Our 1970s Bar Demolition

It's happening. We are finally saying goodbye to our bar. This lovely feature has been a constant discussion in our apartment. Should we keep it, should we change it, should we rip it out? Well, we made a decision last week and we are taking it out. It's bittersweet, we have so many fond memories of entertaining with the bar, but let's be honest, if you take a step back and really look at it, it's hideous. 

Ok, maybe you don't even need to take a step back. It doesn't exactly scream NYC apartment living does it? But there she is, err well, was. Once we decided it was time to say goodbye we got right to work. We've always been so curious what makes up this bar and how it was put together? Let me clarify, our bar is not like any other bar. It's not just cabinets with a counter on top. Oh no, it consists of faux walls, faux leather, it has wood paneling and nails all over it, some of which I'm pretty sure are just there because someone got bored. 

We started pulling things apart in the back corner. I think we felt that one of us might change our mind soon so we didn't want to cause too much damage. Also, we have no idea what we're doing. Did I mention neither of us has ever demoed anything, ever? Especially in an apartment building where there are certain rules and guidelines about crazy things like no drilling between 9am and 4pm. 

We removed some of the wood paneling on the drop ceiling. We needed to figure out just how exactly this ceiling was connected. We had previously tried to peek through cracks in the wood paneling. We really couldn't see anything so we weren't expecting this...

I don't know why, but the ceiling reminds of the the entrance to 4 Queens in old Vegas, without the color and lights. Not quite the decor style we're going for in our apartment. This tells us there must have been a different design prior to the current one. Which makes sense, this second ceiling matches the shelf perfectly. 

Here's an up close view of this gorgeousness. This piece is covered in glue, but at least you can get a better idea of what we're working with here. 

After a little more exploring into the ceiling we decided to do this in an organized fashion. When I say "we" here I mean I basically had to hold Brit back from tearing down the entire bar right then and there. Let's just say he was motivated. But the cabinets and closet were full of our stuff so we really needed to clear all of that out first. 

This was my chore after work on Wednesday. For an organized person, we have a lot of stuff just taking up space, but since we had the space for it, it really didn't bother us. This was a major reason we never removed the bar earlier, look at how much it could store! 

These are just two of seven cabinet spaces behind the bar. Plus a closet. 

The closet was an add-on to the space, so it will have to come down too. We are going to be losing so much storage space, not gonna lie, I'm freaking out a little bit. Storage space is crucial in the city, and in any home really. But we'll figure it out. Let's just say this isn't your typical Spring Cleaning situation. 

After everything was cleared out, we started breaking down the cabinets, removing the doors and the shelves. Each cabinet door had about 12 screws holding it in {12 screws x 7 cabinet doors = carpal tunnel}. It wasn't until the last two doors that Brit informed me he had a Driver that would make this a lot easier... Nonetheless, they're off. 

Look at all of that storage space! 

Then we pulled off the paneling. We found so many interesting things under the paneling. The first section was only installed with one nail at the top and bottom. Super easy to remove just using the back of a hammer. Then all of a sudden, we turned the corner and glue was added. This is where I began taking out all of my frustrations from the last few months of work. Brit offered to do this part instead but I was a crazed woman on a mission.

While I was pulling paneling, Brit got to work exploring the base and the pink Styrofoam. 

Pink Styrofoam was found around the bottom of the bar after the panels were removed. The Styrofoam was put in place to allow the panels to be flush with the cabinets. Nonetheless, something else we need to add to the trash list. 

He also found some evidence of shag carpeting under the bar. I can only imagine how awesome this thing looked surrounded by shag carpeting. This was probably one hip place in it's day. But not today. 

We removed the faux leather top to see what kind of counter top we were working with. I'll be honest, if I never see one of these pins again, I will be a happy person. 

I'm pretty sure there are a thousand of them, plus nails, holding this top on. At least there's no more glue. 

So this is our progress so far. We've had one casualty. A candle holder. Poor guy never saw it coming. He comes out once a year and just wasn't ready when we started clearing out the cabinets. 

But other than that some serious progress has been made.

We are still trying to figure out exactly how to tackle the space. We're still learning how the drop ceiling was installed. This is how we learn. 

Notice that the lights are still on!! I had a minor panic when I saw him, but he says he likes to live dangerously... I shut them off. We were able to snag a few photos inside {without sticking our head through holes}, by holding our iPhone up. It kinda answered some questions, and basically brought on more. 

We are also trying to decide if we should demo the bar and cabinets or just have someone come in. Honestly, with all of the stress we've had at work lately, I wouldn't mind sledgehammering a few things. But I'm not sure that's the best use of my time right now. 

I have made one decision so far. I want to do everything in my power to try to keep this mirror. It's massive and has so much potential. I'd like to try to frame it and make it nice and pretty. It is glued to the wall so I'd also like to avoid having to break it and deal with that whole debacle. There's a fairly good chance it could get destroyed in this whole process so I'm not going to get my hopes up. 

I'll keep you all updated. Sorry, I know this post isn't exactly about organizing, but this is our apartment right now. I'm not sure I can be one to discuss organizing at the moment. 

Don't ask me why the demolition of a bar means we can't hang up our coats. I wish I could say it's rare to have our coats tossed over the bar chairs and not hung up nicely in the closet, but it's not. I have no excuses. 

Actually, in the time it has taken me to write up this post since we started, we also pulled off a bit of the faux wall. 

It's going to be an interesting journey. 

Have any of you ever demoed a bar or large space? Have you ever done it with construction restrictions? We could really use some advice on how to demo a bar during non-work hours without disrupting the neighbors. And without using our Elder Wand {Harry Potter reference there, sorry for those who haven't seen it}. 

Thanks for visiting!