“Not funny.” That’s what I said when a tree branch across the street fell and took out our power yesterday, just two minutes before Richard the mason and his crew arrived. Fortunately, widening a brick wall is mostly manual labor—chiseling out bricks and cinder blocks didn’t depend on electricity. When the power came back about an hour later, the crew barely flinched (I admit I was doing a little happy dance in the background while they kept hammering away).
By the end of the day the doorway was widened to a glorious five-foot opening, and the house remained perfectly stable. The result of a project that once had some contractors running scared is easy to appreciate from the kitchen looking into the den:
Now the crew is framing the opening, and it’s remarkable how much larger the living room, kitchen, and den feel now that they connect so openly. The new wider openings transform the flow between spaces and give the main level a much more modern, open look compared with the original 1956 layout. A photo taken from the living room shows how the expanded sightlines into the kitchen and den create a sense of continuity and light:
Before, the view from the front door offered only a small doorway into the kitchen. Now you can see through the kitchen into the den and even glimpse the hallway that leads to the sunroom. The increased openness makes the whole main floor feel brighter and more cohesive—definitely worth the dust and demolition that came with the renovation.