Wallpaper is Not My Favorite

I know that for some people, wallpaper is making a comeback. My mother just put up wallpaper in a number of rooms in her house - both in small (bathroom) and large (dining room and den) spaces - and she couldn't be happier with the result. And there is definitely something to be said for new wallpaper, but old wallpaper? That was a big red flag for us - and one we didn't even know existed when we first moved into the house!
When we first bought the house, the area behind the fireplace was covered with a light wood paneling. And once we pulled up the carpet, it became an even more glaring eyesore.


While we were pulling up the carpet, I actually took a sneak peek behind the paneling in a spot that we were able to pry off of the wall.

After removing the bottom fake wood trim, and the mantel, it was fairly easy to pull the paneling off of the wall and move it into the garage with the carpet.

But, what did we find behind the paneling? We found 50 year old wallpaper!!! Covered with glue!!!

Don't even try to tell me that 50 year old wallpaper covered with dried wood paneling glue isn't the sexiest thing you've ever seen in a house. We considered making it a design feature, but we had bigger plans for the wall. And so, in a wild fit of "this-wallpaper-goes-or-I-go" I ran out to Home Depot one afternoon and picked up the world's best wallpaper remover.

Seriously, I am not joking around. Do you need to remove wallpaper? This is your stuff. (They didn't pay me to say that, btw.) I used 2 bottles of this spray, the wallpaper cutting tool and a scraper. It took a little bit of elbow grease, but before I knew it (about 2 hours), the wallpaper was gone. 
In fact, it was gone so quickly that I didn't take any pictures of the removal process. Then, I headed to the beach for a week and by the time I returned, the wall around the fireplace had undergone quite a change, so there were never any pictures taken without the wallpaper.  
But, when I returned, I was greeted with an amazing sight - and the sneak peek that I will leave you with today - our built-in bookshelves!

Worth it to not have the wallpaper removal photos? I think so! Have you ever removed wallpaper? What method did you use? Are you a fan of the Chomp citrus spray too? I would have been lost without it!
I'll see you back on Friday to talk about Round 1 of painting in our new house!