Hello, I purchased a property a month ago. I'm a single mother, handy with the right guidance and grateful for these forums. Unfortunately, to my untrained eye I did not realize that the previous homeowners had painted over wall paper many times in almost every room in my home. How can I cover the seams and cracks in the paint on the walls currently? One suggestion I received was to smooth over the entire surface with spackle then paint. I was thinking of smoothing over where the seams and cracks are with spackle and possibly use a sand paint to add texture and hide any imperfections? Is there a better solution? Please keep in mind, I have two small children so I will have to take one room at a time and want the least mess and spackle dust possible. Thank you.

Hi folks glad to be here. I see good answers to all questions posed so here is mine. The set up... I have an older home (55yrs) with a very small utility room that holds the furnace, water heater, washer, dryer and overhead pipes of all sorts. There is no ceiling, just exposed rafters. This room is driving me batty. With the exception of water heater and furnace I'm thinking about painting rafters, pipes, cable wires, walls, the whole dang room white. Of course it'll need a Zinsser stain block. It's been recommended to use a sprayer for the job. Any input good or bad is helpful. Shari