The end is near!!

The wallpaper is just about gone. Except for about 5 feet of wall, the stairway is wallpaper free, and the upstairs hallway is in progress. I'm taking a break, since the steamer keeps setting off the smoke detector, and it's driving me nuts. I've got the hallway fan on now, so hopefully that will help when I fire it back up. The upstairs wallpaper has 1 less layer than the downstairs, so it's coming off faster. The paint is also not peeling off the original stuff, so the last layer is just coming off in sheets.

For the first time since I started removing the wallpaper, I can actually, honestly, truly see the light at the end of the tunnel. In a month or less, the skimcoating should be finished and we'll be ready for paint. Paint! Joy of joys!

We'd be ready for Phil next weekend, except that I'm going backpacking. If Shayne wants to get up early and let Phil in and keep the dog from killing him, though, we might be able to start then. I'm so excited!

And then we'll get to decorate... My mom is making us a mission-style stained glass table lamp for the living room, and we'll be purchasing a new living room set. I don't want it to look completely period-authentic, but I definitely want to pay tribute to the style of the house. But more on that later. Right now I'm off to find some food, then it's back to the wallpaper...!