Ideas for kitchen update - should we remove wall??

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

We would like to update our kitchen, actually still "fine" with it - Thomasville Shaker Maple cabinets. They are still in great shape and seem fairly timeless so I'd hate to destroy them. But we would love to do a more open concept and some updates. We could take down the load bearing wall and add a beam, but I don't know if that's worth it.

Could possibly change the countertops and add an island/seating area, and new lighting

. We currently have two living rooms and the whole front area does not flow or function well. Are we better off just starting over completely? Also when you walk into our house, you just walk straight in to the front room, there is no formal entry, so I was thinking maybe we could create that by taking down the wall. Remodel was done 15 years ago and we were on a tight budget.

I see an issue with taking down the wall is then all of the oven/hood is going to need to be re-wired/routed and also we'd then need a ton of changes there.

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Comments (8)

partim
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Which wall are you thinking of removing? It's kind of hard to imagine your floor plan from your photos. I can't see where an island would go.

Just taking down walls and opening up the house may not get you a good result, and could get very pricey. If you draw up a floor plan we can see what you have. Let us know what areas of your house are working well for your family, and what the challenges are. Maybe a change in function of the rooms will help.

If you have 2 living rooms, how are they used now, and what could be better? Looks like they are both TV rooms. What is in the rolling cart?

You might find this book useful. Many libraries have it. https://www.amazon.ca/Not-Big-Solutions-Your-Home/dp/1561586137
shirlpp
2 years ago
It's difficult to get a grasp of what you're saying. Please take pictures of the entry, indicate the wall that you want to take down, what are the dimensions of your spaces.

You may save money by using the same cabinets, since they look wonderful.
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Are you keeping the sink where it is now? Right now, the wall is high enough to block the view of the sink from the eating area. If you lower or remove the wall, you will be able to see all the dirty dishes in the sink and everything on the counter. This would bother some people, and not bother others. To get your homework/snack area, if the kitchen table doesn't work well for those activities, I'd consider removing the wall, but not making the counter all one height. I'd have the counterspace, then a backsplash-y sort of thing, and then the counter for homework and snacks, raised about 6 inches from the rest of the counter, to block sight lines from the eating area. You could even put some electrical outlets in the vertical area, giving you more functionality for that stretch of counter. The big challenge in doing this would be the flooring--finding new flooring to match. The backs of the cabinets should be easy for a contractor to fabricate, as should the supports for the counter overhang. I don't necessarily think doing this would make the kitchen seem larger. But it would give you what you want--a space for the kids to sit and snack, do homework and chat with you while you are working in the kitchen. But I'm also going to suggest, if you haven't already done this, posting this question on the Kitchens forum. You'd need a few more pictures and a floor plan to do that--they always ask for them. And the posters over there do not pull any punches. But many of them are quite talented at seeing solutions to problems that no one else can see, or ways of redoing a kitchen that hadn't been thought of before. So I think it's worth getting their opinion, too. Here is a link that might be useful: [split level counters[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/split-level-counter-phbr0lbl-bl~l_144949)
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bmorepanic, thanks for trying to tackle this! We've evolved a bit since this original posting. We're definitely changing a few things now (though still trying to stick with the fugly cabinets for budget purposes - hoping painting them and potentially changing hardware will update them *enough* to tolerate. It still really doesn't make sense to spend another 8-10K on new cabinets when we'll only be here 3 years - it's just not enough time to build that kind of equity). Turning the passthrough into a doorway is an interesting take! It's definitely more than we want to do now, but it does open it up a bit more. What we're thinking now is that we'll move the range to the current fridge wall (close to where you have it in this plan). I really like where you have the fridge in your plan, but we're going to keep it (almost) in it's current location because it won't work where you have it if we still have cabinets on that passthrough wall. We're going to move the wider pantry to the the right of the fridge to push it further from the dining room doorway and put the narrow pantry where the peninsula is. We're going to get rid of the peninsula completely, and possibly put some kind of square-ish island off to the left in the "eat-in" space. I'm still trying to hash out the cabinet situation on the range wall, which may require some open shelving and possibly commissioning a wide drawer base next to the range. Not doing a prep sink - I hate cleaning the one. :) Oh, and we were thinking of having the counter behind the sink kind of "spill" through the passthrough to the sunroom. THere's already a cheap laminate counter in there a few inches higher than counter-height, so this would really just lower it. Maybe that's weird?? I thought it might be nice to have everything on the same level to kind of "faux" open it up since we can't really open it up. Anyway, thanks for taking a shot at it! I definitely like the idea of having the range on that back wall.
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Andrea Cortese Price
2 years ago
Thinking pf the wall where the oven and hood are I will create a floorplan And yes both rooms are basically tv rooms and we never use both
partim
2 years ago
We've lived in our home for 35 years now, raised 3 children, now empty nesters with my elderly mother living with us and frequent visits by grandchildren. We made it wheelchair-friendly for my middle child. Our rooms have changed their function many times as our needs changed. Think about how you want to use your home, and then find spots in the house to make that happen.
decoenthusiaste
2 years ago
You seem to have an issue with the entry allowing guests to just walk straight into the living room. Sounds like you're wanting to make the kitchen equally open to the front door. I'm not sure that's what you mean, but we need a measured floor plan of how this works now and what you think you can change that will be better.
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 years ago
We need a to scale floor plan of the whole main floor of the house showing all windows , doorways where those doorways lead . some clue as to budget and also all the measurements clearly marked . There is no way to advise without info. Why do you have 2 TV rooms for starters ?
remodeling1840
2 years ago
Remember, when you take down a wall, those cupboards are gone. How much storage can you lose before your kitchen doesn’t function well?
partim
2 years ago
How does your kitchen work for cooking? Storage? Cleaning up? Eating with a crowd and for smaller numbers? I haven't heard you say that you don't like how your kitchen functions, so it it works well don't remove walls.

Ideas for kitchen update - should we remove wall??

Comments (8)

partim

shirlpp

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