Now is the time.
In order to accomplish this feat, we apparently had to make it look like a tornado went through the space. Good Lord - is that a mess or what?!
But, the best part of this mess is that is just the first step in making the basement a gorgeous, usable space rather than a dumping ground.
The real first step was to remove the kitchenette that lived on one of the walls.
We had decided pretty much as soon as we moved in that we would never really use it and would rather take it out and open the room up a bit. So, one recent Sunday morning we dropped James off at Grandma and Grandpa's house and got to work.
The kitchenette wasn't high quality so we figured it would be easy to remove from the wall. And thanks to a trusty drill and some Mangiaracina muscles, the upper cabinets came down, no problem.
The bottom cabinets were just as easy - but we did have to deal with some plumbing. Luckily Ed knows a thing or two about pipes so dismantling the sink was a breeze.
As you can see from the above photo, removing the kitchenette did leave us with a hole in the wall and some missing baseboard molding. Nothing a quick trip to Home Depot couldn't solve! Within minutes the hole went from this...
... to this:
No problem, baby! You can even see from this photo that Ed replaced the baseboard molding as well. That part wasn't as seamless, but it wasn't anything an electric sander couldn't fix.
We felt such a sense of accomplishment once the wall was free from the eye sore kitchenette. Instead of trashing it, we are donating it to ReStore - a Habitat for Humanity program where you donate building and household items that are then sold in one of their local stores with proceeds going to the charity. I'd much rather someone benefit from this thing rather than dump it in the trash.
The catch? You have to get said items outside for the pick-up. That meant Ed and I dragging these not-so-feather-weight pieces out of the house.
In the freezing cold.
With all the snow.
Definitely a work out, but it's done and ready to be gotten.
As James would say, "buh-bye"! Next stop on the renovation train: Paint Town!
