Friday, September 19, 2008

Starting the Transformation



These are the cabinets we had installed in our master bedroom.  When you live in a small house, you never seem to have enough storage space.  Finally, we do not have a laundry basket full of bath towels sitting on the floor outside the bathroom!  Instead, they are folded neatly inside the cabinets on the right.  Yay!




And we have a window seat!  (I guess great minds think alike, Mental Mama.)  As you can see, we have some painting to do.  Actually, our wonderful painter, Freddy, is going to be doing the painting some time in October.  




But first, I have to strip the wallpaper.  The last time I had to strip wallpaper, my sister-in-law gave me a great tip.  Instead of  stripper, use fabric softener.  Just add some to a bucket of very hot water -- as hot as you can stand it.  You sponge it on the paper that has been scored, and just wait for it to do it's work.  It softens the glue, and smells nice, too.  :)

So wish me luck.  I'll be up to my elbows in fabric softener for the next few days.  

44 comments:

  1. Wow! You're off to a beautiful start! Those cabinets are gorgeous! Are you going to make a cushion for the window seat?

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  2. how exciting Mary! Your built in cabinet looks awesome!!!!!

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  3. Looks great Mary! I love it.

    annie

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  4. Oh I say! This tip sounds good! I have a couple of projects, one involving stripping my study of the aged paper...will try this out! Thanks.

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  5. ...Hello, I love the built in cabinetry and especially the window seat! Perfect! :o)

    ...Btw, the fabric softener only works on wallpaper if sizing was applied before the wallpaper was hung. And take it from me, "score" with a light hand. I removed wallpaper in our home and too many times when I scored the wallpaper I was scoring the drywall as well. Didn't make for a happy husband if you know what I'm sayin'... ;o)

    ...Enjoy your weekend!

    ...Blessings... :o)

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  6. The cabinets are beautiful! We have similar big windows in our bedroom and hubby is (still) building shelves on either side. They are going to look great someday:>) I actually love stripping wallpaper. I like to see how big a piece I can get off in one rip, what can I say? I'm a little weird:>)

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  7. Oooh, those cabinets are nice! I could use that storage, too. I had to chuckle with the laundry basket comment, because that's me....LOL. ~ Robyn

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  8. Love, love, love those cupboards. What a beautiful way to add storage. Bravo!

    :-) Rosie

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  9. Those are gorgeous - I love the window seat! And have fun with the wallpaper - I had good luck with fabric softener, so I hope it works well for you.

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  10. I love your cabinets. We live in a small house and have the same storage problems. Our towels are currently shoved in a cupboard that houses all sorts of stuff. Someday we will have more cabinets - yours are fabulous and the window seat is charming.

    Beautifully done!

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  11. Oh Mary - removing wallpaper is my least favorite thing to do. I'd rather lay floor tile and deal with icky grout. I'll be thinking of you and sending good thoughts. The bedroom is going to be fantastic when it's finished. The cabinets are a genius idea and the window seat is perfect.

    - Suzanne, the Fazrmer's Wife

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  12. Ummmm. UM! What fantastic cabinets. Boy, when you do something, girl...you do it up RIGHT! These are just beautiful and gonna make your bedroom just shine!!
    love, bj

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  13. Those cabinets are gorgeous! And a window seat. How wonderful. Can't wait to see the rest of the changes. You can also add vinegar to your water to strip wallpaper. But I think fabric softener smells SO much better! ~Adrienne~

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  14. Wow - the new cabinets are beautiful Mary.

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  15. That looks fantastic! Great minds, indeed!

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  16. The cupboards are wonderful - they look like they have always been there! Sally

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  17. Someone, Kari and Kijsa???, mentioned how good vinegar worked, too. Guess fabric softener would smell better. ;>

    Your cabinets and the window seat are wonderful; however, I bet the sofa was more comfortable.

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  18. Pretty! I love the hardware!

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  19. The cabinetry is beautiful Mary!
    I know what you mean about not eough storage. Our bedroom has one small closet, and there is a radiator right there, so you can only open the door so far. Hubby keeps his clothes in daughter's closet. :( I can't wait to see what colors you decide on! Have a great weekend.

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  20. You make stripping wallpaper look so pretty but I want to see you "up to your elbows in that fabric softener" LOL! That is a great tip. The cabinets look like they have always belonged there...beautiful.

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  21. Those cabinets are so beautiful! I love the window seat.
    I've also heard the vinegar in water takes off wallpaper too. Fabric softener smells better though.
    *hugs*

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  22. Love your cabinets! Good luck with the wallpaper! I need to do our kitchen and both bathrooms. UGH! One of these days!

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  23. how gorgeous!!! covet. covet. covet. really, it is lovely. cannot wait to see the finished work. where is the love seat? jkj

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  24. Thanks, everyone! To answer your questions:

    We will have a cushion made for the window seat. Unfortunately, I cannot sew. :(

    The loveseat has been covered with a cream slipcover and moved to my son's room for the time being...

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  25. Glad to see you have the rubber gloves too. I gotta get me a pair.

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  26. I love the cabinets--what a great spot to cozy up and read in the afternoon!

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  27. Mary, you know the secret all we small homeowners know...if it sits still, it can store something! We did the same thing in the dining room with base counters on each side of the window seat and bookcases on top of those. Not only did we get bookcases (I love books in a dining room!) and base cabinets, but the window seat lid raises to store Christmas decor. (Another trick is both of our parent's family's vintage steamer trunks.)

    This will be a great addition and it looks great.

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  28. Wow, the cabinet and window seat are gorgeous! I know what you mean about not having enough storage!

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  29. an environmentally wise option! those are great cabinets....does that window seat offer up a place to look out on the garden? that would be sweet :)

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  30. I think the transformation is starting to look great. Love those cupboards. Good luck with stripping the wallpaper. My attempts at wallpapering (with my late dad)were hair-raising but the finished product was good. Left you a little prize for encouragement on my blog.

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  31. Mary, your window seat with the built-ins is fabulous! I love that look.

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  32. Mary,
    I just love those build in cabinets. I'm looking to do something similar around the baywindow in my didning room.
    Oh btw - Congrats! I have an award for you, please stop by to pick it up!
    Have a wonderful day,
    Tam

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  33. Everything looks great. I really like the cabinets. I recently took wallpaper off of a wall (using fabric softener). It really worked well. Please stop by for a visit and pick up your award.
    Sweetie

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  34. Hi Mary :)

    Good luck with all the wallpaper! A few have said that a mix of vinegar and water will work really well too. I can't wait to see what you do :)

    Thank you for making me feel better about my angry buyers. Our new realtor told us that the reason our house isn't selling is because my personal stamp on it is too strong. Whatever. Rich and I have taken off that stamp this past week, so we'll see how it goes.

    (((hugs)))
    rue

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  35. Love that window seat!!!

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  36. Oh wow Mary what a big job removing all that wallpaper will be
    Alison

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  37. Lovely, indeed. The window seat is fantastic. Oh, how much I would like to have something like that in my small home.

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  38. Love these cabinets. I don't think you can ever have enough storage. Just wonderful!

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  39. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh I love, love, love those cabinets with the window seat! I fantasize about window seats in my house;)

    Good luck with the wallpaper removal!

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  40. Mary! This is gorgeous! I love these cabinets! How I would love to do this in our bedroom someday.
    More storage AND a window seat!!
    You lucky goose you!

    Love,
    Sue

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  42. You Didn't Use a Name Brand Fabric Softener!!!
    (Kidding)

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