When Removing Wallpaper Rips the Wallboard

 

I finally completed a project that I'd been wanting to tackle for some time—giving the hall bathroom in my parent's home a glow up. It meant removing wallpaper, which is no one's favorite task. We kind of suspected it wouldn't be easy, and it wasn't, but we rolled with it, and the transformation is gratifying.

Mom has never been a fan of wallpaper in bathrooms. But this bathroom already had wallpaper when my parents purchased the home more than a decade ago. They'd been putting off replacing the paper, because—been there, done that—they knew that if the walls had not been prepared properly before papering, they'd be dealing with a mess. And they were right.

Read on to learn what happened as the project got underway and how I worked through the various problems that arose.

 

Kitchen Before + After: Think in Terms of Vignettes

When I decided to open up some walls for our kitchen renovation, I knew I'd have to consider the design carefully from every angle. What would be the first impression when you entered our home? How much kitchen could you see from the entryway? Sitting on the sofa and gazing over at the kitchen, would I be looking at a sinkful of dishes? A hulking stainless steel appliance? On the wall of the sink elevation: Did I really need wall cabinets, which would block the line of sight to the window? It pays to consider every elevation as a vignette. These are the considerations that gave shape to my kitchen design.

Beveled Tile - The Problem With Finishing Corners

When we were renovating the bathroom, just as my marble-tub vision was starting to come to life we hit a snag with the tile that could have been a show stopper. I want to share some information that I wish I'd known then about beveled tile. Perhaps someone out there right now planning your bathroom reno will stumble across this in your planning phase, while you have all your options open. Or maybe you're right in the middle of dealing with this very issue right now, and this information might help.

Updating Kitchen Sink Fixtures

Has this ever happened to you? You start out with a simple project — to update a faucet fixture — and invariably end up replacing the trap and a whole slew of other pipes beneath the sink. What should be a 45-minute project snowballs into a whole day thing, with multiple trips to the hardware store for parts. Here's where conventional "advice" you get from sales assistants in the plumbing aisle is just *plumb* wrong and what I'll do differently next time I touch a kitchen sink.

 

Why Polyurethane Is the ONLY Wood Countertop Sealant That Worked for Us

A few years ago I shared the "unvarnished truth" about our wood countertops—and it wasn't pretty. I can't believe I made the rookie mistake of relying on "oil" for my sealant. If you're considering wood countertops in your kitchen, and especially if yours is a sink counter, be realistic about the way you actually use your countertops. If you're like me, oil was not enough protection as a sealant.

The Least Expensive "True" Counter-Depth Refrigerator Solutions

A counter-depth refrigerator, via Bosch

You'll often hear it said that appliances come in standard sizes, but there's a great deal of variation in refrigerators. So-called "standard" 36-inch refrigerators vary in height and width, and more importantly, depth. This is immediately apparent to anyone shopping for a "counter-depth" fridge. What the industry calls a "counter-depth" fridge costs several thousand dollars more than a conventional refrigerator—and still protrudes past your countertops. If you're looking for a more streamlined look, here are the options.