Kitchen Views' Blog

Taking down a wall when there isn't enough room for an island is a great way to open up your kitchen space.

What options are available when there isn’t space for an island?

The kitchen featured in “The Gift,” one of Kitchen Views’ True Stories features, shows that one option is to open a wall into the adjoining room. Previously, a rounded wall separated the kitchen from the living room, which was fine in order to hide the old, outdated kitchen in an otherwise stylish Beacon Hill condo in Boston, MA. In this picture here, you can see the doorway to the old kitchen at right, and the hallway at left.

In this example, the outer wall of the existing kitchen is cut down to a height suitable for a countertop. A polished black granite countertop is then installed, providing the functionality of an island, but also serving as a room divider between the kitchen and the living room. However, the kitchen is now no longer isolated from the rest of the living space, and an open, beautiful kitchen emerges

Close-up of the new open kitchen featured in "The Gift"

This article is available online in the Summer 2009 Kitchen Views Magazine (PDF). An image gallery of the before and after are available on the “The Gift” profile page.