How to Remove Wallpaper Border and How Not To Remove Wallpaper!

Do you have wall paper border that needs to be removed? I would love to share what I learned about removing wallpaper border!

Are you looking for a relatively easy way to remove wallpaper border?  After searching on the internet and with some advice from a friend, I found a way to do it!  Well, except for that one unfortunate mishap!

If you are just joining me on my blogging journey, I will give you a very quick summary of  what the Farmhouse part of the blog name refers to.  My husband & I moved into the farmhouse I grew up in during the summer of 2001.  We had a modular home built on the property for my parents to live in.  I had given them their choice of either moving to Florida or a retirement home but they decided they wanted to remain on the property.

As they got older, it worked out well having them close by.  We were able to help take care of them.  We lost my Mom in August of 2014.  My Dad passed away in late September 2017.  He got his wish to stay home until very close to the end.  I didn’t know it was going to be the end at the time but that is a story for another time.

The Entry Way

Although we moved into the farmhouse in the Summer of 2001, we didn’t really change much of the decor while my Mom was still alive.    We did paint the pecan paneled walls in the downstairs a light yellow and pulled up carpeting in two rooms.

People living in rural areas usually use the entrance that is closest to the driveway.  It is rare that someone comes to the front door.  If someone does, you can be pretty sure they are a stranger.  When I was going up, we had a screened in porch along the west side of the house and we used that as our main entrance.  My parents redid the entry way when they added a large bathroom to the house in 1993.

My Mom was a big fan of wallpaper border and used wallpaper in a couple areas of the farmhouse.  When I decided to put the farmhouse on the market, I decided it was past time for the wallpaper border to go.  I really wanted to replace the flooring in the entryway but my contractor talked me out of it.  He felt the money I would spend would be better spent elsewhere.  The entryway not only had the lovely gingerbread theme border, it also had wallpaper halfway up one wall.

The process

I googled “how to remove wallpaper border” on the internet. The most popular way seemed to be to add fabric softener to warm water in a spray bottle, spray the border , let it sit and then gently scrap.  Sounded easy enough.

I got to work.  The solution actually smelled pretty good as I used a lavender based fabric softener.  I was having a bit of a challenge in some areas of the room so I finally had to borrow a tool that scored the paper to allow the solution to reach the backside of the paper and allow the glue to dissolve easier.

After I got the border off, I decided the wallpaper really needed to go too.  I scored the wallpaper, I sprayed the solution on the wall, I waited a bit and then got my handy scraper out.  Perhaps I was angry that day,  because the next thing I knew, I had gouged a big hole in the wall!  I called the contractor that was helping me with some of the jobs that needed to be done.  I asked him if we could put beadboard on the wall to hide the hole.  He thought that would be a good solution.

Once he was finished and I freshened up the walls with a coat of paint, the entryway looked great!  Well, except for the floor!  When we were finished , I wished I would have taken the wallpaper border and the wallpaper down long before I did!

Once I mastered the technique of removing the wallpaper border, I was ready to tackle the border in the dining room!  You can read all about that here: Refreshing the Farmhouse Dining Room Walls

Just remember, don’t be mad when you are scraping off the wallpaper!

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