What is an easy way to cover up wall paper without removing it?

If your painting I would use primer first to seal the wall for painting.

paneling.

panneling

If your are looking for a temporary solution, use fabric and liquid starch (half water/half starch) and apply like wall paper. Easily removed by wetting and peeling. Permanent solution is to paint it, but you will never, ever, EVER get that wallpaper off the wall if you decide you want it gone. Did I say never?

The best thing to do is to remove it before you do anything else, however, the easy way would be to first clean the walls of any dust or dirt buildup by washing with mild soap and water (but do not saturate the paper or it will begin coming off). Let it dry completely, and use glue to repair any tears or loose seam edges. Then paper over it. I wouldn't paint over it because it is likely to bubble up from the dampness and then you will be stuck with a mess. Hope this helps .... :) Good Luck!

You can paint over the wallpaper as long as it is securely attached to the wall. You must prime it with an oil based primer then it can be painted over with your choice of latex paint.

kilz paint

If it is adhered to wall well and not peeling I just painted a couple of coats of paint over mine 2 1/2 years ago and no problems

Primer and paint

i have successfully painted over it. We sealed it with primer then painted Vernon.

over it. *

Wallpaper isn't that hard to remove until you paint over it. Then it's nearly impossible. Take it down and save yourself or someone else a lot of unnecessary work.

Thank you all for your input. Gives me some ideas.

I've removed more wallpaper than I care to think about. You can paint over it, but as Dale mentioned it will be a devil to remove and you have to worry about too much moisture causing the paper to bubble and that is a real mess, best to remove the wall paper first if you are planning on painting. It is not uncommon to find multiple layers of wallpaper, one room in my house had four layers. Would you be interested in wall papering over the existing paper--places like Sherwin Williams have hundreds of books to check out to bring home and peruse at your leisure.

If it's tight ot the wall and all seams are good it is easily paintable!

If the paper isn't peeling or has no ripples in it, paint over it with a paint primer and then repaint over it.

I had wallpaper that was truly stuck one time in a laundry room. I cleaned it, then put Kilz paint over it. At that point I could have repainted, but I chose to put some leftover wallpaper on top of it since it was a small room. You already know removing it is the traditional way to go, but sometimes it just isn't practical or doable. If it starts coming off when you start cleaning or painting, then you know it really isn't stuck well and you must remove it. Other options are bead board, another type of paneling, and there is also a very heavy, wide wall paper that is made to cover difficult, rough areas. It gives you a "do-over"! Pallet walls are also becoming popular. You can certainly put nails through wall paper!