You could think about your furniture layout. If you are planning a tall bookshelf or wall unit, you can pull a bit of wallpaper off that section and see what's there. You can glue the wallpaper back, and if you don't do the world's greatest job, you stick furniture in front of it (which is why you should do this where you are planning to put furniture. Near the floor is a plus, too.

The cheapest thing is to paint the wallpaper and shelf.

Thanks so much for your response. So are you suggesting patch where the upper shelf is with pieces from other sections and then paint the entire room? I don't like the wall paper at all or the shelf so I ideally want them both gone, or covered.

Why hadn't I thought of that! Ha...I will do that asap.

Hi. If it was me, I would just attempt to do the work myself. It may be hard and or frustrating but think of the money you will save. Also, you will be able to get what you really want. Look on Pinterest for easy wallpaper removal methods. There is a product Zinsser DIF wallpaper remover that is supposed to work great. I believe there are much easier methods now than there were years ago because of the great demand for it now!

Drywalling is not cheap, don't even think about it. Days of skilled guys.

I'd pay the guy to take down the shelf and wallpaper, and then plan to follow up yourself. If it's panelling, you can paint and get a cheery coastal look. Or you could buy a huge tub of wood-filler and fill all the seams in the panelling, sand the whole thing (rental from a big box store) and then paint (rent a sprayer!), so it looks like flat walls. But just having the shelf removed and the wall bits patched might be enough, if you're up for a big do-it-yourelf project with the priming and painting.

It's not cheap to renovate, even the "easy" stuff, which is why rehabbers often have to buy at auction to make a penny. Honestly, if you want to take this room on, I'd also find out what's above that ceiling, which looks lie ugly acoustic tiles in a drop frame -- you might find out you could have another foot or two of height! If so, you might decide it's better to save up for a couple of years and do this all at once -- getting the walls to a state you like, raising and drywalling the ceiling. (I'd suggest a newer light fixture too, but it looks like you must be in a warm climate that justifies the fan.) Probably a couple of grand, even if you do some parts yourself (demolition is fun!), but you'd take it from "not annoying me" to "glam" in a substantial way, and probably more than get back your investment if you ever sell.

I would agree with acm, save up and have it done right. Do what you can as a temporary fix, but ultimately this looks like one of those jobs that you would think should be really simple and cheap, but those simple little things like shelves turn into a much bigger project. Even if you have to wait to save up for it, the end result will be worth it.

Why not paint over both the shelf and wallpaper the same color? That will help disguise the shelf, and if you don't decorate it, it won't be noticed. Assuming the wallpaper is in good shape, you can use a paint plus primer product. If the wood shelf has a poly surface, sand it down first. Then save the bucks to have the room done as you want.

In your shoes I would do this myself. What you need to do - strip, fill holes in the wall, repaint or repaper - is time consuming but not terribly difficult. It's expensive because of the labor. If the walls underneath are challenging - badly damaged or paneled - you can put up paintable paper. You can get this at most big box stores. It comes in everything to very bold embossed patterns (traditional and modern) to very subtle textures. I had painted paintable paper on my dining room walls in one of my houses and it was very effective. A subtle texture will disguise imperfections in the wall. It does have to be painted, so if you go this route you have two sets of materials and two jobs (paper & paint) but it will be whole lot cheaper than hanging new drywall and, unlike hanging drywall, is achievable by a homeowner with an enthusiasm for elbow grease, a willingness to read instructions or watch DIY videos, and not much experience with these jobs.

The pictures I found on Houzz of paintable paper were all very bold "statement" papers. I had one with a very subtle texture, something that looked like wall and therefore wouldn't be likely to show up as a major design element in a Houzz photo.

I did find the paintable paper! The one I had was this:

https://www.houzz.com/products/anaglypta-brooke-paintable-anaglytpa-original-wallpaper-swatch-prvw-vr~7133575 . Keep in mind that the photo is a closeup - those vases in the photo are small - you have to be right next to the paper to notice the texture.

That's a great idea, Margaret. Hanging wallpaper isn't everybody's favorite, but since there's no pattern to line up, it should be a lot easier than usual, and it allows you to "paper over" any weirdness in your walls. I think we have a winner!

(of course, I still advocate thinking about the ceiling -- might as well do the walls all the way to the top the first time!)

I would think the ceiling is more of an issue than the walls. take care of ceiling first. that is generally messier. last thing you want to do is do the walls, then you get a mess in the ceiling and must re-do walls.

A side thought that I hope you have another living space to enjoy while this is worked on...