Wall No More

For give me, blog readers, for I have sinned. It's been two months since my last confession blog post.

Sorry about the major hiatus, friends. I didn't mean to leave you hanging, I just.... haven't had much to say. Life has been incredibly busy - I've got a new job and there is just over two months to go until the wedding. Needless to say, life has been one big whirlwind.

On top of it all, I want this blog to keep offering relevant content. I refuse to post anything mindless just to put something out there. All too often I find myself reading other blogs and thinking to myself, "Why is this on the Internet?" I don't want this space to turn into something like that. So, as I feel I haven't had a ton of relevant information to share, I've kept quiet. 

Until today.

And oooohhhhhh, friends, is this something relevant, indeed. You see, since the wedding planning has picked up, we really haven't made any major home changes. My focus has been on making wedding decorations, booking vendors and just trying not to stress out about the entire process. When you're planning on of the biggest events of your life, everything else tends to fall by the wayside.

But Eric, on the other hand, has been itching to get a move on a few projects around the house. You see, a couple of months ago I planted the seed of the idea in his head that our little home would feel so much bigger if we took down the wall that separates the living room from the French room (the one with the French doors). By opening up the space, we could easily fit more people into our home while entertaining, and things just wouldn't feel so cramped. 

 The wall with the French doors is the wall in question.

Here is a photo of the wall with the French doors closed on the day we closed on our house. This picture is totally wild to me. 

So we sat on the idea for awhile, thinking we wouldn't tackle it for a while. The wall coming down was all Eric would talk about for weeks. He just kept getting more obsessed.... until finally he contacted a contractor to come take a look and see if the wall could come down.

The contractor came. He confirmed the wall could be taken down. Eric's eyes lit up. The very next day, demolition began.

In order to attempt to keep costs down, we agreed that we would handle most of the demolition and Jamie, our contractor, would finish it up with his professional skillz. We started with taking down the French doors (which we will miss, because they're pretty, but we're keeping them to use in a major project we're tackling next year).

Then Eric began to take down the trim.

Did you notice the wall with my favorite gallery wall has to be taken down? While I adore that gallery wall, I know I'll love how open our home feels once it's down. Besides, I've got an idea about where I'll give it new life once renovation is complete.

Before the real demo began, things needed to be taped off. Two huge sheets of plastic were taped up on either side of the wall in an attempt to keep the rest of our house as clean and debris-free as possible.

Once everything was prepared, it was time for destruction. Let's just say after watching hours of HGTV home renovation shows, Eric was more than ready to get down to the demo work. With protective eyewear, a mask and gloves, it was time to get down to business. This guy was in heaven. 

(Special shout out to Neighbor of the Year, Andy, for coming over to help with the demo process. Though I didn't snap a photo of him, his help was incredibly appreciated... especially after we'd all just spent a late night out at karaoke the night before all this work went down)

The boys went to work for hours, sledgehammers flying. While I did my best to stay out of the mess, I'd pop in every now and then to check on the progress. It's amazing how much they were able to rip down in a matter of hours!

Eventually, all the wall studs were taken down and we were left with a huge, gaping hole, the air return and the larger column on the left. Them boys did good, they did.

So, as you can see above, there's still some clean-up work to be done. That's where our contractor, Jamie, comes in. Because we have taken care of most of the demo, we're getting a great deal on the rest of the renovation. Putting in a little of your own elbow grease definitely pays off!

Jamie will be removing the column you see above, removing the studs and beam from the ceiling, and filling in the missing floor boards so our hardwood floor looks relatively seamless after the repair.

I'll be sure to fill you in on the finished project once Jamie as worked his magic!

It's still incredible to me that we're actually getting a major project done just a couple of months before the wedding. While I'm still getting used to all the openness of the space, it's going to be invaluable as we have more gatherings at our house. While the design of our home allows for very little open space, this is going to help make what we've got feel bigger, easier to breathe in and help the flow of everything just a little bit more.

I can't wait to share the finished product with you! Stay tuned!