Posted by jsexton – October 3, 2006 10:35 PM
I've mentioned that walls are coming down -- between our kitchen and dining room, between a small eating area and the kitchen, and between the eating area and the family room. We're also moving the bathroom from the middle of downstairs to the right of the kitchen, into our old laundry room. This won't be cheap, but moving the bathroom really gives us the flexibility to make the kitchen bigger.
We're pretty excited about having a more open floor plan. But I do have tiny little doubts. Will this new arrangement be so open that it feels like an airplane hangar? Here are a few more pictures to give you a sense of what we're working with.
This is the wall between the eating area and the family room. It is going away. Bye, bye!
Below is the entryway. The wall right before the eating area goes away. Sayonara!
This is the dining room. Goodness, it's a mess. We often had three computers
in here, and Maggie was using the table as a crafts area. The wall to the left will be nuked. Ciao!
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I will be watching your progress as we are in the thinking procees of a similiar kitchen remodel.
Posted by Robbi – October 10, 2006 6:39 PM
Our kitchen remodel begins October 25th. The old comes down and we begin by painting away the old blue hearts wallpaper from 1985. It was time for a change. New floors will follow throughout. We will keep in touch.
Posted by Laneese – October 10, 2006 8:31 PM
I tore down 3 walls 5 years ago and now have wide open between kitchen, living and dining. I love the open feeling but big spaces are harder to decorate for me. Now that I started scrapbooking, I may put the dining room walls back up to create an off the kitchen computer/scrap room. Good luck!!
Posted by Debbie – October 11, 2006 7:40 AM
Wanting to do the same with my kitchen/living/dining room area.
My mom hired a designer without consulting me and so far what I want and for the budget I have, does not match-up with the ideas the designer has presented, so far.
I feel it was $2500.00 dollars waisted, but at least it is motivating me to look in other directions and to try and cut corners where I can.
Posted by Holly – October 11, 2006 2:52 PM
I am interested in how you are establishing the eating area and setting it off from the kitchen area. I too, have a kitchen sandwiched between an too small dining romm and an equally too small eating area and hope to gain more storage area and one eating area by combing the space. I will watch your project with great interest.
Posted by L Colby – October 13, 2006 1:45 PM
Hi L Colby. Here's how we are creating an eating area. By taking out the walls we will have enough room for a big island. The cooktop and stove will be on one side. The other side will be raised up a bit, and will be long enough for four people to sit and eat. So our island will have cooking space on one side, and eating area on the other side. I'll show pictures when we get to that point.
Posted by Jim Sexton – October 14, 2006 5:00 PM
When we decided to "open up"our kitchen in our first home, my hubby added onto our house which meant tearing down walls and due to water damage found in the flooring of the back wall the floors were taken down to the studs and new flooring put in as well. We started our project about this same time and didn't complete it until the 9th of December. It was a rough Thanksgiving and a very messy one as well. Good Luck!
Posted by Alicia – October 14, 2006 11:42 PM
How do you know if the wall you want to remove is an integral part of support for the upstairs room?
Posted by Sunni – November 2, 2006 9:29 PM
For us, the contractor team had a pretty good sense of which walls were load bearing (we didn't have a clue). But they actually brought in a structural engineer to give his opinions. The structural engineer also came back to consult on their solutions-- he basically got to approve or disapprove how the LVL beams and their support were used.
Posted by Jim Sexton – November 3, 2006 8:26 AM
I can't see too much by your pictures. But did you ever think to save half of the wall? You can use the bottom to attach a countertop or your center island. This would save any floor work that you may have to do. Just a thought!
Posted by Lisa – November 15, 2006 4:22 PM
can a DIY'er tear down a wall between a kitchen & dining room? what about the supports for the attic above? how do you maintain structural integrity after tearing down that wall?
Posted by dexter – February 23, 2007 11:18 AM
I TOOK A WALL DOWN BETWEEN MY LIVING ROOM AND KITCHEN. I HAD CARPET IN MY KITCHEN BEFORE I WOULD LIKE TO PUT HAREWOOD FLOOR IN BUT IT IS A CONCRETE FLOOR IS THAT OK. OR SHOULD I GO WITH A TILE FLOOR.
Posted by brian – March 20, 2007 8:45 PM
