We did this with our living and dining room years ago. I am very happy with that but still wanted 2 rooms. We have a country style home so we did a fake beam and some nice trim down the walls. Our only draw back was the hard wood floors so we used a nice piece of oak and layed it crossways on the floor and then refinished the flooring. If you would like pictures I will see what I can do.. Karen L

We moved to Florida from NY. The house we bought was so dark inside because of large overhangs from the roof which blocks sunlight and a large lanai running across the back wall which has a roof, no sunlight. We liked the house, but I couldn't stand how dark it was inside. Before we moved in, I call a Tubular Skylight company to get an estimate on installing them in the house. Recommendation was a large one in the kitchen ceiling ($500.00), small one in a bathroom off the hallway($250.00), a medium size in the family room off the kitchen ($325.). I can't tell you how bright this area is now. What I liked is they just go through your attic, make the openings and can position the tube (in the attic) toward south so we get bright light from sunrise to sunset. Over the past 6 yrs when we could afford more, we added to the laundry room (no windows), another bathroom (small skylight), the dining room. My house is so bright when you walk in you think there are spotlights all over the place. It took me a while, initially when the first ones were put in to get used to the high level of light. Looked like a new house! Before putting them in, we had to have our overhead lights lit all day. That costs a lot of money. I feel these tube skylights have paid for themselves in 5 yrs. Plus the house looks like a bright, inviting home. Everyone who walks in comments on how bright our home is. I would look into installing at least one large one in the kitchen, maybe a medium in the hall. So much less expensive than 'real skylights' and keeping the lights lit all day. Jane

Not understanding the "half wall" comment -- hard to give advice without knowing what the rest of the layout looks like. Right now the wall and doorways control the flow of traffic in a certain way. If/when you remove the wall, what will traffic patterns be like? Let's assume you can successfully relocate the heating and solve the flooring issue...appears that you have pretty large rooms, and will have the opportunity to arrange and rearrange until you find a furniture layout that works for the space. You might consider finding an on-line app or use a furniture store's app that allows you to put in a room's dimension and then put in furniture and move it around -- it's kind of fun.

We definitely need some more information. Photos and measurements. You should also get some quotes. Cased opening will be cheaper than fully open. But will still cost a chunk of the budget to move electrical Whether you choose to go fully open or cased opening I would do it to the entire wall.