We did the exact same thing. I designed it all myself, and brought it to the Home Depot and Lowe's kitchen centers where they entered it all in their computers and we got better drawings. I also had some software, but for me just regular graph paper drawings were the best "start".Oh, and taping the plan on teh floor with blue painters tape! Here's some pics of our before and after. BTW, this is the best $$ we ever spent. Our areas were just not functional prior to the renovation.

Kitchen Before (entrance from hallway):

In kitchen (doorway to dining room):

Dining Room:

Dining Room (looking towards kitchen):

New kitchen/dining:

You need to know if the wall between is load-bearing or not.

The Finished Kitchens Blog is great for photos. Otherwise, library books and magazines can be helpful for plans and photos. I like almost any books put out by Taunton Press and others here have particular kitchen design favorites.

Thinks LOTS about what you like and don't like about your current kitchen. Bigger isn't necessarily better if it's inefficient. What are you looking for in combining the two rooms? Have you thought about the downsides, besides cost? (Noise, view of mess, etc.) Do you want the kitchen wide open or only partially so? Are there particular appliances you want which will need special consideration...Wall ovens, a grand range and focal point hood, Grandma's special hutch?

Kitchen designers have differing amounts of training. Some just know how to sell you as many cabinets with as many features as they can. Some are trained to be qualified to judge and design structural issues.

People here often take layouts done by architects and kitchen designers and come up with plans far more workable. If I were you I'd look into any structural limitations or issues your house has (have a structural engineer or experienced builder look it over), then post your current layout along with your proposed changes, wants, and needs here for the plans. Last, when you're clear on what you want and can communicate that to a KD, then maybe see what they can do for you in jazzing it up, visually, if that's what you want.

Below is the link to the Finished Kitchens Blog.

PS There is a thread somewhere on the first 2 pages of this forum with excellent advice for people new to thinking about designing their own kitchen. After you read here awhile, you'll become somewhat of an expert yourself...you absorb so much about where things go and why.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchens Blog

Like Nadine,

Our old kitchen and dining room were basically two not very functional rooms. (Well, the DR was fine as a DR, but like in most homes, really was rarely used to eat on). There was already a fairly large archway between the two, and my engineer hubby figured out that it was not a load bearing wall. Best to get a qualified person to clarify this for you, as it sounds like you or your SO may not be experienced in this area.

We did the reno DIY, but only after going to many kitchen places and tweaking plans along the way. The KD we finally ordered from was in my kitchen finalizing the cabinet order, when I said on the spur of the moment, why don't we just take this wall down? Best impulse decision I've made (besides marrying my DH :>) We were actually just going to build a peninsula that stuck out into the opening like our table did. That always kinda bugged me, and yet no one in all the places we went to ever tried to talk us out of that!?

We've had nothing but overwhelming positive reactions to the change in the space from taking the dividing wall down. It's unbelievable in how it opens the area up and makes it all appear much larger. We have such a practical useable space now- that I can't even imagine how close we came to NOT having this new room.

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Echo the statement about checking to see if the wall is load bearing or not. In our case it was not load bearing, so we were lucky. If it is, you may not be totally out of luck. You can still combine the rooms, but will have to incorporate some header and support beams into the design.

Great advice given so far - I'm in a similar boat. I am in mid-remodel and am opening my 10x12 kitchen to both the living room and the dining room (make absolutely sure about load bearing walls!)

My DW and I just are not design savvy enough to do it ourselves with only a little help from a place like Lowe's or Menards. We're now on our second kitchen designer. The first one did a wonderful job on the overall concept but repeatedly was trying to seduce us into going way over budget. Also, as he sold cabinets, his designs tended to be biased towards selling the maximum number of cabinets. We gladly paid him for his initial design concept and went to another KD who was better at planning out all the little the details.

With combining 2 12x12 rooms you should be able to get something amazing. Some type of peninsula or island will give you the counterspace you need. Even if you go with a pro, don't just "leave it up to them" (they don't know your needs and desires as well as you do). Collaborate with them to plan out every detail you possibly can. This Forum is just incredible - I have learned and benefitted so much - If you haven't been already, go the the FAQ and use the design/planning tools (they're great!)

