YES You Can Paint Over Wallpaper!

 

Someone asked me recently how many years had I been renovating old homes. . .I had to think for a moment. . .It was a long time ago. . .Maybe 45 years? . . .I never did it professionally. . .It was always some new home I had moved into. . .How many homes? . .Seven . . .I think. . .Ya lose track after so many years.

DINING ROOM BEFORE

I have learned a lot of different techniques that have simplified the renovation a bit. . .One of them is painting over wallpaper instead of taking weeks stripping it down.

So when I started  working on the Hubardeau, the first interior task was paint. . .Wallpaper dominated three rooms and a hall. . .dating the home greatly. . .I have to add here that in the past I have wallpapered many, many rooms myself. . .In fact, I once owned a home that had this exact pattern in that dining room. . .But an update would be in order there, too. . .with paint for a simpler style and a change. . .

I had several people tell me that painting the wallpaper would never work. . .but I knew it could be done. . .In fact, it was almost the only option. . .Behind the wallpaper were plaster walls. . .The paper had been applied with a stronger adhesive than the usual paste. . .This turned out to work great when applying paint but impossible to remove the paper before the application. . .

    CUT OVERLAPS AND SPACKLE "DITCHES"

The secret to success are a few important prep steps: 

The old wallpaper has to be firmly stuck to the wall. . .Any tears or places the paper is loose from the wall has to be addressed. . .

If the wallpaper overlaps, with a razorblade or box cutter, cut out the overlapping area and spackle to fill in the "ditch". . .Once the spackle is dry, sand lightly until smooth. . .(See photo above). . .

Now, go over all the walls with a damp rag to be sure they are smooth for painting. . .

 PRIME AND PAINT

The next step is just as important as the first. . .maybe more so. . .

Brush or roll on OIL BASED PRIMER to cover the wallpaper. . .It must be oil based. . .Latex will soften the glue behind the paper and will not work. . .Take my word for it. . .I learned the hard way. . .

Once the primer is on and dry. . .it is time to paint. . .

Honestly. . .the hard part to me is choosing the colors. . .It took me a month to decide. . .In the end I went with the popular Creole influenced colors I had seen in the past on my weekends in New Orleans. . .They are also from an historic paint collection at Ace Hardware. . .The dining room is a rich gold. . .The trim and shutters a basic white that stands out against the gold. . .This color combination will be dramatic with the new floor of black and white painted diamond check. . .don't you think?

We'll be laying an oak floor soon. . .I hope. . .John took a little fall and is healing slowly but surely. . .Until then, there are plenty other projects for us to work on. . .No problem there!!