Decided to open up the wall between our kitchen and dining room. We never (rarely) used the dining room and decided we'd be better off having a bigger open space. So we're moving the dining room furniture into the kitchen and turning the dining room into a family room.

Problem is we'll now need a new kitchen to match the new furniture Wanted something new anyway so it works out.

Before, view from the kitchen (forget to take pics with the drywall still up)



From the hallway


After





Took some work as the wall we moved was load bearing. Put 3 2x10x10's in its place for support.

 

nice work, looks much roomier...did you mud, sand and paint yet?

...gonna put any kinda molding around it?

 

Thanks.

I'll be done sanding tonight. Put the final coat on yesterday. The mudding and taping was the most difficult part thus far.

I'll be trimming the opening to match the other small entrance in the kitchen.

Forgot about the opening I closed that was in the dining room. The room had too many entrances so I closed it off. We'll be putting a mantel, electric fireplace and 52" Samsung on top. You can see the tubing in behind the wall.

 

Looks good Dom! I think you're really going to enjoy the extra space.

 

Looks great dom. Make sure you get in wall rated cabling.

 

I've run PCV pipes in the wall to fish the cables giving me access at all times. Do I still need wall rated cables?

 

Nice work.....looks like the "little doms" were helping out in the pics.

 

Little Doms are demolition experts

 

A question, do you think it will look stupid having the TV be bigger than the mantle beneath it? The TV I got is 52 inches in width, the mantel is 48. Wife wants me to return it for a 46, but I refuse.

 

Probably not, but could be some stupid line on a home insurance clause that could screw you over should the worst happen. Good idea with the PVC though,my friends dad built his house and did that through out, makes cabling a breeze.

 

Might look a little funny, get a bigger mantle

 

I'm sure one of our residend photochop experts can give you a preview.


Looks good dom. I like the more wide open floor plan. Did you prewire surround speakers as well?

 

Wow, you are handy.

 

Looks freaking awesome. Nice work.

And I'm pretty sure those 3 - 2x10s were just slightly overkill.
+1 Get a new mantle rather than a smaller TV. Unless it's built into the electric fireplace. Then you're SOL.

 

Nice work!

 

Very cool! I love the before-after-and-midway-through pics! Can't wait to see the finished product!

We don't have a dining room either but our eat-in kitchen, although not huge, fits our dinning table, so we have it set up like that....we just take the table extensions out when we don't need them and use it as our every day table.

Soooooo....wanna come to our house and finish the basement?

:waitingfortheummNo:

 

Looks good. Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

Nice work dommy..


What are you going to do on the flooring where the wall used to be?




Is that Mrs. in the background?

 

Picked up the mantel and electric fireplace for 50% off at Lowes. Hell of a deal. They are separate but a bigger mantel would mean bigger fireplace which would mean I'd have to spend double to get the right size, if I can find one. My wife will just have to live with it.

I pre-wired where I could, at the front. I'll be going wireless for the two rears. Didn't want to break anymore drywall.

Actually had a buddy who's an engineer come in to spec it. 4 2x8's would have been sufficient but better to be safe than sorry. And since I had to match the height of the other entrances it worked out. Good news is the iron I beam that runs the width of the basement is directly beneath that new entrance.

That's our idea as well. The table we have stretches to 11 feet with the extensions.

ummNo Isn't Dan as handy with a hammer as he is with a camera?

I was lucky enough to find the same tile so I'll be laying it up to the wood floor with a wood threshold to separate them.

You seeing things Jonsei? The Mrs won't allow pics.

I'll be laying the tile tonight and painting on Saturday. Should be ready to go come next weekend.

I just painted the kitchen a couple of months ago so I only hope they can match the paint from a piece of broken drywall. I'll be painting both rooms the same color.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

 

Wait a second... You sneaky bastard.. I saw Mrs.


You got lucky to find the tile.. Is the house new? or did you recently lay the tile that you were still able to find it?

 

House is just over 7 years old. The local tile place was apparently down to their last 1000 sq-ft of the stuff.

 

Where'd you get the paint? A lot of places keep a file of the colours you've bought so they can look it up.

 

Lowes.

I thought of that but I don't recall them taking our info. I'm going over there today at lunch so wish me luck.

 

Found a paint match

Also found another mantel that fits the fireplace we have. And only $25 more. Its 52 1/2 inches wide which is wider than the TV and 2 inches lower. Problem is it being lower. I setup the tubing and power outlet for the height of the mantel we have which is 47 1/4 high. The new mantel would mean me having to take out some drywall and lowering the tube and outlet, and them having to re-mud. We also didn't initially choose this mantel because we preferred the color and style of the one we bought. Although they are very similar.

So new mantel which better fits the TV which also means more work or live with the TV being wider than the mantel?

 

How about the 52 1/2-inch mantel and a new 56" TV?

j/k. I'd go with the wider mantel and just bite the bullet and move the outlet.

 

Damn you Jan!! I don't want to do more work.

I'll run it by the wife.
So you guys really think a wider TV will look that bad huh?

 

^^ I was serious about photochopping it to see how it looks. I hava no PS skills else I'd do it for you.

Wouldn't the TV hide the box anyway? What if you just left the TV in its originally inteded location?

 

I had started doing that before you posted, I guess great minds think a like. These are a little crude though. Dimensions aren't perfect but they should give you an idea.

First up is a 46'' Tv over the 48'' mantle



Now 52'' TV over 48'' mantle

 

Thanks Dougler, but your proportions are off. The wall is 52 3/4 if that helps. So the TV will basically go end to end and they'll be two inches on each side of the mantel.

 

I actually don't think I'd have to move the power outlet, it should be low enough. But the PVC pipe would have to go at least 2-3 inches lower. Right now I'm leaning towards leaving things as is.

 

Ok, I've made some adjustments for both dimensions and realism.

 

Only problem is I don't drink Canadian.

The proportions are perfect. What do you guys think? I don't think its too bad.

 

hmm, it doesn't look as bad as i imagined either...i would keep it as is

 

I'm not a fan of TVs over mantles, but the bigger one really overwhelms the wall its on, much less the mantle.

 

Sorry dom but

Is your intent to have the TV sitting on the mantle or hanging it from the wall? If you hang it then you don't need to move anything, but you do have to spend $$ on a bracket.

 

Awesome! When can you make it?

We'll pay you in food and beer.

 

Only place for a TV in that room. One wall has a large window, the other walls aren't big enough because there's an entrance between them and the large wall won't work because the room isn't wide enough.

Hanging it on the wall. Already have the bracket. I'd still have to move the piping because its set up specifically for that height of mantel.

 

I'll take Photography lessons instead.

 

Nice work and I have the solution for your mantle problem, take the mantel back and use the monies to get another TV




jk I think it will look fine a bit wider as long as you hang it on the wall

 

^ LOL. My wife would have my head.

No way you're married?

I think it looks fine as well. But that could be because I'm trying too hard to like it and being blinded by 52 inches.