Here's the gist of the issue: My living room is pretty big, my kitchen is pretty small. The original idea was to move the wall 3 feet or so from the kitchen, into the living room. This will make the living room a more comfortable size, while making my kitchen more people-friendly.
BEFORE: The plan is to move the wall with the window in it, towards the couch to meet the corner that is to the right of the clock. This will create one wall that is flush.
Here is the same wall from the kitchen side:
Sam took a hammer to the wall and I said outloud: Well, this begins a few months of construction trauma for me! Don't get me wrong, I'm super uber excited for the finished product, but I'm also a little freaked out by the thoughts of living in a construction zone all Spring!
Here's the wall from the kitchen side once the sheetrock had been removed:
And here is the living room side once that sheetrock was ripped down. See that mess? Crazy messes like that equal severe anxiety for yours truly! AGHHHH! :)
A huge thanks to Scott Festin who had all the right tools for this messy job.
Kitchen side again...oh, hi dad!
Cameron was trying to get in on the action and help make messes. He didn't have to try too hard, he's a pro at it! Unfortunately, I guess he thought the sheetrock clumps and dust were snow because he kept biting it. At first I thought to myself, "you'll only make that mistake once" but that wasn't the case. The crazy nut job kept eating it, gagging, and spitting until I finally had to firmly tell him "NO!". Wack-a-doo
Oh my stars, look at that mess. See how bright it is outside? It took until about 10:30pm just to clean it all up!
There, that's better!
You want to know something funny? Now that the wall is ripped out and everything is all open...we are considering not putting a wall up at all! At first I wanted one because I wanted cabinets there because my kitchen storage is so minimal. However, after some good advice from a friend in the know, he said you either need to focus on table/sitting space or storage space, not both. If we try to do both, the kitchen will still feel cramped. To resolve this, we are going to build a mud room out the door that leads to the garage. In this mud room we will have storage space there. So, now that we have that resolved, I really am considering a big open space.
What are your thoughts???
19 comments:
I like the open space too, but will I want separate rooms in the near future?
I vote leave it open. Most newer houses are designed with open kitchens. It will be less expensive too!
Open is good. Also to comment on Cameron eating drywall . . . may I just throw out there that his mother eats crepe paper? Give the kid a break. I'm just sayin'.
Too exciting! You could leave it open and then get a cool free standing screen or make pocket doors to pull out to hide the kitchen when you don't have time to clean it up before the Visiting Teachers come over...I mean that's what I'd do...I'm sure you never have a messy kitchen. :)
I like it open too! Plus then you don't have to deal with the mess of a wall going back up :)
I like it!
Take your current Island out which would make more room for a kitchen table and put a new island in where the wall was. Then you have a spacious kitchen, some room separation and cabinet space. -Maile
open open open
love the screen idea!! take it down when there is lots of family over- put it up when i come over!!
Totally agree with the island thing. Big, fat, wrap around island. I think you'll want some sort of separation between the two rooms. Otherwise, the front room starts to become the kitchen as far as the kids and husband are concerned.
Davis said you shoul extend the wall from the hall where your fridge is and keep the rest open. It would close your kitchen off a bit and keep the space. I don't quite get it, so you might have to invite us over so he can explain it better than me.
Thats funny, while I was reading your post I was thinking...they should just leave it open. Big rooms are in these days. Plus that leaves less walls for your kids to crash into, which leaves us with less goose egg pictures to have to cry over. haha
Awesome!!! I hope you love it! It does open your kitchen up a bunch!!!! Let us (me and mostly Nathan) know if you need any help!
i like it open
koe
Put the wall in where you wanted to extend it out to but put only half of a wall in so you can still give the room the look of being open. Carrie hopefully the project doesn't last as long as mine... we may finally have a bathroom and wall when Ben get home in a few weeks! I can only hope, it has only been a year and a half since we started!
Remodeling is such a bittersweet adventure! I vote for open and more storage. I am all for Thomas' idea of removing you current counter/bar and adding an island to give a little separation to the two rooms. I love the idea of the mudroom. I've never seen your kitchen messy. Good luck! I can't wait to see it finished. I know, you can't either.
Carrie-I need yoour help in a serious investigation, someone left a comment on my blog that they want an invite...I have no idea who they are..I tried to look at her blog and there is a link to kimmy's and yours-kimmy has no idea who it is...do you? This is the link to the blog http://roundingupnowandagain.blogspot.com/
and her email said mandy_ann@. Hmmmm, let me know-Thanks Missy
My first thought when I saw the pics was that you should leave it open - you could even extend your bar for more counter/storage space AND still have more liveable wide open space. However, you just need to think if you are ready to have everyone walk into your kitchen when they come over...
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