Patching up a wall

[hookem2010 2625]

Bought a house recently and removed some shelving that had been present for who knows how long. The paint, and I'm guessing some drywall, came off in large chunks in some places, especially where it looked like some water had leaked down. 

I am not a handyman, but have the time to knock out what I hope are manageable projects for a novice. How do I smooth this shit out and get it looking presentable?

[HouTex 1894]

Tons of videos online.  Just google dry wall repair.  Very easy to do.  I can’t tell from your picture whether you need to fill in the area with a strip of dry wall and then tape and float it with spackle or whether you can just fill it in with spackle and then sand and paint.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10357]

looks like also going to need to pickup some "orange peel texture spray" as that wall is textured

[hookem2010 2625]

Really started coming off in chunks toward the bottom. Should I just cut out an area a bit outside of the peeling edges? Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll just peel the entire wall off

[Gil Bang 26048]

1 hour ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

looks like also going to need to pickup some "orange peel texture spray" as that wall is textured

It's knockdown, not Orange Peel.

[Gil Bang 26048]

56 minutes ago, hookem2010 said:

Really started coming off in chunks toward the bottom. Should I just cut out an area a bit outside of the peeling edges? Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll just peel the entire wall off

Nah.  Just knock the loose shit off with a putty knife, and mud it back up.   If this is in a closet or something, do it yourself.  If it's going to be visible, call somebody out to do it.  It's a small repair,  a hundred bucks or so.  Drywall isn't "hard", but it takes practice to get the hang of it. 

[Jimbaround 975]

http://

[hookem2010 2625]

Appreciate the advixe. If we decided to wallpaper that wall, could I get away with just sanding and spackling as best I can, or would I still need to do the full repair do you think.

[Jkwellborn 6748]

Check out jalapeño diy on YouTube. He’s got some good repair videos.