Demolition Looks Good On Me

This is my Dining Room Makeover Part One...and this entire post will be about breaking stuff.  As much as I like re-vamping stuff, I might like breaking it even more.  It must be the tomboy in me, but I get a little giddy whenever a sledge hammer is involved... 

This monstrosity has bugged me since we first toured the house.  And silly me thought it would be "one of the first projects I tackle."  But here I am, four months later, and it's still lurking in the corner.  Within the first couple of days of owning this fixer-upper, both the kitchen and bathroom were (accidentally) gutted.  Ooooops.  A functioning shower is more important than an eyesore...or so I'm told.  So, this beast got put on the back-burner. 

The cabinet is bulky and awkward and makes the room feel smaller than it is.  I knew it had to be torn down, but I was concerned about the condition of the floor underneath.  Since the floors are the original hardwoods, I was worried they'd be a different color since they've never seen wear or tear or sunlight.  And refinishing the floors isn't in our budget right now... What to do, what to do?  Light bulb!  I had the idea to whack the top shelving portion off and turn the lower cabinets into a bar/buffet/storage thingy.  That should open up the space without having to deal with the floors... 

My project to-do list is still a mile long and several projects are way more important than tackling this one....buuuutttt....I accidentally tore it down last week.  Hear me out!  We bought a new, L-shaped couch and it's pretty big compared to our smaller living/dining room.  It looks fantastic and fits the room nicely, but it made the space feel even smaller with the two large pieces competing against each other.  

After spending two and a half hours assembling the massive couch by myself (kill me) I took one look at the cabinet and said, "Yup, it's time for you to go."  I have a problem with claustrophobia and I felt like the walls were closing in on me.  And then I proceeded to gather my sledge hammer, crow bar and hammer...and I went to town.

Now, let me say this... This thing isn't made of MDF or some other type of lightweight wannabe "wood."  It was made completely out of solid hardwood...and it was built really, REALLY well.  The saying, "They don't make things like they used to"...means that they used to build things as if a hurricane were coming.  Seriously, if a tornado hit my house this giant would be the only thing left standing.  Kudos, 1950's...kudos.  

After I got the backing off, I stood back and thought... "Hmm, maybe I can just turn it into open shelving.  That might not be as bad."  And then I reminded myself how much I HATE to dust and went back to smashing stuff....

Because of the way it was constructed it was easier for me to DE-construct it, so to speak.  Basically, I broke it down in reverse order.  So, I took the backing off first, and that made the shelves easier to knock out...and then the front trim and so on.  It was back-breaking work and I was sweating my FACE off for over an hour.  I applaud the craftsman who built that sucker... I'm a lot stronger than your average 28-year old girl, and it gave me a mega workout.  My back and shoulder muscles were actually sore the next day from swinging my sledge hammer around all evening....   

Finally, the shelves were gone and all that was left was the soffet at the top.  This is when I had to do a little head-scratching.  I tried swinging at it with the sledge hammer, but it was too high for me to get enough gusto behind it....I could barely reach it, let alone beat the crap out of it.  Then I tried to stand on a step ladder but the weight of the sledge hammer nearly flung me off of it...so, that wasn't going to work.  Hmmm...what else?  

For about a millisecond I considered calling my dad for help, but quickly dismissed the idea...because I am Superwoman (which translates to: crazy stubborn/determined and too proud to ask for help.)  I know!  I'll put the ax end of the sledge hammer (yes, it's double-sided...as if this wasn't dangerous enough) inside the hollow soffet and hang on it with all my body weight until it comes down.  

CAUTION:  DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!  I was pretty nervous about this part... I was worried about the soffet coming down on my head or my puppy or it damaging my nearby dining table...because it was one long, solid piece of wood, the only way it was coming down was as one piece too.  So I carefully inched it off the ceiling little by little and BAM!  It landed perfectly... PHEW.  

This was quite the undertaking all by myself and I easily could have been hurt or caused damage to my house.  Several times I thought, "Well, crap.  How am I gonna do that??"  But I kept wailing on it and got it done...and it felt GOOOOOD to get that thing outta my house!  I really wish I had someone here taking photos during the mayhem... 

Next up... The re-vamping!  I have to repair the sheetrock and ceiling first, but then I'll get to work on the cabinet.  I plan to paint what's left of the cabinet white to match my baseboards and trim and then do something funky on the top.  Maybe stencil it...or vinyl it...or hand-paint something.  I don't know yet.  But watch for an update soon!