Uncovering history

The painter moved in today, though all he did was struggle to remove the paper from the walls that Mr PB so carefully applied over 30 years ago (we've painted it twice, btw). This is what he found on the wall between the window and the door into the kitchen. The upper part is a shiny dark ochre colour, with hand-painted leaves between the dado line and the ceiling, and between the upper and lower sections a thin black line marks their boundary.

The whole room must have been incredibly gloomy compared with what it is now; it would have been the kitchen of the house, complete with small range, sink in the window and a bed recess that in our house is plastered over so that the space forms a pantry within the added-on kitchen. 

The whole exercise seems to create more work with every new step; I'll be glad when I can see the first step towards the bright new dawn of normality ...