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Construction/Decorating Opinions Wanted Please!


Arches, Clean Opening, Or something else?  

  1. 1. Arches, Clean Opening, Or something else?

    • Arches
      9
    • Clear Opening
      28
    • Other
      0


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We decided to open up the wall that divides our current living room and dining room/kitchen area to let more light in and open it up more. We were planning to have just a half wall, but then we decided we might keep the bulk head because it is repeated elsewhere in the house and it stays in keeping with the doorway. But then we thought maybe we should just rip that whole deal out and make the bulk head shorter. It is definitely not a load bearing wall, even though it kind of looks like it is from the picture. The living room is sunken, and the metal strap visible in the picture is just there for...? (it was explained to me, but I don't really understand), but we will keep some sort of ceiling support, anyway. Now, what we can't decide is whether the opening should be finished with arches (maybe 2? 3?), or a clean opening. And that's where I would like your opinion. Dh thinks arching would "date" it, I think arches are classic. I also thinking making the arches will be a pain, and maybe not worth the effort.

 

I should also explain that in the first picture, I am standing in the corner of my kitchen. The dining room and kitchen will eventually be the entire kitchen, and the room behind the kitchen (not visible) will be the dining room. If we put arches in the opening, we would repeat the style for the entry to the future dining room when that happens. The current living room will be my library then, and we will have to put some sort of 1/2 wall to the left where the front entry way is to separate it - we might want to add matching archways there as well. But that's a few years into the future, and we have time to think about how to do that.

 

If you choose arches, how many, do you think? The opening is roughly 10 ft long. If you choose other, please share your ideas!

 

Thanks! (poll coming)

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I love the look of arches. They are definitely a little extra work, but you can find products that make it easier to put them in. (Check out FineHomebuilding.com.)

 

My vote is for one arch. I think it would be a good idea to do both walls -- the one between your future dining room/kitchen and the one between your kitchen/future library. Try to align their centers and make them the same size. Do you have arches anywhere else in your house, btw?

 

Another thing to think about is the view beyond the arches. IOW, what will these new openings be framing? Also, if you put in a large arch between your future kitchen/living room, will you have enough wall space for bookcases?

 

What are you going to do with the wall in your dining room that has the clock on it? Is that coming out, too?

 

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My vote is for one arch. I think it would be a good idea to do both walls -- the one between your future dining room/kitchen and the one between your kitchen/future library. Try to align their centers and make them the same size. Do you have arches anywhere else in your house, btw?

 

Another thing to think about is the view beyond the arches. IOW, what will these new openings be framing? Also, if you put in a large arch between your future kitchen/living room, will you have enough wall space for bookcases?

 

What are you going to do with the wall in your dining room that has the clock on it? Is that coming out, too?

 

 

 

There are no arches anywhere else (yet). We could do the current doorway to the lvg room and then one in the opening - that could be cool. And when we do the kit/dining room switch in a few years, the opening could easily match the new one we are doing now, but of course it would be a really wide doorway, which is fine with me; the room that will eventually be the dining room will have a view to the back yard. The view in the front is, well, the living room, lol. It was sooo dark due to lack of windows in the dining room and that's originally why we did it. But, when the lvg room becomes my library, it will be a view of all my beautiful books, a couple chairs, the windows, and possibly a fire place.

 

Oh, and the wall that the clock is on, as well as that ridiculous hutch, is all coming out. My new kitchen will be one giant room (yahoo!) with the island where that bank of cupboards presently are. The current cupboards will head downstairs for a lower level kitchen and will be replaced upstairs with something much lighter (talk about being "dated"! I hate how dark they are.)

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Have you seen any of the books by architect Sarah Susanka? She writes more about small homes, but her suggestions could be really helpful when trying to visualize the sort of changes you're making.

 

Anyway, I'm trying to imagine your kitchen, since that will be your middle, go-between room. If it's going to have two big openings, which I think could be very pretty, your cupboards and appliances would have to be mostly on the side walls, right? The problem with that arrangement, is that the flow through the kitchen could interrupt your major work triangle (fridge, sink, stove), but if the dining room is not used as a main pathway, that could be okay.

 

Another option is to put in an arched *window* instead of a full opening between the kitchen/future dining room. I'd have a wall come up from the counter about a foot, so you could hide kitchen clutter. Then you could have some appliances or base cabinets there and your light and view. I'd suppose you'd have to enter somewhere behind the wall that has the clock? This would flow with the front door (I think?) entrance, though. Just something to consider!

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Anyway, I'm trying to imagine your kitchen, since that will be your middle, go-between room. If it's going to have two big openings, which I think could be very pretty, your cupboards and appliances would have to be mostly on the side walls, right? The problem with that arrangement, is that the flow through the kitchen could interrupt your major work triangle (fridge, sink, stove), but if the dining room is not used as a main pathway, that could be okay.

 

 

 

There is a bank of cupboards that separates the kitchen from the dining room (it's hard to see in the picture, but it is even with the wall with the clock). That would be the island. Dh wants to keep the sink in the same spot, which is on the back wall (facing the would-be dining room), so he doesn't have to move the plumbing, and then the cupboards/counters will wrap around the external wall side. We may or may not do that. But in that case, the dishwasher would be next to the sink. The stove top might be in the middle island with a double oven on one of the side walls with the fridge nearby. I'm not quite sure how that layout will end up, but that's the general idea.