Don't give up! Your amazing beautiful kitchen is waiting to be born!

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Forum FAQ

We too, eliminated a dividing wall which was NOT load bearing but should have been....which we unexpectedly had to deal with, but anyhoo

it was a magical transformation; we just love it

once it is 99% done I will post pics

i planned it all myself but have experience with construction so depending on your own abilities you will have to decide which way to go

i spent almost a full year planning and alot of time at this site

there is alot of good info to be had here and if you can't find what you are looking for just ask and the good people here will respond

Happy Planning!!!!!!! It IS an adventure!!!!

We have just finished exactly this scenario. Forgive the self-referential length, but it may give you some ideas.

Scenario: opening up attic as extra living space created knock-on effect of HAVING to move the kitchen out of the way of new stairs, which also meant opening up a loadbearing wall to allow sufficient space for access. ULTRAtight budget.

The process for us: I started playing 'what if?" with some design software almost as soon as we moved in 3 years ago (we knew from the get-go this house would only work for us if we expanded into the attic and bought it with that in mind - location, location, location!) and was tweaking it right up till the end.

Once I had a design I thought "could" work - all highly dependent on the realities of what might be behind the walls, structural loads etc (all of which I knew NOTHING about) - I started talking to people. Friends who had recently remodelled, friends who were architects, friends who were builders. Just to try and learn what some of the terms I'd heard bandied about meant so I could understand exactly what might be going on.

Then, we started interviewing contractors. I got a lot of interesting information in the course of htat, most particularly about the load-bearing wall etc etc etc. It also inspired me to come up with 3 "final designs" which approached that wall differently - one framed a doorway through it leaving much of it standing, and one opened it out entirely (the third was terrible, but I did it anyway - it's easy when you have your own software!)

Once we found our contractor, I got as much info from him regarding that wall as possible so I could continue to refine my design (with his help). He absolutely refused to give a firm answer either way until he was inside the wall. While a little frustrating at the time because I wanted to finalise and get cabinets, I realise he was ABSOLUTELY right to do it this way, as it avoided any misunderstandings or complications until he KNEW what was in there.

In the end, it turned out that a previous owner's addition to the back of the house had already beamed the span, resulting in TWO sets of supports for that ceiling and the roofline - all he had to do was reinforce it (didn't even need the metal flitch beam he'd originally suspected would be required). There was no way of knowing that until they got inside the walls and could really look at it.

This is how the floorplan changed:
original layout

my first "final" design (keeping a chunk of wall and using it to build one side of a pantry)

the final layout:

And the almost finished kitchen (I've since replaced the table and we've added some more details, but this shows the layout). Despite the fact that I've historically preferred formal dining rooms, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the open layout. We never entertain formally, we have a young child, and in the event a future owner ever DID want a formal dining room they could transform the room we are using as a separated music studio and use that. So... we couldn't be happier.

I agree that even if you hand off your job to a designer, stay invested in the details. I can't BELIEVE how well this job has come out. Sure, I took loooadddsss of advice from folks and needed tons of help (which I got from many sources, not least of which the amazingly generous and talented people in here who are directly responsible for many of the final layout ideas!), but it is MY kitchen. It works for us. There were very few "whoopsies". I mostly credit my wonderful GC with that, but I also suspect that the fact that I was VERY involved with it all and didn't just hand off a drawing and say "do that" really helped. It was a very collaborative project which not only means I got something that really works for us, but that communication stayed excellent and thus... fewer mistakes.

Good luck with your remodel!

Thanks so much everyone! All your wise words and (amazing) photos have been VERY helpful. I really needed the visuals to help me realize just how wonderful the end result can be. I'm feeling more motivated than ever to get that wall taken down (pretty sure it's not load-bearing, but will be sure a pro takes a look).

I'm curious in the instances where one wants to have a counter-height wall, would a contractor take down the entire existing wall and then build back up to the desired height or would he just remove the unwanted portions and finish of the remaining piece?