Let's start with what they looked like originally:
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmhyphenhyphena9X4rfxcqBdzQr3zLByQ0g4ID9wPZrQIBi-wW8asGpaJV1UMLQ9GWDONKzjdFaCJ3qdQu22fs-JihmNbeMsPqXgF4OLYg7qLyFuI0HpfeSnP_SZo4Zbjy8UkRom2NCRgY/s144-c-o/1290694135650.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897311315979325810" caption="" type="image" alt="1290694135650.jpg" ]
Not the best picture, but you get the idea.
I thought that this would mean the shelves were sitting on top of the floor, and would be easy to remove...
Oh, how wrong I was...
The first thing I noticed, is that taking them apart was not easy; each piece was connected to the next piece by about 6-10 nails that did not exactly line up. I also made note that pieces that would have made sense as one piece were in fact several, and some pieces that would have made sense as multiple were one, oddly shaped piece.
I went about demolishing the shelves for the better part of an afternoon, when I made the discovery that changed my mood from optimistic to, "well, that is unexpected."
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwpcOIkKFcy_NDiRwujMOlNmjJP4Kx7_-qeOCqllrvIqv9sD-XuFtxcgc3Qpot34yldy3Bt6gsKHukVRC5G8Howd74v9VXE70TwRMQmUNxKBvc0AwbHvT4wnP4kxMJQ8eFp-y/s144-c-o/20130527_132219.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724102639730" caption="" type="image" alt="20130527_132219.jpg" ]
I had just pulled the bottom of the lowest shelf, and was greeted by this. In case you can't tell, it is sub flooring, not the nice, hardwood floor I was expecting.
I had already removed 70% of the unit, there was no turning back. [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCJWQqpKSiD1rmWLGquMUmSGRNnhNE-3FICTrW5CxSoGOTyPy6UF6cEeYS5iL0S4uoxJkamZbOUrT1JGgkL49zG5JAlO0Nn2VXMF6LkewFkldpmyMEYrBPAXTGQNCtxqCTGUP/s144-c-o/20130527_132203.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725721306866" caption="" type="image" alt="20130527_132203.jpg" ]
A slightly better picture of the shelves. This side, was not connected to the wall...
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnyMs7UHYZmyzH6f6gfbXdZcBSWlR_gwts3C4uK8JEwMEXSKHXMBX_1WLhfk03ilqG-HaxOJN7CDCCM-EcWGY4mvCdB2KNaY7YnGz-9NhkPVhTEFuzeGbqSVZn-sUzvIl10MV/s144-c-o/20130527_132211%2525280%252529.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308726804055586" caption="" type="image" alt="20130527_132211(0).jpg" ]
The corner where the floor to ceiling cupboards used to live. I dig the avocado green!
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpywJQuqr_M7KZ0daajV84i8rMRMd7F1oKtJJM-zfTt5M-aLyihWK-2SmZ1F7e4-XKZq5QLpqRQFf_mA7DcME19LEP39gDxr5mgNmJ3QM6pjLowFmNoSOnNYWOdNPOdYQO4Gw/s144-c-o/20130527_132242.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724455755426" caption="" type="image" alt="20130527_132242.jpg" ]
Again, the floor was not where I wanted it.
Robyn and I racked our brains on what to do. We decided to not worry about that, and continue the removal, and think about it, since we weren't going to clean up as nicely as we thought.
Then, some time later, Robyn came up with a brilliant idea; Turn the 12' by 19" non-wood floor into an accent piece. Our current plan is to put down some white tile with a border of Robin's Egg blue tile, running up the sides and along the front. Then, we will take our two handmade bookcases, and use them to flank our Wall mounted TV. We will have to get some sort of cabinet for the wireless router/Media equipment, but we had a plan!
Along with the floor, we obviously needed to do something about the paint.
We decided to take a trip to Lowes on Independence Day and pick out our new wall color. We couldn't find an exact Robin's Egg blue, but we found one that was close.
A few dozen spackle patches later, and we were ready to prime the walls where the cabinets had been.
Before...
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7bvNhlIcVJ-Ci0FChS9P0xPmdk1dNcZ-wOQDrVutsEvIMDiKI3XEXZDqFluF4A9L0kK0LCKMcsymI7h5XQdvdU5WfmiXA43F2jeDGquBFerpfO99ONmwbFJFPJcRXEnDMS2-L/s144-c-o/20130704_125522.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308723875323602" caption="" type="image" alt="20130704_125522.jpg" ] [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiohvyyTSA6NCCWveH0YEvzeDrTGdF5EmVSHFrdtO4gxqN8334gzz19_QG04z37Ip3BOsvJdqRUE1gJtu2iOrwyW67dwbDqJ1ZvxiEtwtXK4yF4V1j3zJAp5Eddut4nNqzet5U6/s144-c-o/20130704_125528.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724982923794" caption="" type="image" alt="20130704_125528.jpg" ] [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKCdBx-IJzmjt_ib2dloxfea1Fi97wAIO2t0EZQWGOVYvuPj4u6xIMAVf__tmwAydLbgF-KPG5oQqoE3oahsbI96p2-txGQiVE27MrlkcbzNk5G7sy_hFWy0WooDXJTI-X4v4W/s144-c-o/IMG_20130704_125542.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725242977250" caption="" type="image" alt="IMG_20130704_125542.jpg" ]
I even had a helper!
