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Keith Bynum's Pro Tip For Expanding A Small Kitchen On A Tight Budget
By KRISTY BOWEN
On an episode of HGTV’s “Bargain Block”, hosts Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas remodel a small home’s enclosed kitchen. Bynum’s cost-saving move was to only remove half the wall.
Instead of demoing an entire wall, the hosts created a peninsula straddling the kitchen and living room, which opened up the space while also creating a sense of different rooms.
Kitchen walls, beyond being load-bearing, can provide a hidden space for plumbing and electricity. A full-scale demo would require these to be relocated, adding time and labor.
By leaving half the wall, Bynum was able to keep these elements intact while adding an extra counter and seating space and keeping the storage benefit of lower cabinets.
In homes where removing a load-bearing wall isn’t an option, opening up the wall and leaving the main supports as columns built into a peninsula can save money.