Guess what I did this weekend...

First, let me back up. 
I've had this master plan for a while to rip out the corner counter in my kitchen.  This corner counter didn't match the rest of the kitchen.  It must have been added in the 80's or something.  I used it mainly as our bar and a place to park my purse and mail. You can see the horrible pictures below (i thought i had better ones than these on my compy).

It's hard to see because of all the chalk board paint I had everywhere.  Made it very dark!
In the pic below, you can see the side of the counter on the right.  From this angle, you can tell that they are different styles.

Where was I..... My whole master plan was to rip out this corner cabinet and make room for our little cocktail table.  That way we could have a place to chill and talk and junk while we're in the kitchen cooking or whatever.
BUT, in order to rip out the counter, I needed to move my bar.  I'm a alcohol enthusiast, so I have a lot of bar dishes and tools and what not.  I had the idea to get a buffet for the dining room and move the bar there. 

My master plan was on hold though because these buffet pieces run anywhere from $350.00 - $2,000.00. USED.  However, after whining about this to my mom, I found out that my step-dad had a buffet in storage that had been in his parents basement.  He took me out to look at it and it was fate. He gave it to me for $free.99, and it just needed a little love.

Like I said, this awesome thing was in his parents basement, which flooded.  You can see above where the base board has come off due to water damage.  I just knocked off those four connecting pieces. In the right side door, the base of that was also water damaged, so I went to Lowe's and got a thick particle board and cut it to size and stuck it in there.



You can see above that the top was a bit scuffed up.  I wanted to keep it as original as possible, so I just lightly sanded it in some spots and then put wood finish restorer on there.

You can see the finished product below. I really, really like it.

Now.  Back to what I did this weekend.  I ripped out that corner cabinet!! I was sort of dreading it because I figured there'd be a ton of repair work and crap to get that corner looking good again. But, I wanted it done, so I had to just do it and find out.

As usual, I forgot to take good pictures, but I'll just say that the demolition was the funnest part.  I started by prying off the back splashes (see below, the back splashes removed and sitting in the hall way). 

 From there, I gave the counter some real good yanks and it came up.  They had only glued it down, so that helped alot.  If it had been nailed down, I dont think it would have been as easy.  Then the rest of the counter came up pretty easily. I removed the kick boards and we separated each compartment (by yanking) and hauled it outside (below).

That round thing was a lazy susan.  It wasted a lot of  valuable storage space in that corner. 

Here's what was behind the counter. Some awesome retro wallpaper!!!

I actually kind of love this wall paper.  It's just too bad it was in such bad condition. (And also that it was only in this little corner).  I dont think John thought it was as cool as I did.

Removing the wallpaper caused the dry wall to look pretty rugged, so I did a lot of spackle repairs.  I didn't get a pic of it, so you missed out on all the spackling and sanding.  It was dusty in there to say the least.

So, as you can see above, there was some laminate tile issues that I had to deal with.  Luckily, the previous owners left a box of six of the left over tiles that they had laid down, so I had the name and the product number to go on the hunt for matching vinyl tiles.  Freakin Lowe's had them and sold them individually!! It was perfect!  You can see the finished floor below.

 

They removed the base boards when they installed the counter, so I still have to get that fixed. I've never installed those before so I'll have to do some research and figure it out.  But, I got the rest of it finished and I think it looks pretty cool. Now I just need to cook for some friends so we can hang in the kitchen and drink and be all cool and stuff.

Oh, and I modified my chalk board wall as well.  When the whole wall was chalk board, it was SO dark, so I painted around it to help lighten it up.  And I added the little angles so it would have a retro vibe to it.  I'm really happy with how it turned out. (Also the cool hanging lamp also came from my step-dad's parent's house. I love it hard core.)

 Once I figure out how to finish the base boards, I'll post some grand finale pics.
All in all, the cabinet removal and remodel took two days.  A lot of the time was spent waiting for the dry wall spackle repairs to dry.  Not too bad of a weekend project.  I tell you though, if this nursing thing doesn't work out, I think I'll just be a wall painter. I'm getting pretty freakin good at it.