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wwz9sQMZp_hDMJhvOdVteM6YHNnhEdPXab-Ce9E5dg3d_P8BrrdduAE67cIfdg_6XiKNuQoGcglyIWPiTSsmN2HI6p04rNpFaMy0lKxQeGNZ-DKhyphenhyphenm6Pvm7-HjoSTKERifiY/s144-c-o/IMG_20130704_134722.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725724076178" caption="" type="image" alt="IMG_20130704_134722.jpg" ]
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCAuVzG1FA9hmRR1TW7oXHaARItYPc00OyBly2D5pb_OalpDLSC68x2a12XIA05At2l9Zz4ATLzpiPABjmVgaw2epPLyP20MlU2X1nbh4JSyOLtpVYP0ybXOK0V23ctuf2sIy/s144-c-o/20130704_134824.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724552581106" caption="" type="image" alt="20130704_134824.jpg" ]
..or two!
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5JP0Nt_iIPutrFHQkJujv67H2kaSgUBWyqP533UJOreqrJE8zUms767TxUs051O2eFlMACplzh8j9mRYjipYyib4-SH-L1_G6XgrttVdtnZutC-r10lOIoqR_BDImw7arg64N/s144-c-o/20130704_134834.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724948849682" caption="" type="image" alt="20130704_134834.jpg" ]
While we couldn't paint over the primer that day, we did manage to paint about 50% of the room. I wasn't sure about the color before, but after it was on the walls, I really liked how it looked!
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yr4EI0HFWxU-rHQUfGVDGIyWYluPWzzsAR_UVGjNKWf3IiuMLMFMb7VksdndPcHJ-pEYSQNQBF-VA-6oc6kSfHrqnKtbKnWrpiPkUcGVKq1eJeNxtchbzNLHcKlSeQCLsitw/s144-c-o/20130704_153503.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308727234114002" caption="" type="image" alt="20130704_153503.jpg" ] [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCaNWksokRGMoFWxwd0_NZxs9Gkuo2B-wDmNpuwHykXz13wJ2RfB98D-X_nsDXu43DURUZa59gRDdZ9cuU5-w-ZjEKjgnsPS5q4yJEAL0qPGwZn6xtF5Y-V97H2ek-_vOf_dh/s144-c-o/IMG_20130704_153519.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308724353978882" caption="" type="image" alt="IMG_20130704_153519.jpg" ]
Those two pictures don't really do the color the justice, but you can start to see it.
Today, we went full steam ahead after I got home from work, and got the other walls painted. Two hours later, we had the walls done, and even were able to go back and touch up some of the painting from yesterday.
[pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWz42X5fj7F5twkCqLrULCaSIHN8wvsckg9sJYDYxQrBw2h4MTO5-tKaU9OBFWK8ZNiCg2plROXbMhamdmpQ2hv4DkWsWW_7CWnfkLfLG4UryExyVon30IjNS0xM8C5_7WEwyi/s144-c-o/20130705_155211.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725327965442" caption="" type="image" alt="20130705_155211.jpg" ] [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnp166mDcUjKfevXspp3U140EM6yoh2eXaze3hTq0kvk9SfjbYNNVO0ENrjvO7NB7AkVJg15k2TkU8Nii95ZNbEpV4e3IVM7b5_XkjHwQ9f9XUvCudxlVczkSxWtiIh9Sm0vl/s144-c-o/20130705_155229.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308725135203394" caption="" type="image" alt="20130705_155229.jpg" ] [pe2-image src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSZ9FpLHwQR0-sjCTLYH6KrF8VNNzz8ZaJNIMEl0XTbdLUqZNpI0gHq47GD1lcCCIqij6vPkazWS1w1DT3ovwsR5UXqJ5_t0p057rh4CZLfg5IdJ7YPQuhFfeKKVZBGpwtXM-/s144-c-o/20130705_155229_HDR.jpg" href="https://picasaweb.google.com/105981302809309990752/HomeImprovements#5897308727704142450" caption="" type="image" alt="20130705_155229_HDR.jpg" ]
Now, all that's left to do is pick out the tiles, order the tiles, remount the TV, find a cabinet, and put the room back together!
We're practically done! :)
