This Minneapolis family wanted to open up their kitchen wall so that they could look out into their beautiful living room. They also wanted to incorporate a small dishwasher, and add counter space with stools in the dining area. In the basement, they needed a room that they could use as a play-room during the day, and a theater at night.
For the kitchen, we knocked down the wall and removed the drywall over the chimney to find beautiful brick behind it! We installed a new cabinet, sink, and a custom butcher-block countertop that hangs over into the dining area for stools to fit under. The countertop even has a hole in the top for access to a compost container underneath. We expanded the floor space in the kitchen by about 6 inches, but because of the open wall the space appears to be even larger. The openness adds light and air to the dining and living room.
In the basement we added an egress window, finished the stairs, created a fully finished playroom/movie room, and made a closet under the stairs with a mouse-hole opening! We even put the mouse-hole light switch at child height, while the adults have dimmable lights for theater ambiance.