All of these pictures were taken with my phone. We seriously dove right in to this project. There was no time for fancy camera pictures.
Here is the view from my dining room before demo.
This is the family room before demo. See that big giant blank wall that is two colors? The bottom of the wall doesn't line up with the top of the wall. It's about 1/4 - 1/2 inch off depending where we measure. This will get blended by the end of this project.
My dad came over on Saturday to give us a hand. There were surprise support posts in places we didn't expect them. There were also 7 lines of electric running through the wall. Cory and my dad drilled holes in the floor. Disconnected the electric. Then hooked everything up under the floor in the basement ceiling. I was never a fan of the drop ceiling in the basement, but Cory told me that we would be happy to have the access to everything between the floor and the basement ceiling. I guess he was right... yup, you were right honey. Good call. ;-)
Ethan was an awesome helper. He used the heavy drill to get the screws out of the studs. He took out about 20 screws all on his own!
This picture is seriously blurry, but it's the only one that I have of all four guys working together.
What a crew!
Here is a peak at our new opening. Isn't it lovely?!
We can see in to the dining room and kitchen now from the family room and front entry.
The boys love the opening and ran lots of circle around it on Sunday.
Hey look, I helped too. Actually I was the tool runner, kid watcher, and mess cleaner the entire weekend. Demo makes a huge mess... Ethan is awesome by the way. This little man did everything he could to help.
Here is a peak from the kitchen. My dining room is no longer a dead end space with no natural light. It's actually a room that we will enjoy using. There is still a large wall dividing the two spaces. We have plans to open up more of this, but haven't figured out how we will do that yet. We might make the opening to the right about 3 feet wider. Or we might cut two look through openings in the remaining wall. We would love to remove the entire wall, but there are two major load bearing supports running through the wall that we don't want to mess with. We plan to work around them and open up as much as we can.
Another look from the family room in to the dining room and kitchen area. Fabulous! I am so excited about this. I have been waiting years for this to happen. Thank you hubby!
The best surprise of all is that I can see out the front window in our entry nook from the kitchen.
Love. Love. Love.
I owe this project to the most amazing husband ever. Cory, I know I have been making your crazy for years over this wall. I am sorry about that, but you love me and you show me that every day. Opening up our floor plan means so much to me. It's not just about the layout and extra light. It's also about keeping our family together while we are home. It's about helping the kids with school work at the kitchen table while we clean, cook, and play with the kids in the family room. It's about being connected under one open space. Being together in our home. Thank you for loving me so much. You are my hero.
