I couldn't wait to brighten things up. Our house gets plenty of natural light, but the kitchen had tiny little windows. We planned to wait it out and use the kitchen as it was (while we saved a little more money) but patience isn't my strong suit. I couldn't fit a cookie sheet in the silly little oven, the drawer bottoms fell out from the weight of our silverware and the cupboards were more than slightly lopsided. I only managed to tough it out for a couple of months before I'd had it.
I did a little research and figured we could make it work with the money we had, so we let the remodel begin.
We couldn't wait to tear down the wall that separated our kitchen from our little breakfast nook. With my father-in-law's help, we went at it with the Sawzall (one of the coolest tools ever) and the sledge hammer and within a couple of hours we had a pony wall that overlooked a cute little breakfast nook! Don't worry, we did our homework and made sure to leave the support beams in tact. I've seen enough of HGTV's Renovation Realities to avoid that mistake!
Next step was to tear out the tiny windows and really let the light in. We had planned and measured for new windows soon after we moved in. I found a great bargain on windows while visiting Portland, OR (where I grew up) and they were waiting patiently in the garage, all ready for their big debut.
The old windows went to the garage for use in a later project. (I just refinished one to create a picture wall - I'll share soon!). The new windows made such a difference. Check out the before and after pics.
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| Our old little windows |
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| The wall that we knocked down |
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| Pretty new windows and a new pony wall! |
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| View from below the pony wall |
You were right about its potential, and I love how you brought it out! The pony wall really made a big difference. It certainly looks more spacious now.
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