I am concerned that I am creating a traffic pathway past the stove. However, a lot of the traffic into and out of the kitchen is from the opening marked B in the diagram, which goes to the table and living room.

But I do want to open up the hallway to the light and view to the back yard.

Could you post a floor plan of the whole house? (Whole downstairs anyway.)

Here you go. I will be leaving the house shortly for a few hours but can reply to any additional questions when I get back.

Opening any other walls is not in the plan or budget.

Is there a plan (long term or immediately) to change the floor plan?

If not, I would hesitate to remove the wall - I picture kids running down the stairs, turning and racing outside - right past the stove. Maybe opening the wall to or counter height could be a compromise.

But a new layout could prolly be found :)

Which side of the sliding door opens?

For several reasons (floor finishes, location of electrical outlets and soffits) , we suspect that the original floor plan of the kitchen had this opening to the hallway, which was later closed off when the opening to the living room was created.

Pictures in case they are helpful. (The decor and mess is from when previous owner lived there!) First picture is the view looking from the front door - the mirror is where the wall would be removed.

Not a good idea. It's odd they didn't just make this a U-shaped kitchen in the first place instead of a galley. I'd wait and do a full gut. The only thing you'd gain out of creating an opening is an even more congested kitchen.

My guess is that they didn't want to make an L shape because then they would have had to move the stove. My plan doesn't show it but there is a very useful shed attached to the house behind the kitchen wall, which probably prevents the stove from being moved down the wall because of venting. I'll measure up the shed and add it to the plan, once the snowbanks at the side of the house are gone. Still, maybe it would be good, although I like the fact that there are no corners in a galley.

I understand that opening that wall creates a traffic path past the stove, however since the kitchen is quite wide, would that mitigate that concern somewhat?

There are definitely going to be some trade offs here!

Oh, man. I'd open up that wall tonight!!! How annoying that you have to walk through the living and dining to get from the front of the house/upstairs/downstairs to the backyard.

I'd bet money you already have a framed opening just to the right of that light switch anyway

I have small children and am probably one of the most risk-averse people you'd ever meet. The doorway ~18" from a range would not worry me at all, especially since pots on the cooktop would kind of protected there in the corner. You'd just have to position your backside in the doorway when opening the oven if you're concerned about a runner.

Looking long term, Carrie B's galley might be a great inspiration for your future kitchen....

@benjesbride, you're right, maybe this isn't as much of a kitchen dilemma as it is a house-circulation dilemma. You need to traipse through the living room to unload groceries, for example. When you're at the stove, you are completely cut off from the rest of the house. Entertaining in the back yard, when new guests arrive it is as if they are miles away. And walking into the front door, the house seems very dark and small because you face a coat closet and then further on, a blank wall.

We suspect there may be a framed doorway there already, for the reasons I outlined above and also there is a very tiny jog in the wall just past where the tile ends beside the stove, which may be the edge of the doorway.

Thanks for the tip on looking at CarrieB's ideabooks. Wow!

Can anyone link me to a post showing CarrieB's kitchen? I can't see it in her idea books.

I know you said this is not your forever house; but if you are somewhat DIY handy, I would consider stealing space from the garage for relocating that hallway closet...it would do wonders for opening up the feel of the house.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3514091/reveal-the-door-south-philly-row?n=93

Here is Carrie’s reveal. I vote to open that wall!

@rantontoo, that closet really annoys me to no end, but with the configuration of the garage and the door to the garage, there's really not a good way to do it. It's a pretty major re-do even to make the closet narrower.

One thing we are planning is to replace the bifold closet door with a sliding door. Maybe even a mirrored sliding door (even though they're a bit old-fashioned) if we open the doorway from the kitchen. That way, from the kitchen, you would have an angled view to the window that's beside the front door, facing the stairwell. (Just realized that window is not in the plan I drew.)

Wow, CarrieB's kitchen is gorgeous. I had to LOL that her "before" kitchen has the same egg-yolk yellow as our foyer!

I love the view from your patio door. It was suggested by an interior designer that I hired to close off an entrance for more wall space, forcing traffic through the kitchen to get to the living room. Instead, I switched my dining furniture with the living room furniture so that I have more space for the area I used most and which had the nicest view- I have one long room for both similar to your config.

That closet might have been added when the kitchen entrance was closed. I think the doorway to the living room would be much better where the closet is now - giving you more wall space for the TV. If you could redo the entry way I would think about making a built-in wardrobe where the living room entrance is now to give you space for coats etc.- if workable take a few inches from the back of the wardrobe to have a inset for the TV and other components. Move the entrance to the living room to the end by the front door. That would allow you to move sofa and loveseat down and allow more space to dining. If possible have the new opening to the kitchen with a view framing the left side of the patio slider - for a few extra inches to the wall with the stove. I understand that it would be very costly, if opening that wall means you have to monkey with flooring it might be worth fixing the closet.

I agree with Benjesbride, as it looks like a doorway was there at one time. I would also want to move the slider to the dining room. I know that means changing your deck, but it would allow more options with the kitchen when you get ready to renovate it.

I think I mistook the garage door as the closet door...dang!

So many great ideas! Another thing that makes me think that the doorway was originally facing the hall, is that the only ceiling box for a hanging light fixture/chandelier in the living area is just behind where the love seat is now. So I think that was the dining room, connected to the kitchen via the hallway. And I think that the galley kitchen had room for a small table in the corner to the left of the sliding doors. The living room was at the back of the house beside the kitchen but closed off from it.

@suz34, I've dreamed of exactly what you have described about moving the closet opening! Maybe one day, if all the floors are re-done at once.

With a layout similar to yours we tried to improve flow, although we created issues. When switching the DR/LR layout of course the electrical outlets and floor vents didn't match the furniture placement - no box for light over table. After years of dealing with a french-patio door that had enough clearance - if the space was used as intended, became an obstacle. We switched it to a slider and reversed the door opening. On paper we should have left the layout as is but the way the property was situated to me dictated our changes. So I just wanted to let you know that the change of the patio door was a small (but not cheap) huge improvement. The suggestions to switch your patio door with the window as a middle-step toward a U-shaped kitchen might make a huge improvement too as well as opening up the kitchen to the hallway. It is curious that the previous homeowner made those changes. Are there other homes in your area with your model (for sale) that you could view to see how they might have been updated or stayed as is?

There are other homes that are our model, but none that have come up for sale, or that are close enough to knock on the door for a neighborly "peek"!

My guess is that once you pull off a little drywall on the kitchen side, you'll find a pre existing opening framed with header and all. That light switch to the right of the range is telling me something. If you don't want to remove drywall, try tapping on the wall up about 6'-10" to 7' or poke a small nail to try and confirm a header...
As benje says, "I'd open up that wall tonight"!

This isn't your dimension but gives you an idea of potential view to front door https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Philadelphia-PA/fsba,fsbo,fore_lt/house,townhouse_type/87765396_zpid/13271_rid/1970-2009_built/globalrelevanceex_sort/40.166543,-74.878693,39.838331,-75.357285_rect/10_zm/

I'm so tempted to just start pulling off drywall, but want to be sure I can fix the floor first. Thanks for all your encouragement!

It may be tempting, but I would not do anything until deciding on the kitchen layout you will eventually do and whether moving the door to the living area is doable. It does not make sense to piece meal rather than to create a short and long term plan just to have a view from the hall. IMHO, I think it's more of important to come up with a great kitchen plan to save for and if opening this wall fits within that plan then go for it.