The Built-ins Part One

(These pictures are small.  Maybe in the future I'll try to fix that...)

The picture below is from when we first looked at our house.  The built-ins on either side of the fireplace have never been my style.  I'm a light and bright kind of girl.  These are not-so-much.

I took off the decorative panels before we moved in, but knew I needed to do more than that to make this space be what I wanted.

The countertops were laminate, so painting them was not an option.  Also typical built-ins should have more of a bookcase rather than kitchen counter feel.  So....

I tore out the laminate counters.  It was not easy.  They where unfortunately not screwed down, but rather glued down with Liquid Nails.  I just recently purchased some more Liquid Nails for my own use and the front of the tube says "Forms a bond so strong that it will outlast your project."  Yep.  That just gives you a little perspective into how unpleasant removal was. 

Some of the countertop particle board decided to stay behind instead.  I'm still not exactly sure how I'm going to get all of the residual glue off. 

One part had so much glue that I had to take the decorative leg off so I didn't bust the base cabinet.  I think I'll cut the top off at an angle to get it flat enough to use.

I also took down the scroll brackets since they aren't my style...

...but unfortunately found that there would be more repair work there too. (There's a gap.)

So this is where I'm at.  The low quality of the cupboards had made me question if salvaging them is worth it at all...but then the cost of re-doing them in all new materials + the time it would take means I'm working with what I have.

Tomorrow I'm going to work on the interiors of the base cupboards to try and make them more functional.  I'm adding a shelf in the base, but am also going to attempt turning those false drawer fronts (the two center ones) into functional drawers.