Travel Trailer Makover, Part 4: Wallpaper Removal, a Dismantled Trailer and New Side Curtains...

Oh yes. the diamond wallpaper border. I was extremely nervous about this but had decided that if I was going to eliminate all of the other diamond/check gray/green/beige fabric I should also try to remove the wallpaper border:

I had tried to find out online if anyone knew what kind of wallpaper this was and how to best remove it. I found only one lady on an RV forum who said her new trailer had the peel n stick kind of wallpaper boarder and to just peel it off slowly. So, after the hubby's enthusiastic approval ("Sure, whatever you want Hon") I tried to peel back a small part of the border in a hidden spot to see if it would work.

  

AND IT DID! I sent this crazy face text to him:

 

Hee hee :) I was kinda excited. The pink arrow is pointing to the place where I had just removed the wallpaper! I found that as long as I peeled back sssuuuuuupppppeeerrrr slowly it did not leave much gunk behind.

However....

There IS a significant amount of sticky glue gunk left behind.  

I tried MULTIPLE methods at removing this gunk.  The very best method to remove the leftover peel and stick wallpaper gunk is spraying Goo Gone on it and leaving it set for a few hours. Then, come back with a plastic putty scraper (I wouldn't recommend a metal one - it might damage your wall!) and scrape like crazy.

Lather Rinse Repeat. Took about three sessions of spay, soak and scrape on each section. LOTS of elbow grease.

But hey, by the end you end up with a pile of yucky wallpaper and smooth, unsticky walls:

 

And apparently a daughter who is proficient at angry birds.

Next I took all the curtains, window valance thingys, queen headboard, venetian blinds and cell shades down. Fully dismantled and ready to be sassified:

The original, straight from the manufacturer look to the dismantled, oh-boy-what-have-I-gotten-myself-into look:

And you might notice on the taken apart photo, I had already begun to sew the new side curtain panels:

First I laid all the original panels on the new fabric to get measurements....and to take before/after photos :)  Then I serged and finished the edges. On the bottom I left a pocket so they could slide over the wall mounted curtain end holders:

The tops had to be gathered and then velcro sewn on. Yup, these hang from the cornice thingys by industrial strength VELCRO.  I love it! It means whenever my kiddos pull on them (because you know they will) and rip them down, nothing is damaged. It's just velcro. No problem!

Hoo boy, this post is getting too long! Next up: recovering the window cornice thingys.

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

 Check out all the posts from this Travel Trailer Makeover Series!

• Part 1: A sassified Shower Curtain

• Part 2: The "before I tore everything apart" Tour
• Part 3: Bright Bold and Beautiful Fabrics
• Part 4: Wallpaper removal, A Dismantled Trailer and New Side Curtains  
• Part 5: Cornici Recoving! 
• Part 6: Dinette Cushions Madeover!
• Part 7: Couch Slipcover
• Part 8: Master Bedroom and Privacy Curtains
• Part 9: Bunk Beds and Windows