I am wondering why you are removing a perfectly good room to create a vault? I am not sure how it would look with 2 story pillars in an over all smaller floor print.

Im also wondering, do you need a sun room? Where is the laundry? Where is the master? Hmm I have a lot of questions. What is the ceiling height in the "storage area" upstairs Im feeling like that could be a good master with and ensuite?

This is not a practical project, IMO. It will cost significantly more than any marginal value it will add to the house, and the disruption to your life may damage your family relationships.

Extensive remodeling looks easy on TV, but that's just entertainment, not real life.

The smart move: sell this house and buy one that fits your needs better.

main floor laundry would be something I would consider. I would also consider where will you put the tv with no wall and windows in the living room?

I tend to agree with David, it just doesnt sound like a wise move.

Thanks to both for the replies.

@DavidR -- That might be a reality check I need! That's why we ask these questions. The kitchen badly needs a remodel regardless, probably before selling the house. Do you think the impracticality is in the plan with the ceiling, the floor plan, the combination of the two, etc?

@RL Relocation LLC -- The master is the 12x13 room on the second floor. Laundry is in the basement. The sun room is an uninsulated mud room/breeze way. Converting this has been recommended before but it's more of an enclosed outdoor space than it is part of the living area. You have to duck to get into the storage space and it isn't usable as living space. I attached a couple photos below.

"Adding a beam may be cost-prohibitive and generally we don't mind the look of support pillars"

You would more than likely need both a beam AND support posts. I would agree that you will find this cost prohibitive.

Sell the house, it needs more and more work every time you reply lol. That front patio is pointless, a mudroom that needs to be a part of the house, a stairwell door in the kitchen, laundry all the way in the basement. I would put lipstick on the kitchen and get out lol.

No master suite, I mean I could go on. doing all that work to the main floor and still not having a master sweet and basement laundry..... it just seems well ........

The garage door is white now, it was rusting out and needed to be replaced. I'm still going to opt to tackle a kitchen update in some capacity. I don't plan on selling the house any time in the next couple years and the need for the remodel goes beyond cosmetics... cabinets falling apart, etc. By the sound of things, I'm being too ambitious in my initial plan so I'll consider rescoping the project but the advice to just go ahead and sell the house is just not practical.

Well, you should be contacting an architect, a kitchen designer, and a builder to get rough realistic estimates of the cost of these things, for example rehabbing the kitchen without rehabbing the sunroom............. I would not open that wall if you want to maintain pantry space and wall space in the living room.

O for sure... I'm trying to schedule a structural engineer for as soon as COVID-19 dies down a bit and businesses start opening up again. I like this latest suggestion you posted here! I know I was shooting for the stars and likely to hit the moon (vaulted ceiling sounds like a pipe dream at this point) but there's opportunity to update the kitchen and open up the space. I'm just getting my feet wet in the first big project in my first house and am still getting a feel for what is realistic.

I started playing with your layout in CAD and will be playing with the idea of a half wall as well. And as much as I hate that 9x9 bedroom maybe I'll consider keeping it if the consensus is that it's a bad idea?

There’s no point in spending 100K removing a wall and doing a kitchen renovation. Clean it and paint it. Put it up for sale.

An architect and kitchen designer will cost money up front, but will save you thousands in the long run. Let them help you find your voice. They have a lot of experience and will be able to look at your house in ways you would not be able to see.

One more quick comment and then I'll shut up.

This is the kind of project you do if you can realistically expect to stay in that house the rest of your lives, or maybe 20 years. Much less than that, and you'll lose money. Possibly a lot of money.

The TV shows and websites you're getting "inspiration" from are NOT there to serve you. Their purpose is to move money from your bank account to those of the owners and advertisers. That takes some effort, because most likely their accounts are a lot fuller than yours. (Kind of like what a heat pump does.)

To move money from a smaller heap to a bigger one, they manufacture "needs" in your mind. Fertilized by the manure the hosts and writers spread around, these emotional "needs" grow so large that they eventually push out home-ownership reason.

Those programs and websites should be used solely for entertainment (and barely that). Otherwise, you'll become yet another of their victims.

And that's all I have to say about that.

You will add value and square footage to your home by making the breezeway/mud room into real interior space. Here is one idea. You could even leave the step down into the dining room.

The vaulted ceiling will not add value, and removing a bedroom will decrease value.

Kenny:

You're getting some excellent advice here. Unless this house is in some highly desirable location, I'd suggest you pretty it up, sell, and move.

To answer your initial question re: vault and bearing wall: the ceiling rafters over living room and kitchen are what is tieing the house together and keeping the roof from sagging or collapsing. Removing them to open things up will make an interesting structural problem that will cost $ to solve. In addition, the newly vaulted ceiling/roof will need proper insulation etc.

Get an architect and get some pricing, IMO what you want to do will cost more than building a new house or buying one the suits your life.

I’d make a master suite downstairs, make a little office, try to steal a little space from that tiny bedroom for the living room (that wall might be load bearing, though), and renovate the kitchen as RL Relocation suggested.

Vaulting is not realistic. No loss- I wouldn’t care for the vault anyway.

converting the sunroom to the dining space was also my first thought, but then I realized you would have to skirt around the table every time you came in from the garage with groceries etc.

So I might open that wall to be the island and then keep the main part of the wall where the fridge is currently.

I recommend you begin by researching home features and values in your neighborhood at your local assessor's office to see if making any investment in improving your current home makes sense.

If it does, the next step would be to consult with a reputable remodeler (yes, they do exist) to give you a quick assessment of feasibility and cost. Save the money you'll spend on architects and engineers until you've determined it makes sense investing in your home and that the scope of the investment warrants hiring that level of expertise.