Remove the Scallop

When I showed you the fun new back splash tile earlier this week, I didn't tell you about one of my favorite changes in that room.   Removing the gross wood scallop decoration above the sink.

 

We adios-ed that window treatment the weekend we moved into the place, but we held onto the scallop a little longer until I could get everyone on board.  The idea is to open up that window even more, and make it a beautiful focal point in the kitchen. When it was finally time, the scallop itself came out pretty easy with a few screws on the insides of the adjacent cabinets.  The molding that ran across the cabinets and the scallop was a little more tricky though.  First step, carefully take it down.

I didn't want to have to haul my miter saw and my nail gun all the way up to the cabin for this small project, so I went old school with my Dad's old miter box.

Next I lined up the trim piece and marked the edge of the cabinet, and the angle that the cut would have to go, just to make it error proof for me.

Then I lined up the molding in the miter box with the 45 degree angle and put a little sweat equity into it with the hand saw. You know, just like the Amish.

Then I tapped in the molding using finishing nails and a nail punch.

Just like it was always meant to be that way- right?

The other side was the same process.  Luckily since the distance between the two cabinets was farther than the pieces I was trying to cut, (the new pieces going back toward the wall), I had extra molding to work with.

Yes, I have a little work to do with paint and lighting, but we're scallop-less.  And that's a good thing.

Originally when we began tiling we didn't tile the area above the window.  It wasn't until later that evening, when we were sitting at the table eating dinner, that I couldn't stop looking at the space.  "We need to tile above the window- don't we?"  As much as we were all over the tiling experience, and I mean mentally and physically (all the materials and tools were already all put away), no one could deny that the top of the window needed to be addressed.  So after dinner my Dad and I begrudgingly brought back out the mortar, saw and trowels and added the handful of additional tiles. Totally worth it.

Obviously there is still a lot to do here.  We need to paint the window trim a crisp white, paint under the bulkhead, and install a pretty pendant light.  (Not to mention replace the faux wood countertops and install a big apron front sink.) But this is what progress looks like.  One scallop down, a hundred more improvements to go.