Hallo :-)

[Madame Oak]

Greetings! I'm new to these forums and have enjoyed reading through the topics. My hubby and I recently purchased a 1.5 story bungalow and most of my free time goes towards decoration and restoration. We're doing EVERYTHING ourselves, so it can get a bit overwhelming. I'm hoping to find the time to contribute here as it seems we all share a similar obsession!

Regards,
Mme Oak

[Heather]

Welcome Mme Oak - nice to see a new member!
What kind of bungalow do you have?

[Madame Oak]

Welcome Mme Oak - nice to see a new member!
What kind of bungalow do you have?

Thank you Heather. I'm not sure of the particular style! All I know is that it was built in 1922.

[Gigi]

Hi and welcome! :)

[Madame Oak]

Thank you, Gigi!

[Heather]

Tell us more about your home - what you've done and what you plan to do!

[vintage girl]

Welcome. Would love to see pics of your Bungalow:)

[Madame Oak]

Tell us more about your home - what you've done and what you plan to do!

We haven't touched the second floor as we're focusing on getting the downstairs in order. So far, hubby has updated some pipes, replaced a few boarded-up windows, and done some minor electrical work. The only thing we had professionally done was refinishing the pine floors. We painted just about every wall, minus the bathroom, which is still only halfway complete. Prior to our purchasing it, the home was rented and neglected for many years, so the bathroom was... err... pretty nasty. Hubby tore out the linoleum floors and cheap-looking wall tile and replaced the toilet, bathtub, shower head, etc. He put in a black and white tile floor and still needs to finish some sheet-rocking so we can tile the shower area, prime, paint, and FINALLY add our vanity, sink, and medicine cabinet. My current project is stripping and refinishing the pine molding to match the floors.

[Gigi]

Our oldest son and daughter-in-law restored a bungalow- and placed black and white tile in the main bathroom with bead board and yellow walls with black accents. It turned out very nice, and in "time" with the home.

[RoseMary]

Hello Mme Oak~welcome to the forum! Sounds as if you and your hubby have a very big job ahead of you! I'm looking forward to pictures of your home!

Also love the Frank Lloyd Wright quote!

[Madame Oak]

Our oldest son and daughter-in-law restored a bungalow- and placed black and white tile in the main bathroom with bead board and yellow walls with black accents. It turned out very nice, and in "time" with the home.

Your son's bathroom sounds lovely! We plan on adding white subway tile behind the tub - possibly with a black border - and painting the walls a powdery blue. I'm very pleased with how the floor came out!

[Madame Oak]

Thank you, RoseMary! I'm also very interested to hear about all of your homes, as well.

[Gigi]

I love powdery blue! We painted our bathroom a pale blue with white bead board...

[Madame Oak]

I missed you there Vintage Girl, thank you for the welcome!

Gigi - I love the look of bead board, although it would likely overpower my very small bathroom. I believe my kitchen originally had it though, as there's still a small section of it that's been painted over numerous times. By the looks of it, it seems the rest has been covered by plaster or sheetrock. I'd like to bring it back or at least replace it in the future.

[chyna]

Oh I would to see your bungalow too!!! I already like you with the stripping of the moldings. :) I may be picking your brain on this stuff later on. ;)

[Madame Oak]

Oh I would to see your bungalow too!!! I already like you with the stripping of the moldings. :) I may be picking your brain on this stuff later on. ;)

I'll certainly post some pictures as projects are completed (or near completed). Unfortunately, my camera charger is MIA - I know it's around here somewhere :-/

I'm learning as I go with the molding but would be happy to answer any questions I can. I've stained small pieces of furniture before, but this is the first time I've really stripped and refinished anything. It's slow-going, but I know it'll be worth it in the end. One benefit of a small house is that large projects don't seem impossibly overwhelming. Still - I was initially very intimidated by the work involved.

[Breezy]

Hello Madame Oak & welcome to the forums!:)

[memmey]

Haaay.....:)

[Madame Oak]

Thank you, Breezy and hello memmey!

[chyna]

I have already stripped and stained one door and started a door frame but there has got to be an easier way!!!:D That is one of the things holding me back from stripping the trim in my livingroom. I dread it just thinking about it.

[Nikki]

Hi and welcome! As a DIYer you will definitely find lots of company here!

We are also in the process of putting our bathroom together after a complete gut job. We just put down white oct-and-dot mosaic floor tile, and will also be doing subway tile in the tub and beadboard wainscoting on the walls. I would love to see how yours turns out!

Did you decide on a specific shade of light blue? We have been looking at blues as well and its hard to find just the right shade.

[cheapdiva]

welcome, welcome, welcome! You'll find many new, good friends here!

[Madame Oak]

Thank you for all the warm welcomes!

Chyna ~ The first thing I stripped was a door frame and made the mistake of stripping and sanding all at once (I came away looking like I was just in an episode of "You Can't Do That on Television"). After 3 weeks of debating whether I should just paint it all white, I finally decided to try again, this time in slow increments of stripping everything first, section by section, and then later I'll go back to sand. If I happen upon a magic stripping spell, you'll be the first to know ;-)

Nikki ~ I've pretty much decided on "Endless Rain" from Freshaire paints. However, I'm a fickle one so that could change at a moments notice...
I think our bathrooms are related!

[chyna]

I admit it, I watch entirely too much HGTV. I saw on some episode where they put plastic wrap over the stripper and waited the prescribed time and it worked like a charm. I guess the wrap keeps the moisture in the stripper so it doesn't dry out so fast and can penetrate better. I'm sure hoping so.:o