It’s demo day! My favorite day! Why? Because I get to take things apart! This is really the easiest part of the entire project. Dismantling things isn’t hard, especially when you have the right tools and you don’t need to worry about breaking things. Last week was all about the mood board and the pretty stuff, this week it was time to get to work!
When we first bought the house, the laundry room had that builder grade wire shelving that is really common everywhere. All of our closets had it too! Although functional, it’s not very aesthetically pleasing and I was anxious to replace all of it. Little by little, we’ve been upgrading the wire shelving and replacing it with custom built wood shelves. So far we’ve done this in the laundry room, the master bedroom closet, the entryway closet and the linen closet.
Three years ago, before I had ever picked up a power tool, I asked my husband to build some shelves for the laundry room as one of our very first DIY projects. I gave him a rough idea of what I wanted, but he really did it all. The only part of the project I did was paint because that was all I knew how to do!
Fast forward a couple years and many projects later, I’ve learned how to use power tools and am ready to tackle this room on my own. This time, I’ll be building the shelves! I have built floating shelves before, but I’m going to try to do them a bit differently now that I have a table saw and can cut long, mitered edges. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This week, it was all about dismantling everything and cleaning out the room to prepare for the new design. I started by removing the shelves and the brackets which was very easy! All you need is a drill. The shelves weren’t even attached, they were basically just boards sitting on top of brackets. Again, very functional and definitely nicer to look at then the wire shelving we had before. But now that I’ve remodeled most of the house, this laundry room just isn’t the vibe anymore. So the dark shelves have to go, and the sea foam green paint will be covered with beautiful wallpaper. Again, I’m getting ahead of myself! Back to the demo.
After taking apart the shelves, I removed the baseboards with my favorite demo tools. If you ever have to remove trim, baseboards, flooring, etc. you need this tool! Removing baseboards is very easy and a great beginner friendly project! All you need is a utility knife, a trim puller and a hammer. That’s it! First, score the top edge of the baseboard with the utility knife to cut the caulk. This is important so you don’t peel off the paint and the top layer of drywall when you remove the baseboard. Second, hammer the trim puller in starting at a corner. Rotate the trim puller left and right to loosen it away from the wall. Reposition the trim puller as needed until the baseboard comes off.
Since we’ve upgraded the baseboards in the rest of the house, these had to come out since they don’t match and they’re in pretty rough shape. Even though you won’t see them behind the washer and dryer, they do connect to the rest of the baseboards and it looks unfinished. The kitchen and the laundry room are the only remaining original baseboards so we might as well complete this 95% done project. It always feels good finishing something you started!
That was all I had time for this week! Next week, the plan is to install new baseboards and build the frames for the new floating shelves. Stay tuned!
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Until next week, happy DIY-ing!
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