operation: open concept

The first thing we did? Completely gutted the very dated kitchen and tore down the wall separating it from the rest of the house — because if we were doing this, we were doing it open concept, no question. Before we could touch anything structural, we brought in one of our good friends who happens to be an engineer to figure out exactly where the header beam needed to go to support the space above. Builders General showed up the very next day to deliver it, and we rallied a crew of 10 friends and family to help hoist it into place in the attic ceiling. (Yes, it took a village.) From there, it was weeks of steady progress — feathering in the new floors to match the old, insulation, drywall, recessed lighting, and a full electrical update, all coming together piece by piece.