Redecorating kitchen/diner advice please!

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi everyone

Our kitchen/dining room desperately needs decorating. My Mum and Dad wallpapered it for us when we moved in but this time I want to do it myself. The house is old so I was thinking of stripping the walls, putting up lining paper then painting.

Bearing in mind I am a complete novice with a very tight budget can anyone give me any advice. Does it matter what thickness of lining paper I buy? Same question with emulsion, do I need to buy kitchen/bathroom emulsion? Does it matter whether its cheap or expensive paint?

Will I be able to manage putting up lining paper on my own or do I need to enlist some help? What tools should I be buying? Any other thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

jpscloud

I don't want to put you off stripping and repapering if that's really what you want to do, but if the paper on there at the moment is ok (i.e. not coming away from the walls at all) I would be inclined to paint over that for a fresh look, rather than strip and repaper.

YORKSHIRELASS

Thanks. I am going to attempt this in the hall, but thats another project!

I think I might have a couple of problems with this. Firstly the existing wallpaper is slightly embossed, so the pattern might show through. Not sure if this would look OK. Also the chimney breast wall is a different paper and is slightly darker than the rest of the room. I suppose it wouldnt hurt to have a go at putting some emulsion on a small area and seeing how it looks.

New_Collier

Morning!
Years ago I stripped, cross lined and then vertically lined my kitchen diner - it was an old terrace house with all sorts of bumps and bulges in the walls. The lining paper evened them all out - it looked great - but it was a long, long job. [compared with walloping over with emulsion]

so - I agree with jpscloud about emulsioning over the existing paper if it was a good job and is still soundly fixed [no bubbles, rips and tears etc] With a good dense emulsion you will cover the darker / lighter walls with little problem. If the paper is slightly embossed it will cover it - how it looks will depend on the pattern. But -this will be loads cheaper, faster and easier than lining. May take a couple of coats to get a good finish. Have you thought about whether you will use brushes, paint pads or rollers? [Each give a slightly different finish and can be faster / slower to use]
If you go to one of the big DIY sheds [eg Wickes - B&Q] they have some useful 'how to' leaflets. [Oh - and these include tool and material lists]

VfM4meplse

This is style rather than practical advice: I have never really seen the attraction of wallpapering myself, I think paint gives a much nicer finish. Maybe just stick to walpapering the long wall as a feature, painting the rest, and picking out complimentary floor and window decor?

pinkteapot

In terms of the paint, I would go for a Kitchen paint. If you put normal emulsion in the kitchen it will go a bit shiny due to the steam/moisture in the room. It also goes a bit funny over time when you wipe splashes etc off. Kitchen paints are designed to go in damp rooms and are wipe-able.

At my old flat I had normal emulsion in the kitchen and bathroom and they both needed re-coating every 1-2 years as they aren't really designed for rooms that get moisture in them.

patriick

After reading some of the older threads I've just done my kitchen in Dulux Endurance Matt (Almond White) which is washable too.

If your kitchen is really steamy, which mine isn't, kitchen paint may be better tho.

YORKSHIRELASS

Thanks for the advice everyone. I would love to take the paper off and just paint the walls but OH attempted to do this in the lounge and no amount of sanding and filling could get the walls looking decent. We eventually bought some special smooth over stuff but it still took a lot of work to get it right. We may eventually go down this route with the kitchen but I would never manage this on my own and OH is really busy at work at the moment so I want to do as much myself as possible.

The good news is that Dad wallpapered the kitchen last time it was done and Dad is very good and very thorough so the wallpaper is solid and smooth. I am going to start off with some white emulsion for a first coat. I guess if I am not having to buy lining paper I can also afford to buy better quality paint for the top coats.

So glad I havent started stripping the paper off yet!