Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 440 Comments

Knocking Out A Wall To Make A Large Cased Opening

After 330 days of living in darkness, we can fiiiinally see daylight in our kitchen. And it’s nothing short of ahhhhhmazing.

SteveDemo 6 Done Kitchen

This whole process took Licensed Contractor Steve and Right Hand Woman Tara almost seven hours of work (more on why we needed them, how we found them, and permit stuff here). Meanwhile John, Clara, and Burger hunkered down at his sister’s house to avoid the chaos and I stayed home to answer questions, offer up snacks/drinks, spy, drool, and live vicariously through them. They were amazing and we couldn’t be happier with the admittedly-still-very-raw but super-exciting-in-that-we-might-not-sleep-tonight result!

Here’s how it all went down. Literally. Of course this is completely over-simplified (and obviously isn’t a try-this-at-home tutorial since even we left it to the pros). First Steve and Supergirl Tara (can you tell I’m obsessed that our contractor’s right hand lady was a lady) used a power saw to precisely cut the full doorway opening into the paneling on the kitchen side of the room. First surprise: there’s not drywall or plaster behind the paneling- just studs. Good thing we decided to just paint it a while back (instead of tearing it down to hopefully find drywall/plaster behind it!).

SteveDemo 1 Paneling Down

This is also when we got a better view of what the electrical wire in the wall was doing, so luckily we had our guy on call so he could head over to take care of it while the wall was open.

Next Steve and Tara cut the drywall on the other side (which was actually two layers of drywall, doubled up) and busted her open. Light came streaming in, and from behind the curtain I pretty much lost my mind. In a good (but probably awkward and borderline creepy) way.

SteveDemo 1Half Drywall Dow

We already detailed what’s going on with those vents, but for anyone just tuning in: we had an hvac pro come out and ensure that losing those vents wouldn’t compromise our system. Then with his blessing John went under the crawl space and disconnected and capped ‘em (so the vents you see aren’t connected to anything anymore). We actually did that in our first house for our kitchen remodel as well.

SteveDemo 2 Drywall Down

Next Steve and Tara framed up two dummy walls for added support as they did their work on the header to reinforce the new opening (both from above and below in the crawl space).

SteveDemo 3 Fake Wall Dinin

It was kind of funny peering through all those planks of wood to see green grass, leaves, sunlight and all that other good stuff we never used to enjoy from the kitchen.

SteveDemo 4 Fake Wall Kitch

You can see the huge wooden header (and the drywall that we’ll need to patch above the doorway from this angle). The reason they worked on the header from this side? Drywall is much easier to patch for a seamless look than hacked up wood paneling. Yup, Steve and Tara = smartie pants peeps. Lastly they built in the half-wall for our peninsula to rest against and called it a day. Here’s what everything looks like as they’re pulling out of the driveway:

SteveDemo 5 Done Dining

Behold: my favorite view ever. The magnolia out front is like a giant canopy with light streaming in all around it. Feels like some sort of tropical paradise complete with a tree-umbrella. Yes, I’m delirious with joy – but you have to understand why. There’s light in my formerly dark and cavernous kitchen!

SteveDemo 6 Done Kitchen

Oh and see the electrical outlet reinstalled near the right side of the half-wall? We figure that will come in handy for anyone using laptops at the peninsula (most of the half-wall will be blocked by the peninsula once it’s installed, but since there will be a 12″ countertop overhang, a foot of wall space will show (which makes for a perfect outlet location).

When John got home we started laughing because we firmly believe it’s the first time that our fireplace has ever felt the delicious warmth of the sun streaming in on it. Might need to get him some sunscreen. Of course things still look a bit rough around the edges, but Steve and Tara’s work here is officially done (so I wrote out their $700 check as they went on their merry way). Now it’s up to us to:

  • drywall, mud, and sand the half-wall and the area above the door on the dining side where the header work was done
  • add a door jamb, a wooden ledge over the half-wall, and trim
  • prime and paint the walls, jamb, baseboard, and trim

But we can see it. When we stare long enough and squint hard enough we can picture it all coming together. Can you see it? Two or three pendants hanging over the peninsula, a giant chandelier over the big dining room table, painted cabinets and shiny stainless appliances, rich mocha cork on the floor, a cozy armchair or chaise in front of the fire. It’s all there when we fire up the ol’ imagination. Let’s stare one more time, shall we?

SteveDemo 5 Done Dining

SteveDemo 6 Done Kitchen

Of course the half-wall looks odd without the peninsula behind it so we can’t wait for that to come together. We’ll keep you posted as we finish things off around the opening (we’re already working on drywall, so here’s hoping we have that update for ya tomorrow). And just to refresh your memory, here’s a before shot taken from a similar angle on move-in day last December:

Kitchen Before Opening

Is that crazy or what?

As a reminder, our goal is to complete this kitchen overhaul over the next few months. Maybe by sometime in January? It’s still going to take quite a while to remove (and craigslist) the old counters, get our new counters installed, find or make matching doors for the new cabinetry that we added to create the peninsula, prime and paint all of the cabinets, tile the full-wall backsplash, build-out/install a range hood, hang open shelving, lay the cork flooring ourselves, etc. Yup, there’s lots to keep us busy, but you know we love a challenge. And most of all we love liiiight, glorious liiight. Oh happy day.

Comments

  4. Krista says

    How did you decide who got to hang back at the house and drool over the contractors? I imagine you two throwing down over a game of paper, rock, scissors…..

