Editor’s Note: In our “Anatomy of a Lafayette CA Remodel” blog post series, Kelly and Ned Wood are sharing lessons learned as they transform a newly purchased fixer-upper into their family home. This is the third article in the series. If you are new to the series and want to know more about it, start by clicking here.

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Immediate Impact of Getting Rid of Light Barriers

If you’re a fan of HGTV home shows, you’re going to enjoy this mid-project reveal of the Wood family’s living room and kitchen. It’s a quick study in the power of taking walls away to let something critical in – light – and how doing that can make a space seem a lot bigger even if you don’t change the footprint.

“Before” when you walked through the front door, your eyes focused on the boxed-in corner kitchen. The wall to the left of the kitchen is shared with a small bathroom with a second exterior door. Both were added by the previous owner when the carport was enclosed to expand the home’s living space. Previously, the house had only one bathroom and the kitchen was located where the master bedroom is now.

It’s hard to know exactly what that homeowner felt about that original remodel but one can imagine that adding a bedroom and a second bathroom was probably a joyous occasion and enough of a distraction that little thought was given to what concerned the Woods’ about the configuration when they bought the house — limited natural light.

The view out the backyard from the big window over the kitchen sink was — and is still — really pretty but you’d never know it from the rest of the room because the walls and cabinets blocked it out.

When Kelly and Ned Wood bought their Reliez Valley Road fixer-upper this spring, they made a list of what changes were critical now and what could wait. The need for light in this main room pushed the kitchen to the must-do list. To make additional wall space for kitchen storage and appliances, the bathroom had to go. Instead, the Woods plumbed two new bathrooms nearer the children’s bedrooms, one of which is close enough to the main area to double as a guest bath as needed.

We’ll post final pictures once the remodel is complete, but we couldn’t resist sharing a picture of the immediate impact on light and space of opening up the kitchen and bathroom space.

The big picture window is the same in all pictures. Now, though, you can see it and the view of not just the backyard but also the foliage along the hillside on the other side of the creek. More to the point — light can now bathe the rest of the room as well. This will be true even once the new cabinets and appliances are placed along the walls. To maximize the space, no kitchen island is planned.

Remodel Tip:

It’s a rare home for sale that’s 100% perfect for its next homeowner. Most of us tour properties for sale and play some version of “We Could,” as we list things that we might want like to change to make the home feel more our own. We could paint. We could add molding. We could change the kitchen counters. Does this sound familiar?

The lesson we can take from the Woods’ experience? While we’re thinking about these options, it’s good to consider what happens when you take something out.

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Articles in the Anatomy of a Remodel Series:
Anatomy of a Lafayette Remodel: Matching Home to Budget, Lifestyle & Business Needs (Remodel Series #1)
Flooring Design Assumptions versus Concrete Realities (Remodel Series #2)
Taking Something Out to Let Light In (Remodel Series #3)
Landscape Design: Think Ahead Even If You’re Implementing in Phases (Remodel Series #4)