Dust In the House

...all we have is dust in the house...

Walls started coming down today! The wall separating the front hall and the great room was apparently added when air conditioning was installed to the house - probably sometime in the 70's. All of the other walls in the house were plaster, but here it was drywall. The front hall is 8 feet wide, and we decided that was valuable real estate, as we really enjoy hosting large gatherings. So, down came this wall on the left side as you enter the great room, along with a section about a foot wide on the right side:

Here is the view from the great room side before. Yeah, the stud was a little tired after manhandling cabinets all day, so he's probably facebooking...

And here is what it looks like now. Lots and lots of light! and space! We are planning to leave the bookcase on the left by the front door, and the part of the wall that houses the air return, although we hope to disguise it a little. Any suggestions for making that column and vent attractive?

We were very happy that the floor under the removed wall is intact, and will only need some minor repair. It is actually in very good shape.

The other major happening of the day was the removal of an old door frame from the dining room into the kitchen, and a reshaping of the opening to match the pretty arch on the other side.

Can't wait to see how much happens tomorrow. We have worked with our contractor,Warfield Builders, in the past. Shannon and Wayne are fabulous, and their crew is always kind, considerate, and very pleasant to have around. The carpenter who has been working with his son-in-law on the wall demo and framing told us the other day that he played at this house when he was a boy, and in his late teens, he helped install the current kitchen when he was apprenticing with a local contractor.