Opening up the first floor

Once the old loose plaster, unwanted walls, stained suspended ceilings, outdated fixtures, and dirty carpet are gone, the framing can begin.

The standard doorway and wall between the living room and dining room cut out *a lot* of light and made the rooms feel cramped and dark.  Removing this division and some other un-used space creates an open feel and allows light to flow from the front and back of the house to both rooms.

Before...

Original Cramped Entry to the Diningroom

... and after some demo:

Mid-Construction (Finished Pictures Coming Soon)

The coat closet was turned to better connect the two rooms and so that it was more centrally located:

Similarly, the dining room to kitchen transition was restricted to a single standard doorway.  We opened this through-way up and of course removed the wood paneled walls, revealing a great brick wall and what was once a gas fireplace behind it!  What a difference.

Original Restricted Doorway and Wood Paneling.

Removed Walls and Framing of New, Widened Doorway to Kitchen

The old kitchen was in desperate need of updating...

... so the 1960s cabinets were removed and the walls were furred out for insulation and new drywall:

Also going on at this time was the installation of new insulated glass, wood window sashes.  At some point in the not so distant past, most of the original windows had been replaced with vinyl ones.  How sad, yellowed, brittle and cracked these replacements had become.   Lesson for other remodelers out there:  vinyl is NOT forever.

Pictures of the finished rooms coming soon!