It sounds like you're getting ready to sell. Is that right? If so, why do the renovation? Will you recoup your cost? I bought a 1939 home back in February and am still renovating "my way." I'm glad that the previous owners had done little to the house.

Realtor? Are you selling now?

We tried in selling as is in spring--no luck. Comments: needs updating, want open kitchen, not enough daylight. In our area (NoVA) buyers don't want to bother with remodeling. After having bought near the peak in 2007, now we either remodel and incur a $50K loss; or sell at a super-low price to an investor and incur an $80K loss. Here no one cares about the new A/C, new roof, new windows and door we put in. Unfortunately, that's what the market is like here.

I'm in NoVa and I think people get upgrade/update fatigue when they look at all the older housing stock :-(

Our kitchen situation was similar: really needed to be opened up and not just redone with all new xyz. We found taking the wall down and losing a little bit of storage was so, so worth it.

We also put a cabinet on a wall like you're thinking of, in order to get more storage.

With new cabinetry, you get so much more and better storage.

Opening up and getting the light will make your house so much more appealing.

Your realtor should provide you with comps near you. If townhouses of the same size are selling $50k less, too -- then making structural changes won't necessarily increase your value,

A few suggestions, working with what you have and spending a few hundred, instead of thousands, of dollars.

Move the white table and chairs from the kitchen to the dining room.

Get a large mirror (not an expensive one) and hang on that dining room wall.

Add a floor lamp in the corner of the dining room and turn it on. (When I sold my house, I turned on every light in the house for every showing.)

Find a colorful, but not expensive, rug to further "define" the dining room. Don't get a dark color!

After removing the table from the kitchen, will a small mobile island fit there? If so, put a bowl of real fruit (oranges and apples, etc.) on it.

Add a colorful runner to the kitchen along that sink wall. If you can afford it and have the skills to do a nice job of it, a backsplash would add a lot of pizzaz. If not, then put something on the wall over the sink. Also, an updated faucet may help?

I'm with dyh - your place needs staging a lot more than remodeling. Go grab some books and magazines on staging - if you have to, pay for professional advice.

Looking at the location of your sink, I wonder if there are plumbing lines running upstairs? If there's a bath above the kitchen, then opening up that wall may not be easy. Also, when opening up a wall, the foundation has to support the opening and a beam at the ceiling has to support the opening. I've just had three walls opened up in my 1939 renovation and all three required shoring up the foundation as well as the floor above. Not cheap.

We opened up a wall without problem/complication/hit to our budget, but your situation might be different if that wall is load bearing.

Opening up our kitchen completely changed how our living space reads. But then again, we did our kitchen for us to live in for the foreseeable future, not to sell.

I would leave the wall alone & invest in new appliances, countertop, floor, paint, things like that. It's going to be much cheaper & give an updated feel to the space.

What about opening up part of the wall and putting in double sided glass cabinets? That's what we are doing to open up the wall between the kitchen and dining room. The wall is 144" and we are creating an opening 66" wide. Dining room side will also have base cabinets and counter...

I am firmly of the opinion, that people are very good at noticing a problem and very bad at describing it or finding solutions for it. I think you have several options that are a whole lot less expensive than a structural remodel.

You can brighten up a room without sunlight. Bring the outside in with flowers, get landscape art pieces with task lighting, get rid of the functional oak table, and find something a bit more "today." Think how much brighter the room will be surrounded by spring lake landscape art, lit up and a vibrant floral arrangement on the table.

Or since you have a dark room run with it. Go cozy, darkish and very romantic. Living rooms with lounging furniture, plush throws, candles lit around the room, a serving tray with wine glasses set on overstuffed ottoman.

When people tour a plain or empty house they imagine their stuff and their life in your house. Staging lets them imagine themselves in your life in the house.

Thanks for all the comments. We know we need staging--I have no decorating abilities and no interest in it, either. This is torture for me. While I think buyers will like more open space and glass cabinets, the process is scary. I never liked the DR set, but when we lived in SW MI that's all that was available for $2K and it is good quality; we'll get rid of it as really heavy to move. We'll likely go with the realtor who suggested replacing the main-level carpet with hardwood and getting granite counters (ugh!) and stainless steel (I hate gray) appliances in the kitchen. Mirror on the DR wall--yes, we've considered that. Who loves their hardwood in the kitchen? I like my vinyl that I can get thoroughly clean with a little dishwashing detergent and water--no need for mats in the kitchen.

Yesterday the structural engineer who was suggested by the realtor who advised us to open the wall came to evaluate. After 15 minutes he basically told us, "well, I'm pretty sure it's not a load-bearing wall; when they open it up they will know." He didn't have the required form with him to write his report and told us he'd do it as soon as he got home. We followed up with a phone call 4 hrs later and he said he'd get it to us by late evening . Update: We did finally get the report yesterday, specifying the materials required for both possibilities, load- or non-load bearing. Now we'll see if a contractor can do it for the $1000 price the realtor mentioned.