For at least ten years after I bought my house, I’d stand at the kitchen sink staring at the opposite wall, wishing I could see through it and out to the living room window. Sitting at dinner one night, I mentioned to the Great Hunter that I’d really like to take out part of the wall to open the kitchen to the living room. I think this was before the surge of “open” floor plans, but that wasn’t my intention; I only wanted to see outside. It didn’t take long, and he made it happen.

As soon as he broke through the wall, I knew it was exactly what I wanted. However, the drawback was that opening this wall limited wall space and my ability to arrange the living room furniture. Only one wall did not have a window or doorway, so to make things work, the couch went below the window, and that’s where it’s stayed. Then I bought the piano.

I was scrolling through Facebook (imagine that) a couple of weeks ago and I saw this advertisement. It was like a bomb went off in my head and I thought, “Oh my gosh, I can do this!” The wheels started turning and as soon as we got back from Virginia, I set the plan in motion.

I dragged the living room rug to the driveway to shampoo it and swapped the electric fireplace/tv stand for the piano, the piano for the glass-front cabinet and the chair to the hallway wall. Then, of course, I had to paint the shelving units.

It’s still a work in progress. I can’t believe how much bigger the room looks. I love it.