apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Try using your hot blowdryer on it to soften the underlying glue; that has always worked for me with sticky stuff. It might take a while though, and you have to do it in small sections.

The only thing I can think of is running a hair dryer on it, working over small sections and pulling as you go. It might loosen the adhesive on the contact paper. I have had good luck with this approach on other sticky items, but haven't tried it with contact paper. Good luck!

ohhh... since it's a closet i'd consider peeling off whats falling off then priming it with something that sprays on perhaps and painting over it all. Preferably in a color to hide some of the flaws.

What do you need to store in here? You could always build wooden shelves... nail wooden supports to three of the walls and lay a shelf over that. Paint it all to match.

Do you have a small travel steamer? Might that work?

Just take your measurements to Home Depot or Lowe's and they'll cut shelves to fit - whether they be wire or lumber.

you can also try steaming it - the heat combined with the steam should help lessen the tack of the glue.

how about applying a wall liner/lining paper directly over the contact paper? I have heard that it can hide all kinds of blemishes and can be painted/papered over.

Seeing as the adhesive is the culprit, you probably need a wallpaper steamer, which you can rent at Home Depot.

You might also want to consider getting a wallpaper scorer, which will create "openings" for the steam to enter.

Now, bad news is that you'll likely have some residual adhesive to deal with. You might want to see if there's something available that you can wash the wall with to remove the adhesive prior to priming it.

That's my $2!

I agree with DahliaCactus -- just peel off whatever is coming off and paint over the rest.

As far as shelves, I am dealing with my non-standard pantry right now. I bought wire shelves from Home Depot but yesterday I saw that Bed Bath and Beyond have better wire shelves. Then, you can cut the vertical railes to whatever height you want (or have Home Depot do it for you) and snap the shelves themselves at whatever width you need. Of course, you can have wood shelves instead if you prefer.

I have a similar situation in that the door frame is narrower than the closet so I am opting out for boxes/baskets that I can pull out individually since the shelves can't slide out.

Good luck!

Try using laundry softener, dilute it with water and apply over the paper with a sponge. Hope it helps!

Spackle, primer, and paint. Don't kill yourself over the inside of a closet that you'll never see once it's full of stuff. You've got the rest of your great new house to spend your time and energy on!

i've been there! contact paper adhesive is very strong and will tear out dry wall like anything.

use a blow dryer! heat the paper for a few minutes then tear slowly. it's easy and simple. be patient.

you can patch the drywall with a spackle kit. measure it and go to the hardware store. even target carries this stuff.

After you remove the paper, clean the wall with a citrus adhesive remover (Goo Gone) to get up the rest before sanding, priming and painting.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63122153@N00/2390533167/in/set-72157604016326174/

This happened to me in my kitchen AND bathroom. I found out when I started to prime the walls and a few minutes later, the contact paper started to peel off. The stupid painters painted over the contact paper from the previous tenant. The drywall did come off, so I had no choice but to spackle before painting.

As nashdp said, it's a closet, so don't go crazy in making it perfect.

Good luck!

The Container Store will custom design (for free!) and cut to order your shelving. Their elfa sale starts December 24th, I think.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=122544-403-50098L&lpage=none This stuff is GREAT! I put it directly over old panelling and it covers everything. I didn't prime or anything, just gave it a day to dry and painted it. It's like really thick wall paper available in lot of textures. It's simple to put up as I had never hung a single piece of wallpaper and I did mt entire 8x10 bathroom and it looks great. The seams even disappear AFTER it dries. Try it out ofer your contact paper and I bet you have a good looking closet again in not time and you never see where you already peeled some contact paper off.

let me amend: heat with blowdryer for a few minutes, then begin to tear with your other hand while still applying the blowdryer.

thanks for all the helpful hints! I will be aiming my hair dryer right at it the culprit weekend. And if it doesn't come off, I'll just cover it up with stuff and things. You are right, there are so many other things to focus on in this new (old) house... Just be grateful that I spared you the photo of 25 years of food drippings underneath the lip of my tile countertops!