Although it was cute and cozy with the breakfast bar, the reason we decided to take on this project is so that it is easier to heat our home from here on out. We heat our house with one wood stove, which, at the moment is in the dining room at the other end of the house and kind of closed in by 4 walls. So we would use fans to circulate the heat (which raises the electric bill), but our kitchen would still be chilly and the dining room would be 80 degrees. So down came the wall, up went the new header and the reclaimed wood. The wood stove being moved and installed is the next step to this project and I will add pictures as the project progresses over the next week.
We started by taking off plaster, paneling, molding, trim, etc.
My husband did the demolition, I did the cleaning! We make a good team.
Next we got rid of plumbing, electrical wires, etc.
Now for the scary part…this is a supporting wall in our home so my husband did all the necessary research to make sure we install a strong enough header so there is no sagging or moving of the structure. Be sure to get all of the necessary permits for this type of project.
He built a temporary wall to support this part of the house while the studs and old header are taken down.
Then the header went up! And the temp wall came down. I make it sound so easy…
Remi, the project inspector.
My husband found a place in Old Saybrook, CT that sells reclaimed wood from barns, homes, etc. So we took a drive and were there for ever 2 hours measuring, shopping, making sure it would look perfect when completed.
The wrapping process above. This took a couple of days to complete. You can see the new beam and the old wood being wrapped around it.
I have to say, my husband and I were both shocked when we took a step back afterwards and realized it came out way better then we even imagined it would.
Check back to see the wood stove installation process and project completion.
-Simply Maggie
7 comments
This looks so awesome!! I love it and I’m so jealous of your cute little house 🙂
Love this! You just have my hubby & I inspiration for something similar we want to do at our house.
Also Is that an old wood ladder you used As a Blanket holder? I love it!
Beautiful. Did you make the island yourself?
Where did you find the yellow hanging lamp in kitchen? I just made 2 of the arm knit scarves. Cute
We actually found it in the basement when we moved into our home and then spray painted it yellow.
You guys did a beautiful job on this project!! Hopefully you get this message, I was wondering what you did for the flooring where the rooms now meet and the wall used to be? I’m thinking of opening up a wall similar to yours, but we have hard wood and then linoleum in the other room. I don’t know if I could get a piece of wood to cover the floor where the two meet? Thanks 🙂
-Rachel
[…] We ripped up the carpet, updated electrical, painted, took out part of a wall to make a breakfast bar, then took out that whole wall, removing said breakfast bar. (See my Wall Demolition post) […]