Goodbye Wall

This weekend we took on a small house project . . . taking out a load bearing wall between our living room and kitchen. 

Originally the wall was covered in paneling but when we took over the house in July we decided to open up the wall, ie remove the paneling. We wanted to get an idea of whether or not we should remove the wall completely and open up the space between the two rooms. So we moved the refrigerator to the other end of the kitchen and started taking the wall apart. 

the original wall between the living room and kitchen

original position of refrigerator against the
wall between the kitchen and living room

Since July we have been living with an open wall. 

I have to admit simply being able to see through the wall and having the fridge at the other end of the kitchen made a huge impact. As soon as it was open we decided we liked it and wanted the wall to come down. We just had to keep in mind that since it was a load bearing wall we weren't going to be able to just knock it out of the way. It was going to need a header and proper support. Plus there were a couple electrical outlets and a light switch that would need relocating. So we patiently waited until we could find a time when the project could be moved to the top of the list and Marc's Dad could come help us. 

I don't know about you but 38.5 weeks pregnant sounds like the perfect time to knock down a load bearing wall in your house, don't you think? Thankfully the project went really smoothly, absolutely no hiccups, and  by the end of Saturday Marc, his Dad and my Dad had removed the wall and installed the header. During this time my mom and I were hiding out in my bedroom, away from the noise and in a safe location in case things went awry, watching Greys Anatomy. As you can see from the pictures below it's fantastic and so open now between the living room, kitchen and dining room. 

View from kitchen to living room - click photo to enlarge

View from living room to kitchen to dining room - click photo to enlarge

On Sunday Marc and his Dad covered the new header in sheet rock and installed the new light switch and electrical outlet. Now we just have to tape and mud the sheet rock and then my Dad can paint it the same color as the hallway.

I can't even begin to tell you how much of a difference this makes to the feel of the house. It's also pretty amazing to see how much you can accomplish in one weekend when you know the right people. We owe a huge thanks to Marc's Dad!