The holes and the old paper removal process
This old house is totally wonderful and it is full of projects to do. Today I learned how to replace shoji, the paper on our interior doors.
First you take the paper off by dampening the old glue and peeling the paper away from the frame. Our shoji haven’t been redone in a very long time and the brittle paper ripped rather than peeling. I spent a long time carefully peeling off the bits with a butterknife until the wood was clean and smooth. But I eventually got both sets of interior hall doors un-papered.
The next step is to put the new paper on. I sort of cheated and used iron-on paper. It’s backed with a heat-set glue so I didn’t have to fuss with a glue pot and drips. But it was still a bit of a challenge to get it smooth and to neatly trim away the excess paper. If you come over to visit, don’t look too closely.
I discovered some writing on one of the door frames. A Yasuda grandchild must have practiced his name in pencil. It’s invisible when the doors are closed; I wonder if that was on purpose?
The final product looks pretty good. Fresher and tidier. And with luck it will remain hole-free for a while.
