How to remove the wavy trim piece over your kitchen sink

A full kitchen renovation just isn’t the highest priority for us yet. We want to tackle it sometime soon, but right now we’re living with it as-is despite the dated cabinets, backsplash, tile, appliances….

Until then, I’m trying to find ways to do “phase one” updates to help make it more likeable until the day comes for the kitchen to get a full facelift. The first thing we tackled was the infamous “wavy piece” over our kitchen sink and adorning the open shelving over the counter. While I think these decorative pieces can look ok in a country-style setting, I wanted to bring more clean lines and simplicity into this spot. The kitchen cabinets already have very ornate fronts, so a little contrast was definitely needed here.

After doing little to no research on how to tackle this project, I decided that I was going to whack these babies down during nap time one afternoon. I took a normal hammer and started smacking the wavy pieces out of place. This worked pretty easily on the thinner pieces on the shelves, but I ran into a snag on the sink trim. Now, I think this would’ve worked if the trim hadn’t been nailed into another little trim piece that I did not want to remove. If you’re trying this at home, check that your trim isn’t connected to anything else before you start smashing it with a hammer (like I did!). If yours is attached with nails or screws, you can sometimes unscrew or pull them out before you knock it out with a hammer. Unfortunately for us, taking the screws out did not help. We had to use an oscillating tool to saw the trim of as neatly as possible. After that, we sanded the area smooth and touched up the paint.

This project should probably take a normal person about an eighth of the time it took for us to complete! It didn't go as smoothly as planned, but that is to be expected with house projects, right?

Even though we ran into a couple little problems with this project, I am so glad we did it. I already feel better about the way the kitchen looks, and we spent very little money making the changes. The final step here is to add a small pendant light over the sink area for some task lighting and you’re done!

Unfortunately for us, the pendant light did not go as planned. We loved the one we chose, but the fitting at the top was too small for the hole we already had and at this point, not worth the time and money to fix the hole to make the light fit. We eventually plan to do a full kitchen remodel, so I’m ok with this for now! I’m just glad that pesky wavy piece is gone!

What you need to remove your wavy piece:

• Hammer

• Screwdriver

• Sandpaper

• Razor blade

• Oscillating tool or sawsall

• Spackle or wood filler

• Paint or stain to match your current cabinet color

How to remove the wavy piece:

• Check to see if there are any screws or nails holding it in and preventing it from being knocked out. If there are, remove them. If the area is painted, you can use a razor blade to cut into the edges of the paint so it comes out cleanly.

• Whack the wavy piece with a hammer until it comes loose or use your oscillating tool to carefully cut it out.

• Use a power sander or sand paper to smooth the area that was underneath the wavy trim piece or that was damaged in the process of removing it.

• Wipe the area down with a dust cloth, fill any holes with spackle or wood filler, and touch up the paint or stain to match.

• Add a pretty pendant light, and you’re done!

We are certainly not professionals, but this project was super fast and easy to do. I definitely recommend it! Decorating your home doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. These little things can make the difference between being frustrated and uncomfortable in a space to feeling at home wherever you are.