Hi Reader!

Whenever I share our rental room reveals, there always seems to be one question everyone really wants to know...

"Did it really all come back down?"

And that question was more persistent than ANY other for our rental dining room (that I revealed over on the blog this week!)

Anyone who came into this room (and readers too!) were always very quick to ask:

"Is that wallpaper really going to come down without ruining the walls?"

Well...I rarely take on a project that I'm not sure can't be safely un-done. But sometimes, I'm thrown a curveball!

And boy, was this a curveball!

It's Not Peel & Stick

Back when I first designed this room, the blue and white floral wallpaper was only available in non-pasted traditional wallpaper (not peel and stick).

"No problem!" I thought.

After all, I have successfully installed "regular" wallpaper in three other rental homes using this secret method!

But as soon as we started to take the wallpaper down, I knew instantly there was a problem. Instead of coming down in big, full sheets, it was (barely) coming down in teeny, tiny strips.

Suddenly, what was supposed to take mere minutes turned into hours (and hours and hours) of painful wallpaper removal.

So What Went Wrong?

In the past, I have always used (cheaper) wallpaper that was non-pasted (a must!) but ALSO non-lined.

This fancy wallpaper, however, had a liner included with the paper. I didn't realize the liner would make a difference.

This liner adhered to the wall more tightly than just paper would have, making it an absolute bear to remove.

What I Learned

My secret installation method still works - as the video shows, we were indeed able to get the wallpaper off the wall without a lick of damage.

However, in order for this hack to work, the wallpaper must be BOTH un-pasted and (more importantly!) not lined!

Peel & Stick Is the Way to Go

Ironically, I had far LESS damage to these walls than I likely would have if I used peel and stick wallpaper. (I show if peel and stick wallpaper damages walls HERE).

But I would have much rather fixed a few patches of peeled paint than do this kind of removal again.

From now on, peel and stick is the only way I'll wallpaper our rental walls again!

Last Week On the Blog

Here's what you may have missed last week on the blog!

Rental Dining Room Makeover Reveal Tour the full before and after of our dining room that really pushes the limits of what's possible with rental decor! Read the Post Watch the Reveal Video

Have a great rest of the week, and I hope to see you on the blog soon!

~Megan

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