Showing Ugly the Door

I showed ugly the door today and a beautiful thing happened. It left!

I have started to work on the Citadel. There's a lot to do, but the first step is to strip off the wallpaper and then flooring. Lolly referred me to the excellent stuff called Dif, which is a thick blue gel that you spray on wallpaper to remove it. You score the paper and then leave it on for 15 minutes and poof! AND, you don't have to pay the price with stinky, noxious fumes or caustic chemicals that will flay the skin off your fingers. :)

So, this made my job pretty pain-free. I started with one of the swinging doors. Here's the before pics:



Note the stuck-on, unappealing hanging beads...



Plus, there were two, not one, layers of the offensive paper.

Here's during the Dif..



And, the result:

Still have a ways to go, and I am wondering how difficult it will be doing the harder to reach rear walls. But, I'm pleased with this start. Now I just need more time...sigh.

When I do get to the point of actually wallpapering (I assume I'll wallpaper and leave painted walls as well), I need to get my hands on unique styles. I LOVE this paper used in a skater couple's house on the west coast -- it was featured in the NYT last week:




By the way, I couldn't resist placing some dolls in precarious situations in the Citadel. There are two central stairwells missing, but the fiesty tween thought she could manage, to Mom's horror.




Credit: Dolls are Bozart

Girly Girl

A girly girl lives here, or at least this is my idea of a girly girl abode (full disclosure: I am not, nor ever have been, a girly girl). She works from home, so takes time to pamper herself inbetween work commitments. She's self-depricating and has a sense of humor and unabashedly likes furry girly things. Her boyfriend gave her the dinosaur, so she likes to keep him close by to moon over while she works. The phone is handy for calls with her girlfriends and her sister and she loves to read trashy mags.

Couch, lamp, large green rug and small bathroom side table by AG Minis; sink from Ebay store Dolly Miniatures; bathroom rug by the House that Jacq Built; living room coffee table by Ryan's Room; dining room table and artwork by Bozart; dining room "rug" is origami paper; plant is from Lolly's; bathroom wall art is by Re-ment; chairs are Reac Japan; accessories by Manor House Miniatures, Re-ment, AG Minis, Elf Miniatures, and Ebay finds; dino is from the store at the Indianapolis Children's Museum :)