A Small, But Effective Kitchen Renovation

For that last couple of years, my sister has dealt with a small kitchen. She loves the rest of her house, but the kitchen was always a sore spot for her. To help freshen things up, she repainted the cabinets last year an expresso brown color and changed out the hardware. It made a world of a difference, however it didn't help her from feeling like she didn't have enough space. A few weeks ago, my brother-in-law and sister decided that they wanted to hire someone to punch out a huge opening between the kitchen and living room. With my three-year old nephew running around it would be great to see what he's up to in the living room while my sister is preparing meals. They also installed a pretty sweet flat screen tv over the living room fireplace so being able to watch the news while they cooked would be great as well.

Here's a photo of the original wall dividing the kitchen and living room.

Here's what it looks like with the new wall opening.

If you don't have the budget to do a full-scale renovation, just prioritize and choose to do one thing that will help your biggest problem. The countertop is butcher block from IKEA that they stained and finished. My sister ordered the two stools for under $150 for the pair from www.barstools.com I saw the new space in person last week and it looks like a completely different house. I love it!