I love kitchens and I really enjoy designing them. Especially when I can knock down a wall and able to open up the kitchen space. I mean, who doesn’t? Or is it just me. lol
Just don’t start knocking walls down. Make sure first it’s not a structural wall. Not all walls can be knocked down due to piping and structural walls etc. Find out first by a professional. BUT, if you can… here are some reasons why you should consider opening up your kitchen.
1)Could make the space feel larger
The kitchen wont feel like your in a box. Enclosed by walls feeling you are separated from your family when cleaning up or preparing food.
Before kitchen
After Kitchen
2)Create a space for entertaining
Opening up the space you can possibly have an island with seating or even a table. Able to get your family and/or guest to be part of the cooking experience and you can hang out while being in the kitchen.
Or possibly when your in the kitchen and your kids are in the living room you would be able to keep an eye on them. As a mom, I know. lol You want them to be sitting on the sofa nicely and watching tv. and not hanging upside-down or doing something they are not supposed to be doing. Well, sometimes they are just sitting nicely. But then sometimes…. They are just hanging upside-down off the sofa. I’m kidding. It would be nice to be able to keep an eye on our precious children.
Before
After Picture
3)You can Design a focal point
Decorative Wood Hood and Tile
Office or Homework station
Decorative furniture-like Beverage Station
How to create a focal point? you can do a decorative wood hood with beautiful tile pattern. Create a decorative furniture-like unit or tall built-in to create perhaps a beverage station. the ideas are endless. When you walk into your living space you will be able to see that focal point that was created.
4)Better traffic flow
Your kitchen could feel small and tight. Opening up the space might get you to have a wider walking space to be able to maneuver through your kitchen and having more people can be in the space at the same time.
These are just a few ideas when your thinking on if you should consider opening up the space or not. Would it give you a better traffic flow? Do you want more space to be able to entertain.
You might be asking yourself would opening up a certain wall take away storage space. That is a good question to ask yourself. Opening up the wall will need redesign . You might be able to include an island in the space now or even a peninsula which will give you storage. Quick Tip: Bringing upper cabinets up to the ceiling instead of midway will give you more storage also. To answer that question will you loose storage space. Not necessarily. It all depends on the kitchen that is being designed. If you eliminate storage somewhere, think on how to put that storage somewhere else.
Happy Designing!
