Wallpaper and Wallcoverings - paint & sheet rock coming off when wallpaper was removed

Hello. DIY has helped me so many times in the past but now, I think I've gotten myself into a terrible mess!
I was removing my wallpaper that is only on the bottom half of my walls. I used a steam machine to "try" and remove the paper. The paper started coming off but so did the paint underneath and some of the sheet rock in many places. I now have a 1/2 wall that is a wreck. I went to my local hardware store and asked if there was a paint that I could use to get a smooth result without using a "sand" type of paint and was told that I would have to spackle the entire wall to achive a smooth finish. I'm o.k. with small areas when it comes to spackling but I'm no pro and to do all my walls in my hallway & try and get a smooth look is not possible. Am I doomed to only have wallpaper on my lower 1/2 walls to cover this problem?
I would DEEPLY appreciate ANY help and guidance in this area.
Thanking you in advance.
Diane

If it is torn beyond repair, prime all the bad areas with Gardz by Zinsser. Then get some lining paper, the wider the better. You can find this upto 36" wide usually. Hang the liner paper just like wallpaper on the damaged wall. If the liner paper is wide enough, hang it sideways, or 'railroad' it, down the length of the wall. This way, you only have seams in the corners. Then you must float all the seams, and the upper egde of the liner if you don't have a chair rail at this point. Once the wall is lined, and floated in areas need, you can prime it with a QUALITY latex primer, and paint.

Hope this helped. :D