Scraped off the old wallpaper at the side of chimney breast, its left behind the remains of the back of the paper, trying to remove this results in the plaster itself coming off which looks pretty old with horse hair in it.

Want to stick some new lining paper over this to match the existing walls and then paint chosen colour.

Can I simply lining paper over what i’ve now got remaining here? I’ve got some undercoat/primer I could paint on first, or coat of PVA to seal?

Usually use solvite wallpaper paste which sticks fantastically but only used on plastered/painted walls in the past.

Will it not come off with a steamer? We were going to do the lining paper thing but ended up just biting the bullet and having the walls skimmed, bit more expensive but a much nicer finish especially if you get a good plasterer.

Edit: just read it’s only alcove so maybe not best idea. Just do the lining paper thing. If it’s bare plaster just go over it with PVA mixed with water.

sand it, fill edge of old paper then sand filler. seal filler with a bit of paste then line it, i’d paste the lining with a ready mixed paste. once dry if you can see any imperfection through it just fill them away with filler on top of the lining paper, sand then paint…