This summer we did a LOT of projects to our home.
One project we wanted to do was open up part of the wall between our living room and kitchen. We wanted our living room and kitchen to have more of an open concept feel.
Problem was we couldn’t take the whole wall down. But since we’ve finished this project we’ve discovered that taking part of a wall down can still create a great feeling of openness.
Today I’m going to show you how to get an open concept feel, even if a whole wall can’t be taken down.
Opening up the wall didn’t cost much money but it was more labor intensive.
Before I go on sharing the details on how we did this….when I talk about “we” or “us” doing something, I really mean “my hubby”.
ALL the labor was done by my wonderful hubby.
He does the projects, I blog about them. That’s how it works.
Okay…on to the project!
Here’s a view of our living room before. When I’m in the living room, I feel cut off from the what’s going on in the kitchen. Same thing in the kitchen. When we have guests in the living room and I’m in the kitchen I’m completely left out of the conversation.
First we {ahem….the hubby} cut into the drywall. Luckily we didn’t find any surprises behind the wall. We confirmed the fact that it was not a load bearing wall and didn’t find electrical or plumbing behind the wall so now we knew we could move on with the project.
Next the hubby cut out the studs.
Even with the project only half done, we can already see how much more light gets into the living room. It’s making such a difference!
Now while I’m in the kitchen I can have a view of the living room! I don’t have to miss out on what’s going on there anymore!
Next the hubby did a lot of mudding and sanding to finish off the walls.
So much so that we ended up with a thick layer of dust EVERYWHERE.
Once all the dust was swept and the walls finished off we ended up with this:
I love that our freshly painted kitchen cabinets can be seen from the living room now.
It took us by surprise how one opening could create such a feeling of openness on the first floor.
I love being able to see my best photo gallery from the living room.
By far the one reason I love having a more open concept first floor is getting to see the people I love while I’m working in the kitchen:
I feel much more connected with my family now that the first floor is more open. That makes all the work worth it!
This post linked to Inspiration Gallery, Serenity Now, Link Party Palooza at I Heart Naptime, Get Schooled Saturday, It’s Overflowing, Give Me The Goods Monday, Home Stories A to Z, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Create It Thursday, Whimsy Wednesday, Work It Wednesday, and Inspire Me Please