Check if Database Exists Before Creating

This seems pretty trivial, but it is now frustrating me.

I am using C# with SQL Server 2005 Express.

I am using the following code. I want to check if a database exists before creating it. However, the integer returned is -1 and this is how MSDN defines what ExecuteNonQuery() will return as well. Right now, the database does exist but it still returns -1. Having said that, how can I make this work to get the desired result?

private static void checkInventoryDatabaseExists(ref SqlConnection tmpConn, ref bool databaseExists)
{
    string sqlCreateDBQuery;
    try
    {
        tmpConn = new SqlConnection("server=(local)\\SQLEXPRESS;Trusted_Connection=yes");

        sqlCreateDBQuery = "SELECT * FROM master.dbo.sysdatabases where name = 
        \'INVENTORY\'";

        using (tmpConn)
        {
            tmpConn.Open();
            tmpConn.ChangeDatabase("master");

            using (SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand(sqlCreateDBQuery, tmpConn))
            {
                int exists = sqlCmd.ExecuteNonQuery();

                if (exists <= 0)
                    databaseExists = false;
                else
                    databaseExists = true;
            }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex) { }

}

As of SQL Server 2005, the old-style sysobjects and sysdatabases and those catalog views have been deprecated. Do this instead - use the sys. schema - views like sys.databases

private static bool CheckDatabaseExists(SqlConnection tmpConn, string databaseName)
{
    string sqlCreateDBQuery;
    bool result = false;

    try
    {
        tmpConn = new SqlConnection("server=(local)\\SQLEXPRESS;Trusted_Connection=yes");

        sqlCreateDBQuery = string.Format("SELECT database_id FROM sys.databases WHERE Name 
        = '{0}'", databaseName);

        using (tmpConn)
        {
            using (SqlCommand sqlCmd = new SqlCommand(sqlCreateDBQuery, tmpConn))
            {
                tmpConn.Open();

                object resultObj = sqlCmd.ExecuteScalar();

                int databaseID = 0;    

                if (resultObj != null)
                {
                    int.TryParse(resultObj.ToString(), out databaseID);
                }

                tmpConn.Close();

                result = (databaseID > 0);
            }
        }
    } 
    catch (Exception ex)
    { 
        result = false;
    }

    return result;
}

This will work with any database name you pass in as a parameter, and it will return a bool true = database exists, false = database does not exist (or error happened).

Reading this a few years on and there's a cleaner way of expressing this:

public static bool CheckDatabaseExists(string connectionString, string databaseName)
{
      using (var connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
      {
           using (var command = new SqlCommand($"SELECT db_id('{databaseName}')", connection))
           {
                connection.Open();
                return (command.ExecuteScalar() != DBNull.Value);
           }
      }
}