"You need a Plan"... really?

"You need a plan." That was what I heard whenever I talked with Randy about improving / re-doing / painting / reorganizing / adding light to my sewing room.

"You need a plan," he'd say. "Before we do anything, you need to pick wall colors and decide what you want to do...you need a plan."

Yeah...it sounded good but no, that just wasn't going to work. Something else always came up and quite frankly, I didn't have a plan because I didn't know what I wanted...other to get rid of the blue denim wallpaper and pink walls. That was my biggest priority. I hated both.

Then one day, it just happened. I was standing by the closet and decided to see how difficult it was going to be to remove the awful blue denim wallpaper. I just grabbed a corner and pulled. It was just that quick. And suddenly, I didn't need a plan.

I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you how well the wallpaper in this house is adhered to the walls. It was professionally done and (I swear) applied with superglue. To remove it, first you take off the top layer; then, apply more water and scrape off the paper underlayer; then, apply more water and scrape off the glue. No kidding.

I decided that I'd remove the paper in sections. Each morning, I'd rip 2 sections of denim before coming down to my computer. I thought a little demolition was a good way to start the day!

There were issues. Oh, yes, there were issues. For one, when I pulled the paper under the window, I was left with this mess.

And when I pulled the paper from the big wall, I discovered a hole. In the wall. For what reason, I have no idea.

There were small imperfections that needed sanding and patching.

Randy only goes into my sewing room when he needs to iron - I think he's afraid he'll never find his way back out. Plus, in today's wash-and-wear world, ironing isn't a daily thing. So, I was a few days into removing the wallpaper before he ... well, before he saw what I'd started ... and yes, without a plan.

By the time I'd finished removing wallpaper, things were piled in the middle of the room, things were piled in the bathroom tub, things piled on the dining room table and in the great room. And of course, the sewing room closet was... filled to the brim.

I have pictures...somewhere. In the meantime, there's this...I call it my Victory shot!

And no, I didn't pull it off like that on purpose. Really, it wasn't planned either.