Remodeling the Upstairs Bathroom

We have started another project again! I know, I said in my Stressful Nesting blog that I was done after the rocking chair till the baby, but this one came about a little unexpected.

We have this bathroom in the upstairs of our house that might have the ugliest wallpaper ever! I know I say this about all of the rooms, but this one is a pink, purple, yellow, and lime green plaid. My husband asked me the other day "What company would even print such an ugly wallpaper?" My thoughts exactly...I mean it looks like Easter year round on the walls. To make matters worse, the bathroom has vaulted ceilings so it's as far as the eye can see.

I decided to contact a professional on redoing this bathroom. I just don't see myself hanging from a ladder trying to joint compound the walls. (As a refresher, the wallpaper is applied to the drywall so it is quite the headache to remove!) I had someone come out and give me a quote and I thought it sounded very reasonably priced. The only catch was, I needed to remove the wallpaper first and he would do a skim coat (to even out the tears in the drywall), prime, and paint the room for me.

One day, after hours of sanding on the rocking chair from hell (which I am still not finished with), I decided to just start a little of the wallpaper removal in the bathroom. I mixed up a solution of vinegar and really hot water and sprayed it on the walls. To my surprise, the wallpaper came off really easy! I think because of the years of steam in the bathroom, it was loose enough to remove with only a little tearing of the drywall. I worked on it for an hour that day and then an hour the next day and it was all done! Really, not very much work compared to other rooms I have removed wallpaper in. Now all I had to do was call the contractor to skim coat and paint the room.

Here are some pictures of the bathroom:
Awww....so ugly!

The darker brown areas are where I ripped the drywall :(
You should have seen me rip the towel rack off the wall. I felt so powerful!

And the vaulted ceilings!
More ripped drywall below:

I came home two days ago, prepared to call the contractor to set up a time for him to come out, only to find my husband skim coating the wall. My exact words were "I am not helping with this room, I did my part." But somehow through his charismatic ways, I found myself helping patch the holes in the drywall that evening. Yesterday, I came home to find the room completely skim coated and ready for primer and paint. Well, what can I do now...I mean painting is the easy part, it's the skim coating that is the hard part. I guess we will end up doing this room ourselves. The bathroom is pretty small, so the painting would probably take only two hours here and there for a few days so it's really not too bad of a project. I can tell you this though, he will be the one hanging from the ladder painting the peaks of the vaulted ceiling. I just don't think it would be too safe for a 9 month pregnant woman. :)

~Beth