Lynn, I guess I forgot to tell you what sheen of paint is best. I have tried just about everything and I have to say that using semi-gloss has been the best so far. It holds up better and is wipeable if need be without being too shiney. After being able to wipe everything down, it's hard to change that! LOL aleen, I know what you are talking about. I would try to get the surface as smooth as possible, like by ripping up any of the peeled stuff and possibly try hand sanding to see if that helps flatten it out. I did that in the bathroom at the bottom of the vanity and then painted with a few coats of paint. I'm sure if you look closely you can see the problem area but once everything was painted and looked the same, it wasn't AS noticeable. The other option could be to replace the bad spots. Like I had a friend who's brother and SIL took the cabinet doors off and replaced the rest of the outer parts of the cabinets with plywood so it was sturdier and looked nicer. Once it's all painted, nobody will see the difference!

Oh, no, faron79! I didn't take anything as arrogance, believe me. I was hoping to hear from the paint pros, of which you are one. I truly do know that it would be the best idea to get a fan installed, but we just can't do it now. Everything costs more in CA so I'm thinking that estimate could easily be doubled, and maybe more. Paintguy--I'll look for Plus 3-- I'm glad to know about that. I just noticed today that other than a small area in the bath/shower tub, the mildew and slight cracking is in the ceiling paint, which we didn't apply; (we've been in this house 13 years.) I'm thinking that because of that I'll use the Zinsser on the ceiling but maybe BM on the walls, since the color choices for Z are terribly limited. I have to kick my dd out of her bathroom for the weekend and really get in there with the sander and get the prep done. Wish me luck!

The alcohol/shellac-based BIN isn't really geared for moist environments. DO NOT use any "Liquid Deglosser" between coats!!! * The VOC's and odor of this stuff will make ya loopy. * Besides, it only temporarily "tacks-up" a surface. If you can't finish painting within ~15min. after applying this stuff...you're back to square 1. You've also polluted your environment for no purpose at all. * Even if you used HIGH-gloss paint everywhere....your coats of paint shouldn't go on more than 2-4 hours apart. * Applied in this time-frame, glossier paints tack to themselves just fine, b4 noticeable surface-drying gets "too dry". * Even if you had to wait a day between coats, you're MILES ahead lightly scuff-sanding the wall!!. The actual physical profile from sanding is waaaayy better than uselessly introducing the horrendous voc-levels of deglossers, which, again, are only of temporary benefit...if that... Faron

I like your bathrooms but the grout is uggggh. One thing I would so is paint the grout. In HD a couple of years ago I brought this stuff called grout renew. It is no longer on the shelves in some stores because I guess people can buy that for $5 rather than redoing their whole bathroom. You can order it. It is made by Polyblend. here is a link to it Grout Renew Anyway the grout renew is like a paint and sealer for grout. It comes in all the same colors as regular grout. I would buy white for the first bathroom. You get an old toothbrush pour the grout renew in the bottle cap, dip the bristles in the grout renew and basically paint the grout. It seals the grout and paints it. You can use it to change the grout color too. You keep a rag on hand and wipe any that gets on the tile. I did it in my kitchen and it took me 20 minutes to do the whole room and I was VERY satisfied with the results. I swear by this stuff and I am going to tell you the truth the grout looked new, was water proof and I never had to do it again. It worked better than regular sealer! Thats my two cents on bath one. Also with a white on white tile I would keep the cabinetry white and I would paint the walls a color that makes the white POP. I do not know your tastes in colors so I can't suggest a color. Bath 2: I would do the same thing. Bath 3: I was just looking at that same tile for my bathroom. Well in the picture it looks like a toffee color and I just read your description and you say grey so maybe not. I would paint that bathroom. Is the 1st and 2nd picture of bath three truly the same room? That shower stall does not match if so. Now in there I might consider redoing the tiles at a later time. It appears your tiles are in good shape, your grout might need updating. I don't like the red strip in the bathroom (what were they thinking?) A couple of other suggestions. I would have someone build a frame around the mirrors, update the shower doors to a more modern looking style or take them down. In one of my guest baths I updated the shower doors to the frameless style and it looked soooo much better. I prefered the glass door rather than a shower curtain in there for some reason however I should note that one of my guest baths got used often by guests and I had to have the shower doors readjusted a couple of times. In the end the shower doors for that room was not a good idea in my situation. Last suggestion for cabinet colors. Since most of what you see is white it is hard to find cabinet pictures in other colors. You can do a search on Yahoo or google images and use the color as a search term. I think your bathrooms are totally workable! thats my 2 cents Here is a link that might be useful: