my dad swears by a bucket of hot water and a scrubby sponge. He started trying to de-wallpaper my house with fancy schmancy solvent from my contractor uncle and quickly gave it up in favor of hot water and a scraper. It was pretty messy, tho, i imagine a steamer wouldn't leave as many puddles on the floor.

The steamer is working pretty well, but I will have to go get a putty knife.

My questions is this: the paper underneath the horrid paper is gorgeous blue paisley. Now, I'm taking the old paper off and the old paper is revealing itself nicely; there's some faded areas, but I quite love the design and colors and I think the faded bits simply add a nice kind of farmhouse-in-Provence touch.

But after I get all this horrid paper off, then wipe down the walls with solution to get rid of all the bits and pieces...I would like to coat the wallpaper I'm revealing, to protect it and to give it a bit of a sheen. Do they make a matte-ish clear gloss for walls? Or shoudl i just ModPodge the whole wall? ;)

It's going to be cheaper to get water-based satin polyurethane such as Minwax Polycrylic [link]

Perfect, Ginger! A couple of quarts should do the whole upstairs.

Exactly what I was thinking of.

That's so awesome that you can just take off the top layer of ugly and find beauty underneath. I can't wait to see pictures.

Wow, Erin - the wallpaper sounds lovely.

Lemme take a moment to caution against using polyurethane indoors. I've worked with it frequently for furniture and the stink is mind-altering (literally.) If you go to any paint store you should be able to get a clear satin latex glaze (usually used with tints to do effects) that won't make your eyes water. You can also get matte, but satin gives that little bit of lustre. Plus, easier to clean up any smudges or messes. Home Despot doesn't always carry it....i know benjamin moore makes a really nice product but it is more spendy that other brands.

eta: ooh, actually that polycrylic linked isn't polyurethane and looks safe to use inside, plus much more resiliant than a glaze base. nvrmnd

I tweeted and FB'd the wallpaper pix; I'll have to wait to add them to photobucket, because I think I am going to take a little nap.

I have a teeny little hangover.

Already posted to Natter, but here's the link to the house pictures I've been so slack in posting. They're here.

We still have SO much to do! I'm trying to be patient, but I want it all done Nownownow!

The oldest know human melody (according to Pharynglua) [link] - note youtube link, plays upon clicking unless your software is set to block.