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Could your kitchen benefit from the removal of one or more walls? If you’re not sure, you can learn more about how this one change could reinvigorate the kitchen and some adjacent rooms as you read below. Here are a few of the positive changes the removal of a wall could bring to this important room of the home.

1. Giving the Kitchen More Space

The number one reason many homeowners open up kitchen walls is to allow the kitchen to grow. Many older homes were designed with many small, compartmentalized rooms that were easier to heat, cool, and decorate. But the modern kitchen can easily feel extremely limited by this outdated, closed-off structure.

Most kitchen owners would like to make their kitchen larger. They may want more room so that more than one person can work. They also want more storage. They want multiple appliances or they want more counter space. If you fall into this category, the only way to expand often is to remove a wall that stands in your way.

2. Lighting Up the Kitchen

Kitchen activities benefit from plenty of natural and artificial lighting. After all, this is a room where delicate and sometimes dangerous work happens all the time. Good lighting is essential – and in a variety of means, including task lighting, sunlight, and overhead lighting.

Unfortunately, walls impede this lighting in several ways. First, they block sources of natural light from other rooms, windows, and doors and limit what is available. Second, they don’t allow light to naturally reflect off surfaces throughout the kitchen. Finally, they can make artificial lighting less effective by blocking its natural flow from available fixtures.

3. Giving You Layout Options

Do you long to change the layout of your kitchen to make it work better? But do permanent walls limit the changes you can make? If so, you’re not alone with this problem.

If you, like many, have a galley kitchen, for instance, you may have enough square footage but in a very inefficient layout. And there’s little you can do to create a more efficient style without removing obstructing walls. Similarly, a homeowner who would like to add a peninsula may not have an empty side to work with. Or one who wants to install a breakfast area may need to open up one end to allow it.

4. Introducing Kitchen Flexibility

Flexible kitchen arrangements are more popular as families and their needs or interests change. Flexible designs intentionally make it easy for homeowners to change the way they use the kitchen, such as by including a moveable island that can be pushed outward to free up kitchen space or moved inward to facilitate food prep. But you can’t do this if walls are in the way.

Similarly, many kitchen owners want to be able to add mobile cart storage or simply be able to decide if they want the kitchen closed or open while they’re entertaining. Or you may need the ability to expand dining seating both inside the kitchen and in adjacent dining or living areas. If so, an open floor plan makes this easy and comfortable for all.

Flexibility in your cooking and entertainment options is most easily achieved when you don’t have to work around permanent kitchen walls. You create a blank canvas for yourself.

5. Making the House Safer

How could the removal of a kitchen wall make everyone safer? Consider a parent with small children running around. Can you keep an eye on your kids both indoors and outside if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen? Or do your walls block the views between parents and kids? What about children running into and through the kitchen? Small, closed-off kitchens mean more chances for conflict and accidents.

Fewer barriers to sound and visual access mean you can keep better watch over what goes on in your home. You know which curious guests are in the kitchen while appliances are on. If working in the kitchen, you know what’s going on in the living room or family area. And you can go about your work while workers are in your home because you have a better view of any potential negligence or theft.

Where to Start

If you think that the removal of a wall could help your kitchen in one or more of these important ways, start by meeting with an experienced wall removal specialist. Because many kitchen walls are load-bearing, the homeowner cannot simply take them down as they would non-load-bearing walls. What you need is a skilled service to ensure that the removal is safely and thoroughly done.

Load Bearing Wall Pros can help. We have already assisted Texas homeowners with the removal of nearly 7,000 walls. Our team has the skills and training to help you achieve your kitchen goals no matter what walls need to be taken down to do so. Call today to schedule a consultation.