Should I remove this wall, or will it make the floor plan too open? (laminate, paint)
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It might be best to close up the wall opening completely and focus on your kitchen design for more counter space.
You have enough room for a longer island that extends to the dining area side of the refrigerator.
Also, I don't believe the layout of your livingroom mandates the sofa be placed where it is. If you moved your TV to the wall that's not in the picture, the wall opposite to where the TV is currently located, you'll can move the sofa to where the TV is located and turn the chair so the back is more to the window. You'll be amazed at how much bigger your living room will feel. Even if you leave the wall there, I'd try rearranging the funiture to help you feel like you have more space.
You read my mind. I was thinking that too. Instead of an arch I suggested, I think closing the wall off might be a good route. I'm not crazy about the furniture placement myself. The two colors of the rooms are drastic differences IMO and standing in the living room forces the eye through the hole in the wall to focus on the red walls in the kitchen. That wall with the hole in it, could be better utilized for the tv. A nice entertainment center with bookshelves on either side for storage. I noticed the OP has little ones. Nothing clutters up a house faster than toddler toys. I think the living room would have better flow. Or since drywall would be completed, the tv could be hung on the wall the correct way with electrical and cable outlets installed so no cords show.
In my house, when you walk in the living room, I have a wall just like the OP but it is solid. Instead of a kitchen being on the other side is my family room. I live two men (hubby and teenage son) that mess up a house faster that you can imagine. The family room tends to be wreck. I am so grateful for that wall because if someone pops over, my living room is always neat. My visitors have no idea of the horrors behind that wall. Kitchens get messy quick. I agree with island could be bigger and wouldn't interrupt the flow to the door out to the garage, now that the bar on the wall is down.
The idea for the white board and trim would have been for the bottom only, but I could be talked out of it.
The reason we have never placed the TV on the opposite wall is because it would be in front of the front door, and the light from the door (and the side lites on each side) would interfere with the TV picture. Also, the distance from the viewer to the TV would be 20', which seems like a long way away. I suppose we could entertain the notion, though.
I guess the answer to this question should be obvious, but does this plan mean that the couch does not sit in front of the arch? (Hope that's not a dumb question, but it probably is.)
-I am not crazy about the trim but nothing wrong with brain storming.
-In our last house we had a ton of windows. No matter where we placed the tv we would get glare from the windows. A matte screen tv fixed this. I love the look of glossy but our TV salesman actually asked us about window glare. Didn't think about it until it dawned on me that our current tv did have the reflection of the windows in it. The matte screen made a huge difference. I know cha ching cha ching. lol. Now along with everything else a new tv! Just food for thought when you buy another.
-No I was rearranging your furniture placement in my head. I would keep the arch open.
Jim, is it possible for you to (I know it sounds unortodox) re-mount that door so that it opens to the outside? Did you say that the door opens into a garage/breezeway? If so, and it's not a big deal, changing the space that the door opens into, might change the flow just a tad and allow you to better utilize that space. Also, truly....if it were my space, you can bet that entire wall would be utilized and I would definitely figure out how the door could open outwards, rather than into the kitchen. LOL
For something like this they would really need to redo that whole room-kitchen/nook area. It doesn't look like there is a wall by the table in the kitchen so for this to work and not look off balance they would have to add wall space by the table while taking out wall space in the middle, right?
I think that there just isn't enough room in those 3 areas to make something like this work and look right.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lauriedeee
When you say 'island' are you talking about the cabinet island thing or the area where the chairs are? I think if you put a peninsula right where the wall is now where the chairs are, and hung up some pendant lights above it, you'd have a nice division from kitchen to living room, but it would still have an open feel to it.
I hope that made sense. I'm a little sleepy.
That's very similar to what I thought when I looked at the pictures from the kitchen side. I think you need some kind of division between those spaces, but I agree with the OP that a wall with a cutout isn't exactly doing it...
I would not remove the wall. No offense, but your kitchen isn't spotless, as neither is mine (3 kids). Removing the wall is going to expose your kitchen and any clutter to the rest of the house.
Replace all your cabinets and your island. You already have a nice size kitchen and will probably be surprised what some new cabinet will do for it.
Remove the little bar that nobody sits at. Maybe you can put a built in buffet there or something for extra hidden storage. At any rate.... leave the wall.
Jim, is it possible for you to (I know it sounds unortodox) re-mount that door so that it opens to the outside? Did you say that the door opens into a garage/breezeway? If so, and it's not a big deal, changing the space that the door opens into, might change the flow just a tad and allow you to better utilize that space. Also, truly....if it were my space, you can bet that entire wall would be utilized and I would definitely figure out how the door could open outwards, rather than into the kitchen. LOL
Actually, that door is going to be moved to the other side of the breezeway, so that it leads directly to the garage. (The entrance to the garage is currently just an opening with no door.) That will leave that opening from the kitchen to the breezeway with no door, and the breezeway closet will become a pantry. So the door itself will be gone, but moving the actual opening would be a pain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FloridaKash
I would not remove the wall. No offense, but your kitchen isn't spotless, as neit her is mine (3 kids). Removing the wall is going to expose your kitchen and any clutter to the rest of the house.
Replace all your cabinets and your island. You already have a nice size kitchen and will probably be surprised what some new cabinet will do for it.
Remove the little bar that nobody sits at. Maybe you can put a built in buffet there or something for extra hidden storage. At any rate.... leave the wall.
I'm now hearing more than one person say to keep the wall and close it up. I can't say that hasn't crossed my mind in the past, but it goes against what my wife is wanting to do, that being opening things up. I haven't brought this up to her, but I will mention it and gauge her reaction. I have a feeling it won't be favorable, but we'll see.
As for the kitchen clutter, she about croaked when she realized I had posted those pictures online. It doesn't always look that bad. For example, toast fragments are usually promptly retrieved from the table and deposited into the trash can. These shots were intended for my brother-in-law to look at, and the decision to post them online was made later. I assured her that none of you know us personally, as far as we know.
We will be refinishing the cabinets, installing new counter tops, new appliances (including putting the microwave over the range), tile behind the counter tops, new paint, new interior trim (wider stuff, I don't like the narrow stuff), and new hardwood floors. We don't have the budget to replace all the cabinets, however. As I mentioned earlier, the plan is to put a larger top on the island that will overhang 1' on one side and one end. The bar is definitely gone.
Mr. and Mrs. Jim.. go to Google, click on images and then type in all different key words, like 'kitchen' "kitchen design' 'small kitchen' kitchen with island' etc.. and look at the pictures. It may give you more of an idea on what you and the Mrs. want to do and can do for the space.
If she's doing the cooking.. you should really let her decide on how the kitchen design should look,
or you may be feelin' really lonely for a while...
and tell her not to stress over the pictures and how the house isn't company ready. Anyone that has kids, or has a life beyond housework gets a free pass from me.
This makes sense to me. Defines the kitchen while leaving it open.
+1 for this style of seperating "wall".
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Kitchens get messy quick. I agree with island could be bigger and wouldn't interrupt the flow to the door out to the garage, now that the bar on the wall is down.
It doesn't always look that bad. For example, toast fragments are usually promptly retrieved from the table and deposited into the trash can. These shots were intended for my brother-in-law to look at, and the decision to post them online was made later. I assured her that none of you know us personally, as far as we know. 
