Painting - Painting-Wallpaper Borders

The previous owners of our home did a beuatiful paint job on our LR/DR walls, but put up these wallpaper borders, that I just hate. The room is painted an off-white and I would like to re-paint in a very pale celadon. Now here's the problem:I tried removing these borders in a small area, and found like strippable wall paper, it left a thin layer of paper. Some of this paper backing came off with the border, some stayed on the wall. Having just completed a wallpaper removal job in my kitchen- I know that using the the "paper tiger' & DIF- you will not get a smooth clean surface. In some areas of that room. the thin paper came off, along with the paint, and in some instances, the paper came off the sheetrock. This LR/DR area is quite a large space- I think it would be insane to go around the entire room and ruin otherwise excellent walls, by attemting to strip this border, leaving a border of uneven surface that would have to spackled/sanded etc. There's no way that one could not notice the repair-that would go completely around top of the room. Painting over it, seems so tacky. Any suggestions? One other question: I ALWAYS prime when I paint, now my daughter is insisting that no priming is need on these LR/DR walls, since I'm going from an off white to the pale celadon. The exisiting paint job is in superior condion. H-E-L-P!!!!

Welcome to the forums

Usually primer isn't needed for already sealed/painted surfaces. The main exceptions are to correct stain bleeding or bonding issues. Ocasionally primer may facilitate coverage with certain colors.

The border really should be removed! Wallpaper backing usually comes off fairly easy when wet. Properly made repairs should not be noticable, not even by a pro who knows how/where to look.

I usually score the paper if needed to get the backing and glue wet. Wash off as much glue as you can. Sometimes remaining glue can be sanded off. Drywall repair isn't all that difficult. Once the repairs are smooth, texture if needed, prime and it should be ready for paint.

Could you be more specific? Do you mean to apply a textured paint- like sand paint- all around the top border of this room.
I'm talking a really big room. Thanks.

Mark is talking about texturing the repaired area to match any texture that's on your walls.

Yes, the repairs may need texture to blend in with the rest of the wall. Most textures can be duplicated with thinned down joint compound. You can also buy orange peel texture in a rattle can - most pros don't like them but some diyers do.

Even if you have a slick finish wall you may need to use a slight amount of texture so the new 'slick' patch will blend with the multiple coats of paint that have been rolled on. Sometimes rolling the primer on these spots is enough, if not thin j/c to paint consistency and roll it on. The heavier the j/c the heavier the texture, thinner j/c = lighter texsture.

Guess I was hoping for a simpler answer. To texture all around the border and not have it noticeable, seems impossible. Have just read up on skim coating, which I will now have to do to my kithchen walls, but skimcoating this border will require far more meticulous attention, in that, it must be maintained evenly around the top of the walls. I'm not even sure how to tape off, the entire wall below this border. Joint compound is pretty gloppy to work with. I've used it numerous times.
My only other solution, might be to add crown molding all around the room, not an expense I anticipated and I've never
put up crown molding before. I know that mitering the corners can be difficult-my son-in-law had nothing but procblems trying to get a perfect fit.
It's such a shame that these otherwise perfect walls would have tp be ruined with a $10 wallpaper bodrer.

There is no need to mask off the walls although it would be a good idea to cover the floor and any woodwork that you don't intend to paint. Any drips of j/c can be wiped off of the walls. The light smeared coating the j/c leaves behind won't hurt anything - after all you will be repainting the entire wall when you finish.

When skim coating you will apply the mud but then rake most of it back off with your broad knife. IMO it is always better to not apply enough mud and have to add more than to apply too much and have to sand it down.

Most crown moulding isn't big enough to cover the entire border and as you already know it can be difficult to install for anyone other than an experienced carpenter.

I know I've not seen it but I doubt that the job will be as bad as you fear. After all it is only a narrow strip around the top of the wall. For what is worth the most critical area of a wall is the middle. Your eyes aren't normally directed toward the top and the shadow of the ceiling also helps a little to soften the view.