I had vinyl wallpaper on wallboard (the kind that it comes with from the factory) in my kitchen. I peeled it off, used Kilz to prime it and then painted it with latex paint. I took off the strips that cover the seams and did some taping and mudding too. Came out pretty nice. I also did a little test area where I just used the kilz over the vinyl wallpaper and it worked.. however I've seen pictures of some where it peels off after awhile. The Kilz leaves a good surface for you paint to stick to. My vinyl wallpaper was very easy to peel off.. like contact paper.

Mix vinegar into water at a ratio of 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water. I am in the process of removing the backing now from our 20 year old wallpaper. First time I have ever done it. The wallpaper came off easily with this solution, in some spots the backing came with it, in other areas it didn't. I am using a plastic spatula to gently scrape the backing paper off the drywall. We were told by a lady at Lowes who had hung wallpaper as a job for years that you can put new border over old (and I am assuming just over the paper backing if you get one that is thick and textured that it won't show through. We will be trying that in our breakfast area where we just had border. Again the paper came off easily but the backing won't budge. My new border is wider and thicker so we think we will be okay. Hope yours turns out okay.

Karen: which technique are you doing? Textured wallpaper over old wallpaper? Or one of the others? Rereading my post (after getting some sleep) it reads more like I am asking about texturing with drywall compound (like imitating venetian plaster, or a tuscan stucco look). PLEASE come back and tell me how it went! I have seen the paper bag technique done on home improvement shows. ItÂs actually simpler. Dipping in poly would be very messy and sticky. You adhere the paper with latex glaze or acrylic matte medium. Then cover with the same clear liquid to seal it in before painting. My hesitation with doing that is if someday down the road you didnÂt want such a texture, you could NEVER get it off. The entire room would have to be skimcoated by someone with the skills to get it really flat and smooth. I donÂt think I want to go that route. At least with drywall compound texturing it could be sanded off smooth easily.

I love wallpaper, and use it often. But I do agree about people who apply multiple layers or paint over it. Doesn't sound like any of you have ever had the challenge we had in this house. I kid you not--I counted carefully--our living room had TWELVE layers of wallpaper, several with pain on them. And we stripped every scrap of it off before doing anything further. One interesting thing I've noticed lately--the houses for sale in the neighboring town (one of the priciest, most 'desireable', most trendy in the country) are mostly showing very, very busy wallpapers lately. Guess it's coming back.