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, I managed all the other contractor stuff at our first house (since John was at work and I worked from home) so I think that’s just how we’re both most comfortable (John’s happy to avoid the hotseat when it comes to questions about things and noise and all that stuff). Meanwhile I’m a total peeping tom. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  5. Desiree says

    And “Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” is playing in my mind! Natural light sure works wonders in a home. Well done! Can’t WAIT to see the rest of it! :)

    Reply

  6. Lindsey says

    I just found you guys a few days ago and have spent (entirely too much time) catching up. It’s amazing the transformations to these homes that you guys do. It re-assures me that when we buy our next home (we bought cookie cutter first) that I want it to be a “project” fo sho!

    Love fest aside – the opening is ahhhhmazing!

    Reply

  16. WI Gal says

    I think I know how you feel. We had a window installed in our cave-like dining room and I practically wept with joy the first time I could see my breakfast without turning on a light.

    Congratulations!

    Reply

  18. Katie says

    I LOOOOOOOOOVE it!!!!!!!! So, so, so excited for you over here in Indiana cuz I know exactly what it feels like to bring some light into a cavern of a kitchen =)

    And I can see your vision. I don’t even have to squint that hard =)

    Reply

  20. Suzanne says

    Funny– I was checking your blog almost hourly today to see if the sunlight was streaming through yet. I love it. I am imagining it all, just as you described. Waiting for each new episode….. :-D

    Reply

  23. eva says

    What a difference a day makes! It looks fantastic. I can’t wait to see how it all comes together. I would be just as excited to see that opening in the wall.

    Reply

  24. Heather S says

    I knew it would look like it was meant to be…and it does! How funny was it, that I was thinking about your wall all day today! I didn’t have access to read your blog until now, but I just had a feeling that it was coming down today! It looks great! I can’t wait to see the progress as you go. I love that your vision is coming through to reality! :)

    Reply

  26. Bridgette says

    Pictured it all! What an improvement! Your kitchen is going to be Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh-mazing! I am totally happy for you. As a renter am living through you I guess?

    Wow.. That all sounds creepy. Mmkay. Ending my post with

    Congrats

    Reply

  27. Megan says

    I find it hilarious that I’m so super excited for you guys! You would think it was happening to my kitchen. I can’t wait for it all to come together. Just like the comment I can see above me, it’s like a kid waiting for Christmas to see the rest of the kitchen come together!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I couldn’t tell ya! Haha. I know it’s a super thick piece of wood with steel somehow sandwiched and it’s resting on a few “king studs” on each side of the opening (and the studs that go down the wall outside the opening are reinforced from the crawl space so the weight is distributed down there. Totally over my head though. Maybe try googling around for how to install a header for more details?

      xo,
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, family dance party complete. Had to hold the baby and the dog because it’s still too rough to put them down in the sealed off doorway. But a-ok for dancing while being held.

      xo,
      s

  33. Heather says

    I don’t mean to sound so cheesy, but you guys are totally inspiring. This all makes me feel like the renovation work I want to do on my house is a bit more doable! I had been feeling really overwhelmed and honestly scared. Thank you.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw you’re sweet Heather. You guys have all been so amazing today. I mean, you’re always amazing but everyone has been extra excited today…. which makes us even more giddy over here. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  34. Loree / danger garden says

    Ok so I am super impressed with your vision. I always thought it was a little odd that the dining room was right there when you came in the door, so separate. But now…it all makes perfect sense! Amazing.

    Reply

  38. Rebekah says

    Sooo….. three years ago my husband and I did the EXACT same thing. Converted a non-functioning formal living room into a dining room and opened it up to the kitchen. It’s uncanny how similar our floor plan is to yours now. We even added a peninsula in the kitchen. With that said, I know exactly how you feel! So great to finally have natural light in the kitchen. The waiting will be well worth it. Now, we dream of adding skylights someday to add even more light. Here’s to headers that make holes in walls possible!

    Reply

  39. Taylor says

    How exciting! It looks great guys :) you mentioned possibly making doors for your cabinets so…question…My husband and i are in the process of a total kitchen overhaul and I really want shaker style doors but we just can’t afford them at market price, do you know of any really good tutorials on how to make them? I feel like I have looked everywhere and can’t seem to find anything that looks legit :)

    Thank you much and can’t wait to see more updates!

    Reply

  40. Caitlin says

    The architect in me is concerned about whether the header rests on one or two studs (two studs = a king and a jack) to help support that heavy header and wide opening. It stretches out a little past the opening, right? It didn’t just fit perfectly in there…. right?
    Though kudos for using dummy walls.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, of course! There was lots of “hit that king stud” and “go into the jack stud next” – I think it stretches a good deal past the opening on each side for extra reinforcement. There was once a doorway a long time ago (and it was already partially reinforced) but they did a ton of better-safe-than-sorry-things, like the dummy walls.

      xo,
      s

  41. Tirsa says

    Yippee!!! I know how you feel about letting the light in! We did something sort of similar to our kitchen to make it feel more open and let more light in too. (Except ours was just a half wall next to the door to the dining room – otherwise we would have lost too much counter space.)

    I can’t wait to see your kitchen all done and gorgeous! Congratulations!

    Reply

  43. Jenny says

    We just finished a kitchen remodel where we took down walls, widened and lined up openings,and overall made the house flow better, and the picture of yours third from the end reminds me of how we said “it makes the house look bigger and smaller at the same time”. Bigger because it’s all so open and feels so good, but smaller just because you can see so much more of the house at once – and you don’t have to walk through the dining room, then through the office to get to your kitchen, just right through that there opening. It is an amazing feeling, and I feel your joy – the view to the tree in the front yard alone is enough payment already. I love your kitchen plan and am thrilled for you, and us, who get to experience it vicariously through you. Congrats!!

    Reply

  50. Emily says

    Love it!!! I snorted laughing when the wall came down and you “lost” it. I could just see you dancing around and squealing :)

    We’re thinking of putting solar tubes in our dark cavernous den but now you’ve got me itching to knock a wall down!

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *