So we talked about removing the pantry and how it isn’t going as we originally planned. But Melissa is having trouble imagining the various plans we are thinking up. So we started the cabinet removal process with the cabinet on the wall we plan to remove.

We started by removing the light that was mounted under the cabinet.

Anytime you deal with electricity, flip the breaker to turn off the electricity to the light.

I pulled the wire back into the wall and put the wire connectors (wire nuts) back on the wires so that we could safely turn the power back on.

Now for the Cabinet, the first step involved using a razor blade to score where the cabinet meets the wall. If you don’t do this step, the paint that is stuck to the cabinet could tear your drywall. Not that big of a deal for us because we are removing that part of the wall. Then, we were ready to remove the screws that anchor the cabinet to the wall.

Melissa helped hold the cabinet up while I removed the last screw, and then we were able to wiggle it free. Melissa was REALLY excited to see the popcorn on the soffit that was under the cabinet! The little edge where we already removed it looked good though!

(“Why? Why?! Why did they put popcorn UNDERNEATH the cabinet?!? Seriously??” -M)

I reminded her that we were removing the whole soffit so she didn’t need to worry about it. I don’t think it helped.

Now we have the cabinet down. Hopefully that will help with her imagination to not have that cabinet in her way.

 

You’ll also notice we removed the table. It was time to pack that up and get it out of the way, for safe keeping. Luckily, I made the top able to be bolted on and off…

 

So, now the room is open and ready to be re-imagined. We’re really pleased with how well the cabinet came off. We were really, really hoping they weren’t glued on or something crazy like that. We know the others will be harder because they are a lot heavier and bigger, but hopefully this is a good sign that the rest will at least come down easily.

And, if nothing else, here’s to the first week of progress! We still have a lot to do, but so far we’ve been able to start clearing out the room without making much of a mess, so at least that’s something.

Have you ever removed cabinets? Did it go this easy? Let us know!