Don’t Touch the Wallpaper!

Digital Image

See the light-colored, clean wallpaper close to the light switches?  Now see the darker area a little beyond?

The light area had been covered up by the switch plate cover.  The dark area shows were family members have put their hands on the wall while turning the light on and off.  Over time, the paper has become discolored.

This could be from dirt on people’s hands, or it could simply be from the oils we all have in our skin.

Bottom line – when you are turning lights on or off, touch the SWITCH, not the WALL.

Stripping Off The ’90’s To Reveal – The ’70’s

Digital Image

Digital Image

Today I stripped paper off the walls of a typical entry in a typical ’60’s / ’70’s-era home.

The paper I removed was a pre-pasted, paper-backed, solid vinyl in a striped design. This is a typical pattern, and a typical type of material, for that time.

Under it was the original paper from when the home was built in the ’70’s. If you remember, that was back in the days of Harvest Gold, Avacado Green, orange, and Flower Power. This vintage paper has three out of the four!

After all these years, and despite having been covered up by the vinyl wallcovering, the orange paper was in perfect shape – tight to the wall, and brilliantly colored. The vinyl paper, on the other hand, was curling at the edges and was discolored.

This is partly due to age, but mostly due to having been improperly installed… previous installer did not remove the old wallpaper, and did not prime the walls, plus these pre-pasted, paper-backed, solid vinyls are just not good papers.

This home is in the Kirkwood / Briar Forest area of Houston.

A Little Tar, Anyone?

Digital Image

The area on the left of the photo was covered with a mirror, and around the light switch a plastic switch plate cover had protected the wall.

The rest of the walls were exposed to years and years of heavy cigarette smoking. Just look at how that smoke has discolored the wallpaper!