that I will pummel the inventor of wall paper if I ever meet him...

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  22. WHen you're done you can do mine and you can make as big a mess as you want!

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  23. Oh, I can't wait to see the finished product. And do you make ET's ass pucker up much do you?

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  24. There is NOTHING like ripping down wallpaper to make me forget all my worries! I don't even mind it when it gets down to the little stubborn bits that peel off a half-inch at a time! LOL

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