Creating an Open Concept Kitchen by Opening a Kitchen Wall

We have been in full on renovation mode here for the last couple of weeks. It all started when we decided to open up the kitchen wall that separated the kitchen from the current living room (which is the future dining room).

This wall made it so that if someone was sitting on the end stool there was not room for anyone to get through. It also made it so that while cooking I couldn’t see what was going on in the living room.

It also blocked a lot of the light from the living room.

So exactly two weeks ago while I had 45 minutes to spare before our dinner plans, I decided to start tearing into the drywall. By the following afternoon with the help of a good friend we had demoed all of the drywall and gotten it all cleaned up.

Our first order of business was to move the electric that existed in the original wall. We did this with my dad’s help while he crawled through the attic and Matt fished lines up to him.

The next step involved getting help from a contractor and borrowing my dad’s ceiling supports. After supporting the entire house we were able to demo the prior wall and build a new support beam.

Once we got the new beam in place this is what it looked like! Our beam, supports, and screws all came in at just over $100 dollars. By the time the drywall is done the entire project will probably ring in around $200. Pretty amazing huh?!

Obviously it still needs drywall, along with a re-do of my gold stripes that I was devastated to destroy.

But isn’t our new kitchen wall opening wonderful? This is what people are talking about when they say they love “open concept kitchens”! Look at the way that the light just streams from the front window to the back! If you follow me on instagram you know that we’ve already made progress on the next step of this renovation! If not…. you could go check out instagram, or you’ll have to stay posted!

Disclaimer- we are not contractors, nor are we structural engineers. My dad is a very smart man, along with our contractor friend and we trusted their expertise on how to soundly support the weight of our house. I do NOT recommend tearing down a load bearing wall without first making sure you get sound advice!