My New Barn Door
Bathroom Barn Door
I love this!
Snohomish is a small historic town, down by the Snohomish River. It’s filled with antique shops, specialty shops, bakeries, and my dog groomer.
Snohomish was settled in the 1850’s and established as a logging community shortly after. Don’t you just love small towns with history?
When my grandma was a teenager, she lived in Snohomish. She graduated from Snohomish High School and her father was a Presbyterian minister at one of the churches in town. I have always imagined that the church looked something like the one below. My grandma says the church is no longer in the town.
It looked so cute, mixed in with all of the antiques and vintage linens. I knew I had to have it. I’ve been loving all of the subway art that I have been seeing all over the place lately. The big sign (that I really wanted) was $90. The small sign was only $22. Guess which one I bought. Yep, the small one. It’s perfect in the main floor bathroom.
I love small towns… and my new little treasure.
Happy shopping!
How to Strip… Cabinets, That Is
Start with ugly, orange, builder cabinets. If you can do this in the garage, I highly recommend it. It’s cold and rainy here, so I opted to do this in my hallway. It’s a really smelly job! I put down a big piece of cardboard. Don’t use newspaper. This stuff is really sticky and the newspaper is just a disaster waiting to happen.
Paint stripper onto the cabinets and let sit. It says to let it sit for 15-30 minutes, but I found that if I waited any longer than 15 minutes, the stuff was too dry and I had to reapply. I used a cheap disposable brush and bought a clean paint can to pour the stripper into.

Once it’s done sitting for 15 minutes, use a plastic scrapper to scrape it off. I did a second round of stripper, after that, to remove any stain still on the wood. That’s it. It’s really simple. The only annoying part is that I always forget that I haven’t done the back side of the doors.
We’ll talk sanding, staining, and varathane soon!
Happy stripping! (That just doesn’t sound right.)
Master Bath – In Progress
Once again, I start by saying that I have absolutely no decorating sense. There were a few classes in my Family and Consumer Science major on textiles and design, but I really have no formal training. I love to read decorating and design books and magazines. I know what I like: warm and cozy, contrast in colors, texture, natural materials, and FABRIC! Oh, how I love fabric! When I’m starting a new room I have no vision of my own. I could not create a space, of my own design, if my life depended on it. I’ll admit it… I’m a copycat. I look through books, magazines, and catalogs until I find an inspiration room. I love to watch Rate My Space because it validates stealing ideas from other people.
Our master bath screams 1991! Here’s the picture from real estate brochure, from when we bought our house. It’s a nice size bathroom, with lots of counter space, but that’s about all it has going for it.
I ran across this picture in a magazine and fell in love. It has everything I love; natural materials, texture, contrast in color, and a warm and cozy color on the wall.
So, here are the first updates in our master bath redo. I’m trying my best to copy the picture.
Painted cabinets (painted but not glazed yet):
Spicy orange walls:
Texture and contrast:
I need to learn to roll towels so they look spa-like, not shoved onto the shelf.)
We’re well on our way. Tile and flooring is on the to do list next!
Here are a few linky parties I like to participate in:
http://homeiswheremystorybegins.net/linky-parties-i-like-to-participate-in/
Bathroom Tile
The kids are actually brushing their teeth in their own bathroom again!
Diane and I decided to spend the President’s Day holiday working on tile in my bathroom. The kids played happily and we went into, “Look what we can do without our husbands!” mode.
We set up the tile saw outside. It was a cold day, but it was dry. My neighbor, Tammy, came out to see what project I was working on this time. I’m sure I looked great in my safety goggles. Safety first! We started laying out the tile in the bathroom to see what it would look like. You can still see a hint of the lovely mauve laminate on the edge of the counter, in one of the photos.
We worked on the bathroom from 9-12. We took a break for lunch and swimming at the new YMCA pool. By early afternoon the counter looked great. It needed to dry, so grout came the next day.
I’m not too confident in my plumbing skills, so I decided to let my hubby put the sink back in. After a two week wait, it’s finally back in and kids are brushing their teeth in their own bathroom again! I love it and I’m so proud of myself! This is by far my biggest DIY project. I loved using the power tools! Now all I need is paint and flooring. Then I’ll check that bathroom off the To Do list.
