Decorating 3

This morning I was determined to work on the second bedroom and stripping as much of the walls as possible. But other things needed to be done first.

The previous owners left behind a double bed - but not just any double bed. This is a very heavy electric bed, without a mattress. First of all, we checked if it actually worked. If not, it could be thrown out; if it did, we would need to do some research on mattresses to see if keeping it is viable. But obviously, it would need to be removed from the room before I added a lot of steam and damp to the air!

Yes, it works, so it was upended (on its side) and with some pushing, pulling and a lot of grunting, OH and I got it into the other bedroom.

The previous owners had also left a huge double wardrobe with massive mirrored doors. There was no way we would get it out of the room in one piece, so OH set about taking it to pieces. It wasn't particularly straight forward, but eventually he managed and the pieces were again moved to the other bedroom.

The floor where it had been standing was pretty filthy and the wardrobe has left dents in the carpet - not that it matters too much as this carpet is going to be changed in any event. We even found a feather duster!! (That's what the green thing is).

Meanwhile, I was pulling the anaglypta off the wall. That was going pretty well, but I discovered it had been stuck to the wall over the previous paper - nothing new there then! The outside wall, around the window, has a different type of wallpaper and that came off easily too.

You can see the pattern from the anaglypta left on the wall after the paper has been removed.

When the room was last decorated, it was obvious they hadn't been able to move the wardrobe, because the paper was still white, whereas the rest that could be seen easily was cream.

The internal walls were another matter - once again they were a bit of a nightmare. It is uncertain whether letting them get damp by using the stripper is a good idea or not. But without it, the paper was coming off in tiny bits and in places, the pattern on the surface of the anaglypta was coming off, but the paper and its backing was staying firmly on the wall. So I used the stripper. It works, after a fashion. It isn't fast, but at least it softens the glue, making it much easier to pull it off. And there is a thick layer of 'plastic' paint underneath, which turns rubbery when damp and also comes off reasonably easily.

Underneath the yellow and pink wallpaper we found under the anaglypta was a dark brown painted wall - very sixties! It isn't really my colour, but at least the wall seems sound.

So, I have made another big mess to be cleared up after I have another day's work on stripping the walls.

When OH had removed the wardrobe (with minimal help from me), he set about removing the handrail on the stairs. There are two - one each side, so one is still in place and the other is now removed in order to add the stair lift. That wasn't so easy either. The rail was 4m long; the landing upstairs is tiny and the door to the bathroom is at an angle in relation to the stairs. Being a long rail of solid wood, it didn't really bend round the corners! The hallway at the bottom of the stairs is even smaller than the landing; the front door is more awkwardly placed than the bathroom door. So OH had a brainwave - he opened the loft hatch and removed the rail by thrusting it through the hatch. I have no idea how he finally got it downstairs though!