Tear Down The Wall...Kitchen Deconstructed

Once upon a time, our house was all about boundaries. Walls separating the living room from the dining room and kitchen. Built in pantries that blocked doorways when opened: 

After a few years of being separated from guests while I slaved away in the kitchen, I went all Pink Floyd on our house. It was time to TEAR DOWN THE WALL. With the help of some pros, due to a pesky load bearing beam. 

 I'm not sure if I should admit this, but the first night that the wall came down, I poured a glass of wine, sat on a the couch, and just stared in admiration. For like 30 minutes. On a Friday. Opening up our kitchen instantly transformed the entire first floor.

While we lived in a state of destruction and construction for about a month, and the dining room doubled as a pantry for most of that time, the renovation was planned in such a way that we never spent more than a few days without being able to use the bulk of our kitchen. Having all our appliances before it began probably helped.

Was I scared to change the architecture of our home? Absolutely. I went in circles worrying if I we might be ruining our property value, or if we'd regret removing what also served as a sound barrier. However, from the moment that light from the living and dining rooms first flooded into the kitchen, I've had no regrets. The space, and the people using it, are connected just liked we'd hoped. My advice about walls between where you cook and where you live--when in doubt, take it out.

Ikea Kitchen Budget Breakdown

Once upon a time, I naively thought we could remodel our 1970s kitchen for about $10,000. Then I did some research on material costs, talked to some contractors and took an honest look at our scope of work. This scope included:

• Removing load bearing wall (see how we made that budget-breaking discovery!) between kitchen and living room
• Widening the doorway to the dining room
• Closing off an entry to the kitchen, extending foyer
• Moving the stove, sink and fridge
• Relocating the garage door

My revised, more realistic estimate was closer to $15,000, with a contingecy of $2,500. Eventually, we landed in the middle of those two numbers, spending a little over $12,000 (scroll for spending breakdown). The bulk of that came in construction costs (thanks load bearing beam!) and cabinets. Even with the Ikea 20% sale, we bought a LOT of cabinets, and splurged on getting mostly drawers for the base cabinets, a few glass uppers and extra organization, like lazy susans for corner cabinets. 

There are also some areas we haven't spent on yet. We put off the backsplash initially due to exhaustion; once the construction was done, my husband and I (along with some incredible friends) were the labor. Now, it just hasn't bothered us to not have backsplash, but I'm sure I'll get remotivated at some point and tackle that project. 

"The Help," AKA, husband and family friend

Also, our floor started as a mishmash of tile and wood. It remains that way. We used extra pieces of wood floor that we had on hand to fill in the gaps left by the remodel. It really doesn't bother me, but I imagine we'll make it either all tile or all wood before selling. Which means we have a few years to worry about it. 

My guestimate is that if we'd bought everything at full price and paid for somebody to do everything; design, construction, install cabinets, etc, we'd have spent closer to $25,000. I'll know for sure when we get our house appraised for refi this spring. Fingers crossed!!

Later I'll post where we saved, and where we spent a little more, often out of necessity. But for now, here's how it all played out:

Item/Task	Budget	Notes
Move Door, Fridge
Move stove
Hood Vent
Hood Vent Labor
Move wall, add beam
Add'l wiring
Total Construction	6432	Contractor
Floor wood, pro	-	(perm floor, pending)
Floor (vinyl click, us)	20
Cabinets + wood counter	5167.62
Lighting (use existing wiring)	220
paint (us)	80
knobs (Ebay)	79
Backsplash		(pending)
Install cabinets (us)
Supplies (us)	145
Counter removal	225
Sink	69
Stove	750
storage bench, foyer	70
bar stools	50
Subtotal	13307.62
Subtotal	13307.62
Recoup		Returns, sold
Cabinets	300
Counters & sink	400
Stove	350
Return cabinets
Return supplies	50
Recoup total	1100
Net Total	12207.62