 

The opening to the dining room at that time will be at least double wide to very wide so I can see out to the backyard from my kitchen (where I spend 90% of my waking hrs :tongue_smilie:).

 

Does that make sense? I see it in my head (and even on paper), but it's hard to explain.

 

Thanks for the book suggestion, too. We are heading to the library this aft and I'm going to look for it there.

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I didn't vote. It is hard to make a decision without knowing the style of the house. If it is older (pre 1960's) or very traditional, I would go with arches. If it is post 1960 or contemporary I would go with straight lines. I think that if you go with arches, that same shape should be repeated somewhere else in the house, and I don't mean arches in a different wall, I mean over a door way, and arched window, etc. I would not put arches in the wall if the doorway to the rooms that the arches divide is squared off.

 

Does any of that make sense??? :tongue_smilie:

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I didn't vote. It is hard to make a decision without knowing the style of the house. If it is older (pre 1960's) or very traditional, I would go with arches. If it is post 1960 or contemporary I would go with straight lines. I think that if you go with arches, that same shape should be repeated somewhere else in the house, and I don't mean arches in a different wall, I mean over a door way, and arched window, etc. I would not put arches in the wall if the doorway to the rooms that the arches divide is squared off.

 

Does any of that make sense??? :tongue_smilie:

 

Makes sense to me! And I see a good point here, too. The house was built in about '79 - hence the sunken living room (and all the brown shag carpeting we removed several years ago, along with the carpeting in the...bathroom :001_huh:). All of it is very angular. There is another bulkhead that runs along the hallway (and the basement stairwell). The windows are squared, the doorways, etc. So, there are no arches anywhere. However, over the next few years, we'll be doing a complete overhaul of the joint. BUT, do I want the added work and expense of bringing that design element and strategically placing it throughout the house? Good point. I might - because I love the look of arches in a house like this. But the whole shazam is going to be a lot of work, and that would definitely make more work in the long run.

 

Hmmmm....

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We remodeled our dining room, living room & kitchen. The living room shares a wall with the dining room and a different wall with the kitchen. We tore out the wall between dining room & living room and put in an arch way. We put a matching archway between the livingroom & kitchen. I really like it. I vote arches.

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Makes sense to me! And I see a good point here, too. The house was built in about '79 - hence the sunken living room (and all the brown shag carpeting we removed several years ago, along with the carpeting in the...bathroom :001_huh:). All of it is very angular. There is another bulkhead that runs along the hallway (and the basement stairwell). The windows are squared, the doorways, etc. So, there are no arches anywhere. However, over the next few years, we'll be doing a complete overhaul of the joint. BUT, do I want the added work and expense of bringing that design element and strategically placing it throughout the house? Good point. I might - because I love the look of arches in a house like this. But the whole shazam is going to be a lot of work, and that would definitely make more work in the long run.

 

Hmmmm....

 

I love archways and details like that, but live in a totally angular and straight lined house. But, in this house, there is no hope of ever getting arches to "fit" given that the exterior is contemporary.

 

I bet it will look awesome no matter what you choose to do.

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IMG_3213.jpg

 

We just had a single door opening between the old galley kitchen..so we opened up the entire wall, it was a 16' span...even though ours was not a load bearing wall we still had to replace it with an LVL beam (very heavy and a bit more expensive...I think we paid $400 just for the beam) I would go against the arches, one, it's 3x the cost of a simple frame job and if it's done poorly you suffer many structural cracks that are a pain...if you put nice molding on your opening, it really sets off the rooms well..

 

HTH!

Tara

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I didn't vote. It is hard to make a decision without knowing the style of the house. If it is older (pre 1960's) or very traditional, I would go with arches. If it is post 1960 or contemporary I would go with straight lines. I think that if you go with arches, that same shape should be repeated somewhere else in the house, and I don't mean arches in a different wall, I mean over a door way, and arched window, etc. I would not put arches in the wall if the doorway to the rooms that the arches divide is squared off.

 

Does any of that make sense??? :tongue_smilie:

 

I love archways and details like that, but live in a totally angular and straight lined house. But, in this house, there is no hope of ever getting arches to "fit" given that the exterior is contemporary.

 

I bet it will look awesome no matter what you choose to do.

 

:iagree: I love arches myself, but I think it is best to stay with the design of the house. Unless you want to start a series of design changes.

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IMG_3213.jpg

 

We just had a single door opening between the old galley kitchen..so we opened up the entire wall, it was a 16' span...even though ours was not a load bearing wall we still had to replace it with an LVL beam (very heavy and a bit more expensive...I think we paid $400 just for the beam) I would go against the arches, one, it's 3x the cost of a simple frame job and if it's done poorly you suffer many structural cracks that are a pain...if you put nice molding on your opening, it really sets off the rooms well..

 

HTH!

Tara

 

 

Wow! That turned out beautifully! Thanks for sharing!

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I visited a model house once that had 3 arches between the living room/entryway and the family room in the back of the house. I didn't like the effect. It looked cluttered.

 

I have several doorways in my house that are arches, and an arched art niche in my entryway. I love arches. But not multiple cutouts in a wall.

 

I think a smaller, arched pass-trough between a kitchen and dining room would look lovely, but your space is too big for that.

 

I'll add my vote to keeping the bulkhead.

Edited by bonniebeth4
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