Best one coat paint (am I being realistic)?

[Methenyouplus4]

Our large, high passage and staircase is currently covered in 70s swirly dark red (untextured) paper. We have two children and twins on the way soon so money and time are both tight.

Is there a one coat paint out there that will do the job? Ideally I just want it very pale green? Wondering whether I'd need two coats due to tiny air bubbles etc? I've used one coat before (pale blue over brown) & that worked well but it was paint not paper.

No you will need 2 coats and painting over paper can be risky as it bubbles a bit. Can you not strip it?

I agree, no one coat paint works. It might cover enough, but you will always miss some bits and so need to do a 2nd coat to even it all up.

Also over wall-paper you will probably need more than 2 coats (sorry, not what you want to hear!). Can you strip it? With a steamer or by spraying fabric conditioner and water at it (works really well).

If you're going paler, then I'd also recommend using a decent primer too. Have painted over paper on a number of occasions though without any problems - the majority of the bubbles seem to disappear once the paint dries.

If you use a roller for most of it and just edge with a brush, then it won't take as long as you think.

Also, congratulations on the impending arrivals.

Thanks, in theory we could strip it but walls underneath are pretty awful. We can't afford to plaster so would need to just use lining paper and ceilings at top go really high.

Ideally we're wanting to avoid this as there are other major areas of house that need our time/ money. I think 2 coats of a one coat paint may be the best solution for now to smarten it up a bit.

We had disgusting brown flowery wallpaper all over the downstairs of our house when we moved in. We were short of time and money but found that we couldn't paint over the wallpaper as it just kind of shrunk and flaked off.
So we stripped the walls, papered the worst walls with a paper with a tiny pattern then filled in the worst dents in the other walls with Polyfiller and painted them white. Did the same with hall, stairs and landing. It looks fine.
I've used Dulux Onecoat in the bedrooms and it does take one coat if you're painting over white or pale paint, but if it's a deep colour you'll need to undercoat first. If you're covering a very deep colour with a very pale colour you'll probably need 2 coats of Onecoat even over an undercoat.
And if you're using it in hot weather, water it down 80/20 else it'll dry too fast and crack.

If it's a serious migraine-inducing pattern then you'll def need more than one coat. Our sitting room had mustard/peach/green striped wallpaper and the green stripe showed through until the FIFTH coat of paint

I recommend Dulux Endurance paint. you can actually scrub marks off it, its really tough

Paint it white first...maybe 2 coats but see how it goes on before you paint the colour on.

I learned that one the hard way

The wallpaper will look as though it's bubbling when it's wet but it'll flatten again. Just leave it to dry properly between coats.