After 330 days of living in near-darkness, we can finally see daylight in our kitchen — and the change is nothing short of amazing.
The entire job took our licensed contractor Steve and his right-hand helper Tara nearly seven hours (more about why we hired them, how we found them, and permitting details can be found in our previous post). Meanwhile John, Clara, and Burger camped out at his sister’s house to escape the noise while I stayed home to answer questions, hand out snacks and drinks, spy a little, and live vicariously through the progress. They were incredible, and though the space still looks raw, the result is thrilling enough to keep us up all night.
Here’s how it all went down — a simplified recap, and not a DIY tutorial since we left the heavy lifting to the pros. First, Steve and Tara used a power saw to carefully cut the full doorway opening into the kitchen paneling. First surprise: there was no drywall or plaster behind the paneling—just studs. Good thing we’d painted the paneling a while back instead of tearing it down in hopes of finding drywall.
Opening the wall also revealed the electrical routing, so our electrician was on call and came over to address it while the wall was open.
Next, Steve and Tara cut into the drywall on the other side — which turned out to be two layers — and removed it. Light poured in, and I basically lost my mind behind the curtain in a very happy way.
We’ve already explained what’s up with the vents, but for anyone just catching up: an HVAC pro confirmed that removing those vents wouldn’t compromise the system. After that sign-off, John went under the crawl space to disconnect and cap them, so the vents you now see are no longer active. We actually did the same thing during the kitchen remodel in our first house.
Steve and Tara then framed two temporary support walls while they reinforced the header for the new opening, working both from above and down in the crawl space.
It was a little surreal peeking through the studs and seeing green grass, leaves, and sunlight — views we never used to enjoy from inside the kitchen.
From this angle you can see the large wooden header and the drywall patch we’ll need above the doorway. They chose to work on the header from the drywall side because drywall is easier to patch for a seamless look than damaged wood paneling. Smart move. They also built the half-wall that the peninsula will sit against before wrapping up for the day. Here’s what it looked like as they were leaving:
Behold my new favorite view: the magnolia out front forms a canopy letting sunlight pour into the kitchen. It feels almost tropical, like a tree umbrella. I’m probably a little delirious with joy, but you have to understand — there is light where there used to be a cavernous gloom.
Notice the electrical outlet reinstalled near the right side of the half-wall. That placement should be handy for laptops at the peninsula. Most of the wall will be hidden once the peninsula is in place, but with a 12″ countertop overhang there will still be about a foot of wall exposed — an ideal spot for an outlet.
When John got home we laughed because it felt like the fireplace was basking in sunlight for the first time since we moved in. It’s still rough around the edges, but Steve and Tara’s structural work is complete (we handed them a $700 check as they left). Now the next steps fall to us:
- Drywall, mud, and sand the half-wall and the area above the door where header work was done on the dining side
- Add a door jamb, build a wooden ledge over the half-wall, and install trim
- Prime and paint the walls, jamb, baseboard, and trim
We can see the finished room in our heads: two or three pendant lights over the peninsula, a statement chandelier above the dining table, painted cabinets with stainless appliances, rich mocha cork flooring, and a cozy chair by the fire. Picture it with us — it’s all starting to come together.
The half-wall looks odd without the peninsula, so we’re eager to install that piece next. We’ll post updates as we finish the opening (we’ve already started on drywall, so hopefully there’s an update soon). For context, here’s a reminder of how the room looked when we moved in last December:
Is that transformation wild or what?
Our goal is to complete the kitchen overhaul over the coming months — possibly by January. There’s still plenty to do: remove and sell the old counters, install new countertops, find or craft matching doors for the cabinet addition that created the peninsula, prime and paint cabinets, tile the full backsplash, build and install a range hood, hang open shelving, and lay the cork flooring ourselves. It’s a lot, but we love a challenge, and most of all we love light — glorious, glorious light. Oh happy day.