Opening up your kitchen for more light and social accessibility

Many older homes were built in a way that mostly closed off the kitchen, which tended to make the kitchen dark and certainly kept any potential company out! Today’s families prefer to open up the kitchen both for a brighter workspace and in order to include helpers in food prep as well as company for chatting while working.

Opening up the kitchen means removing all or part of a wall, which should never be done unless you absolutely know it is not a load bearing wall. This is where hiring a skilled and licensed contractor comes in; they will know how to determine if there is any additional support needed when that wall is removed, and can tell you exactly what needs to be done to provide the required support.

The rewards of opening up the room are amazing; a brighter room, a more pleasant feel to the kitchen and the dining area that adjoins. Here are a few before and after photos for a home we recently partially removed a wall between the kitchen and dining area. In addition, we removed a one-person door and installed a double door (with windows), and it made a huge improvement in appearance, letting in more light, and making the kitchen more accessible.