Peek-a-boo

I see you!!  That's what I can say now if I'm standing in the kitchen and you're in the dining room, 'cause look what I did!

Well, I suppose I should rewind a little and get everyone up to speed.  Our kitchen is U shaped with one long side bordering the dining room. 

You can access the dining room from the kitchen by a standard sized opening.

 And, because of this wall, anyone in the kitchen is pretty isolated from anyone in the dining and living rooms.

 And, so, I decided that this wall, this impediment to conversation, this feng-shui violation needed to GO!

Amazingly, my decision to say farewell to this little wall coincided with my dad's visit to help give Colin's bedroom a redo.  (Coincidence?  I think not!)  We talked about the project over the phone, and by the time I got home from work that day, this is what I found.

 Yahoo!  Good bye cabinets, hello awful, ugly wall paper from the 50s!  I can't explain how much just removing 3 upper cabinets did to open up the kitchen.  It felt like we had bumped the wall back several feet.  Things were already feeling so much more open and airy.

It wasn't much later before we had started peeking behind the drywall.

 

And, by bedtime, we had removed all of the drywall from both sides, and I could actually stand in my kitchen and see into the dining room.  Excited doesn't even begin to describe how this made (and still makes!) me feel.  I knew from the first time I stepped foot into our kitchen that it needed some opening up.

The next day, a dear friend's super handy husband came over with his saw, and he and my dad tackled the 2x6s.  They made quick work of it, and then things were really looking open.

Here's my new view from the dining room.

 And, from the living room.

And, from the breakfast room.

Oh, I simply love how this is opening up our home.  It will be especially fabulous when we are entertaining.  The kitchen has always felt sorta cave-like, and this should really help fix that.

I met with my contractor to discuss having him do some of the major work for me.  There's quite a bit of electrical work to do (moving wires for 2 overhead fixtures, relocating several switches/outlets on the kitchen side to accommodate a 42" tall opening, hard wiring for 2 pendent lights in the opening), a plumbing vent stack to relocate, and a bit of drywall repair, and that is stuff I'm happy to leave to the experts.  The demo was fun, and I'm looking forward to picking out and installing a tile back splash, the hanging pendents and whatever I decide for the bar surface.

So, this is where we are now, and I hope I have more progress photos soon!  I actually went tile/light shopping this morning and came home very disappointed.  $1200 for a gorgeous glass tile back splash?!  Tempting, but NO!  So, the search for affordable materials continues.  :)

xo,

Emily
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