Quilting Closet * Fresh and New!

I’m almost embarrassed to show you this, and I’m really not sure if I should or not, but here goes! (Please don’t think less of me!)

A ‘few’ years ago, we added a humidifier to our furnace. Before we got the hang of knowing where the adjustments were to be set, we had to learn a few things….like, don’t make an area have too big of a temperature difference or you will have water running down the wall. Another thing I needed to learn, was to keep my fabric closet doors OPEN. This is probably when I added the sheer curtains.

This is what happens when you don’t realize what is going on…AND this wall, with it’s ugly blemishes, has been DRY for YEARS. I just couldn’t talk myself into doing anything about it sooner. I knew that it would need to be scrubbed and disinfected, and painted with a paint containing kilz. (I think I also had convinced myself that SOME of the dark spots were where there was no paint. It was a basement wall afterall. Oh, denial!)

Sooooo, last Sunday, when Louie took off to go to a meeting, I bit the bullet and pulled half of the fabric bins out of the closet and set to scrubbing. (There was probably an 8” gap of empty space from the right edge of the stack of drawers I removed, to the wall. The back wall was not affected.) I started scrubbing using vinegar and water. This is what my rag looked like after just a few swipes. YUCK, right?!!!

Next, I added baking soda sprinkled (poured, actually) onto my rag, because, you know, I’m into the ‘cleaning green’ thing now. My water needed to be changed several times. I was moving along pretty good, but there was still black stuck in the crevices of the poured cement wall, so I went upstairs and got some foaming window cleaner (ok, not green) to see if I could get into the crevices, but that really didn’t help much, so I got a brush and dipped it into a bowl of borax (from my laundry detergent making supplies ) I brought down.

That worked pretty good! I did lose some paint chips in the process, but that’s ok.

When I was satisfied that I had the wall clean enough, I went upstairs and got my big can of LYSOL spray, which kills mold and mildew and I saturated the wall.

Then I put the fan on it for a few hours.

Louie got home early that evening and asked me if I wanted him to paint the walls. ‘What? When?!!!’, I asked. ‘Now’, he said. ‘OKAY! Let’s go!’ I said. (Lord, I love this man!) I pulled the rest of the fabric drawers out of the closet and he went to work. (Yes, we did have the paint, so you see, my earlier intentions WERE good!)

We put the fan back on the walls and the next evening, after having the fan on it for over 24 hours, I put everything back in the closet. I decided to put the drawers on the short wall, because the two rows fit perfectly, with no ‘propping up’ to keep them from leaning, and I think this will even give me a little more space.

I wish I had done this a LOT sooner, but I just couldn’t make myself. It really wasn’t that big of a deal, but you know how it is……RIGHT?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Have a great Sunday! I’m going to get some ‘put off’ chores done, then be lazy.

I’ll be in my…..

With bedhead,

Michelle