Expansive

So you'll remember these before shots from when we moved. First, from the entry, which was sort of made up of two "bays" divided by a half wall (with wrought iron and a planter!) and a panel of ribbed glass that did nothing more than narrow the space you walk through. Once through the first bay you could go right, down the hall to the bedrooms, left through another archway to the living room, or straight through a pair of double doors into the panel-clad family room.
You can still go any of those directions, but you won't be contending with many walls now. That in-the-way ribbed glass is gone, as is the scrolly iron and planter. That opening is getting changed a bit, and eventually filled in. In fact, the entire second "bay" is gone, and is part of the living room. You can see the header over the hallway is on its way out as well. Long spans of uninterrupted ceiling. Oh, and those big studs? A fat wall that will hold the tv mount on the family room side. With big openings in the wall on either side.

On the left of this shot you can see the interior picture window. Yes, nearly 11 feet long, smack in the middle of the house. With curtains no less. You'll also see an entire wall of cabinetry that housed the TV back when TVs were really deep. So the closet behind the cabinetry was worthless. Oh, and since it was opposite the fireplace you could never easily enjoy both.

Now, all gone! It adds nearly 28 square feet to the room, minus that little corner we need to deal with. (Furnace venting, but I need it to move as its impinging on my layout for a pair of french doors and new windows) Those three old studs sticking up at the bottom are where the window used to be, and now where the fat studs in the above photo are located.

I hope that gives you a little idea of how we combined the rooms, trying to open them to each other but still keep a bit of separateness. More framing has happened, in fact the entire center wall is done as is the wall to the left where you see the electrical panel.

This week will be exciting. The dumpster arrives tomorrow (we've got a mountain of debris on the patio), and then Bill will demo the family room ceiling. The electricians will be in on Wednesday to install all the new lights/outlets/switches. Bill will likely demo the parquet then as well and then hang the new drywall ceiling. And if the rain and ice and snow ever stop Bill can go pick up the new oak plank and get that put down.

I'll get more pictures posted when the drywall goes up. I can't wait to paint!