House Renovations - Part 1

In May 2009, we were able to sell our Loch Raven Village townhouse and purchase Kristin's grandparents' house in Towson. We were very fortunate to buy a house in fantastic structural, electrical, and mechanical condition that will only need aesthetic / cosmetic work to suit our style. Naturally, we'll want to do some serious renovating down the road, but for now, we're happy with our plans to paint.

Yesterday, we decided to get started on our "do-it-ourselves" renovations by removing wallpaper. On the first floor, the foyer, kitchen, den, full bathroom, and mudroom are wallpapered (the living room, dining room, bedroom, half bathroom, and hallways are painted). Since our previous experience with wallpaper removal was less-than-pleasant, we decided to start with the smallest room (the mudroom) to gauge the project's difficult. Here are some before pics:
We were very fortunate to encounter easy-peeling wallpaper. The whole mudroom only took us about 45 minutes, including removal and cleanup. Needless to say, we were quite pleased! Some after pictures:
Later in the afternoon, we decided to tackle the foyer. Emboldened by the morning's success in the mudroom, we started dry-peeling the grasscloth wallpaper but succeeded only in tearing little strips away from the wall.
We quickly realized that this was going to require more work than the mudroom. We had to remove the grasscloth first, then the dark green backing, then another layer of beige paper before we got to the glue and the wall. Several hours and cups of vinegar later, we were finally finished.
Fortunately for us, only the foyer has non-traditional wallpaper. Next week, we hope to tackle the kitchen and expect it to be more like the mudroom, although longer.