Don't put chemical stripper on those walls as mentioned at your blog! It will tear them to pieces!! I love spackle but that won't work for you, looks like the areas are too big. You'll need joint compound. You can get it pre-mixed. Were it me, I'd gently take a very thin flat metal putty knife, a 1" wide blade and maybe a 2" or 3" (depending on the size of the area), slide it under the peeling paint, hold the handle at about a 45 degree angle from the wall underneath and slide it under loose paint to lift it off, moving in a gentle forward motion. Use light pressure, don't saw back and forth. Just keep putting the putty knife under the paint and sliding it under the loose paint and nudging it forward, toward a stable section of paint. Be careful you don't gouge the wall worse! Do this till all chipping/peeling paint comes off and stable paint clings. If sublayers of paint are old, wear a good mask, you might be dealing with lead based paint. (You might want to google LBP for more info, just to be safe.) Once all loose, chippy paint is off, use sandpaper to remove any loose chippy border edges of the old paint. Wrap it around a sanding block and use that so you get a good, flat result. Doing it by holding the paper in your hand won't get you a really level finish, as uneven pressure from your hand can cause uneven ridges on the wall. Smooth the edges so you get a smooth feathered (no definite ridge) transition from the old paint to the surface below. Probably start with 180 grit and repeat, moving up to 200. Wouldn't recommend going below 150 grit, it could tear up the wall worse. Joint compound is tricky stuff. I don't like working with it. It takes me forever (I go slow and use multiple thin layers.) I am a neurotic perfectionist and I have tremendous envy of people who can slap the stuff on, smooth it out and barely have any sanding in just a few swift motions ;) You apply it with a drywall knife (blades from small to wide, as wide as 12" +, depending on surface area). Smooth it out as best you can with the knife. It's something you have to get a feel for working with. Don't glob it on, let each layer dry thoroughly (it will be chalky white, I let it set at minimum a overnight). Sand smooth with 180-220 grit and repeat in layers till you get a flush surface to work with. Small spots you can use spackle. That I can do quickly. Just apply a dab with a small (1" - 2") putty knife with a good beveled edge, keep it clean. In as swift a movement as possible once the dab is on there you scrape it flush. Start on good wall so knife is resting on flush surface, hold the blade steady and slide it right across the spackle and don't stop till you've reached and gone beyond good wall on the other side of the bad spot. You'll need to prime, I like Zinnsser Bullseye 123, but you might want oil-based. It depends on what's causing all that chipping and peeling. That is the top priority, correcting that, because it could happen again. Is this a bathroom, with too much humidity? Moisture from the attic above? Any idea what caused that? Hopefully one of the guys will see this, they can probably explain better than I.

Katherine, can you show me some data showing the vinegar is a fungicide or retards growth of fungus (mold)? From what i've seen, to kill tested species, straight or nearly straight vinegar (5% acetic acid off the shelf). I suppose it might be cost effective to wash a few thousand square feet of siding and roofing at $2.50/gallon if it is effective. Maybe it is less expensive to buy it by the drum. How about the quantitative contribution of washing siding with TSP on phosphates in some watershed? Do you have any information about that? If the phosphate is a problem, you can certainly use the carbonate salt instead, but it won't work as well. You plants may well use up the phosphate before it can get into the ground water or surface run-off. Even before removal of phosphate from routine household cleaning agents, I wonder what its contribution to the watershed problems was compared to fertilizer use. Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) is not running anywhere. It reacts immediately with organic material in the soil. Think about the effectiveness of bleach as a disinfectant on dirty surfaces (compared to clean surfaces as directed). It is not great, requiring use of a lot more because it gets inactivated by the soil on the material you want to disinfect.) Basically it is gone as soon as it hits quantitatively significant organic material I've seen essential oils listed as effective pesticides, but I have not found any listings for fungicidal, algicidal or bactericidal use. Can you point me to some results from a recognized, authoritative testing agency. I have looked for damage on plants splashed with activated (alkalinized) sodium hypochlorite solutions. I've never found any. I think it is an urban legend, but maybe I will intentionally try to damage some foliage to see what it takes. Will you join in that endeavor? I suggest some range of bleach dilutions starting with "disinfectant bleach" since that has concentration certified as sufficient. Other variables might include a wetting of the plants before exposure and washing post exposure.

sonal, I don't know the condition of your kitchen. Only you would know that, so here are a few things you might examine as far as prep. Are your walls subject to moisture, where does the moisture when cooking something on the stove go to? Do you have good ventilation? Are your walls subject to grease splatters or food splatters? Most of the time kitchens as we all know them can be a little more messy than our other rooms. Yes, I like chloe's suggestions for cleaning your walls if they consist of any of the above. Make any necessary repairs if needed, sand, make sure all dust is removed, prime with a medium gray primer(battleship gray); let dry and then paint with one of your chosen colors. 2 coats . Question: Have you painted with the Aura paint before? It starts to set up a little quicker than the typical vinyl acrylics do, so just know when you roll on the Aura, just roll and keep moving. Don't keep rolling back and forth or do not go back into the paint once you have brushed or rolled. Pick up any holidays,etc on the second coat. Watch the temperature in the room also. good luck. :) finished color should look great.

thx you guys! "I let the new owner do that." think I can fake dbf into doing this as previous owner? lol! great ideas. I had thought about putting microfiber over the swiffer (not knowing what it had on it) and rubber banding it - didn't know how they'd work tho. glad to hear it did work. guess I should get a long handled window washer anyway since it has windows and a patio door. (hate to admit I haven't washed windows here except my one bedroom window where i mostly am / look out). I hope to do better in new place. (tho, sleeping about 16-20 hrs a day didn't leave much time for windows!) dbf has a shop vac and said he'd go over everything with it (not sure he meant ceiling/walls tho). then i planned to go over things with my Oreck canister vac. that thing sucks stuff in that ain't there. I sweat it does! new buckets - check plastic gloves - check (they were on my list!) rubber bands - ask my sister... microfiber - got 'em TSP - check window washer - check the walls mostly shouldn't be greasy or soiled - just very dirty! will recheck when it gets here. After vacuuming I'll wipe down a small area not normally seen and see what comes off on the rag. there isn't a lot of kitchen wall area - thankfully! not much in the bathroom either. not sure about mstr bath wall area - it's about 5 or 6 x 12'. here's a pic of the hall bath - ugh... note thick dirt on everything. and bird nest in window - hope no eggs or babies! I wish I could just hose it all down!