New Durham Fabrics!!

I was so very happy to secure the last of the last of the Durham line of fabrics!! For those who may not have heard, the Durham fabric line is being completely retired, and in a few weeks a brand new Durham line will be announced. The president of Lecien assures me that it is a gorgeous new look, the prettiest ever... I am eager to see it!! But I do still love the softness, the romance of the old line, so I am a bit saddened to see it go. I am listing the last of the last of this line of fabrics in my stores on etsy and ebay. Blessing to you this day which the Lord has made!
-Linda

First things first....

This is the before and after of my bathroom cabinet. Our house is only about 8 years old. It was built as a spec house. Although it's nice, it has a nice layout, the builder went as cheap as possible with everything! No upgrades in this house!! The cabinets are no exception. Although they look like wood, the doors are actually thick and hollow and are an imitation wood substance. I mentioned my boys' love of water and the fact that they seem to get water EVERYWHERE!! They were water stained and just looked bad. So I decided they needed a fresh coat of creamy white paint! First step was to wash them thoroughly with TSP to remove any dirt and grease. Then I primed them. It took about two coats of primer to cover the dark wood and to help fill in the deep grain of the faux wood. After that, it was two coats of creamy white paint by BEHR. I used a semi gloss paint, due to the fact that this is my boys' bathroom and the cabinets will take some abuse :). (As does the mirror!! I had no idea when I took this photo that the mirror was as dirty as it appears in the photo!! Golly, it looks like I've never cleaned it!! But if you look close, you can just make out the "J O..." Hmm... that would be my kindergartener practicing his letters on the bathroom mirror!) All in all, I was pleased with the finished results. Having the cabinets a light color really made the small space seem larger and brighter. This was the most time consuming part of the whole bathroom project. Total cost was $0! I had the TSP from a previous project, and the paint also was from a previous project. Don't you just love when projects work out that way??!! Blessing to you on this gorgeous daylight savings weekend!!

Bathroom Makeover

I've been busy the past week giving my boys' bathroom a much needed makeover. Actually this project was a result of more of a necessity than a whim. My little boys take a lot of baths!! And of course, as with everything, they are rough and tumble and more water ends up out of the tub than in the tub. Well, as hard as I try to mop it up, I was noticing that the drywall was starting to look funny in the corners by the tub, and I noticed the starts of mold under the baseboards. Uh oh!! This was a problem! Unfortunately the builder for whatever reason didn't use the moisture resistant drywall, sometimes referred to as "greenboard", anywhere in the bathroom! Nor was the drywall properly caulked and sealed to prevent water from getting back behind the drywall to the wall boards. The thought of gutting the entire bathroom was daunting, not to mention a bit beyond the small budget we had set. In the end we decided to just replace the lower walls with greenboard. Our walls all have a sprayed texture and rather than deal with the hassle of trying to match the texture, we decided to install beadboard wainscot over the new greenboard. I think it actually turned out pretty cute! And the best part... it was a super easy project and was fairly inexpensive! :) .