I agree with girlguides, it would be better to wait, replacing cabinets won't make things feel or look any better. Funny you climbing up into the roof, made me laugh thinking about it.

The cost of good skylights could be better spent on opening up a wall. I did think to perhaps move the kitchen into the playroom backing onto the carport, and putting sliding doors where the sink is opening to the alfresco.

With a three bedroom house it would be great have better functioning open space cheers

I wasn't too keen on getting all the spider webs all over me whilst I was up there. Gross!

Any idea on the cost involved in removing a bracing wall?

Was thinking instead of removing the wall completely, what about just opening it up?

Something similar to;

Leaving that small amount of wall tie the side to avoid having the other walls looking funny on their own.

In NSW you are allowed to take down one internal wall as an exempt development. So you are allowed to remove a door (even a wall).
When you said its non-loadbearing, do you know if its a gyprock wall? or a single brick? If its gyprock, I'd say go for it.
I like siriuskey's plan, it really opens up everything.

The walls can have a bit of nib wall, it won't look funny. The curved opening does look oldish and dated. You can add mouldings around it to make it more classical, or make it smaller opening but squared off for modern look

That could look really good with just a small return on the entrance side, you need to get a builder to look at and quote in your area

I'm in the process of squaring off the old archways at the moment.

The archway is very old fashioned in my opinion, and I'm not a fan of them at all.

If I was to open up the wall and leave the nib wall, and close the door off between the play room and kitchen, what would be the best idea for the kitchen layout in that case?

That looks good.

How much did that cost you?

Opening up the wall, I would go with siriuskey's plan.
RHS wall, close it off with see-through elements (square it off first) and line it up with something like this partition below. Add a built-in TV cabinet. Looks modern.

You can even sneak in a fireplace next to the TV like below. It will look great.

As for the playroom, convert it to study as per siriuskey's plan as well, but you can always use a sliding barn door, easier to install and it looks stunning.

With your kitchen, the island will be a new central feature, It will be lovely.

You have 3.7m long kitchen, and combine that with a 3m island bench, it rocks!

You might have less cabinets than a complete U shaped kitchen, but it will be bright and modern. (the below is from caesarstone's website) http://www.caesarstone.com.au/news/news-announcements/8-creative-kitchen-island-styles-for-your-home

removing the whole wall between living and kitchen leaves very little space for the fridge, stove and cooktop and living room furniture...removing just the wall between dining and living room could be a worthwhile compromise with the see through grill fro the entry hall

That's a good idea too.

Seeing it drawn out makes it easier to picture.

I love the idea of the sliding barn door. That must be the style these days because I'm seeing them everywhere.

I think using a combination of opening up the wall as oklouise suggests, and putting in a skylight as well would add a huge amount of natural light.

Also, changing out some of the steel sheet roofing to some clear stuff on the patio outside will help bring some light in from the back as well.

Have a look at this combo.

Sorry, my cad is being used for drafting. This is a quick photoshop layout.

You don't need to have laundry connected to kitchen, it can be accessed from any room in the house. This frees up the wall for full L shaped kitchen, Full height on LHS, Full bench on Window, and oversized Island. All streamlined with cooking triangle maintained. See how the whole house is now one single flow with kitchen now acts as the anchor of central activity, not tucked away in the corner.

I would open the wall as discussed as it makes for a bigger brighter space, if not you will still end up with a small closed off kitchen kitchen, even with using 700 bench tops you ill have 1300 space between cabinets which is too far. The open kitchen is more family friendly The small returnNib wall coming back off the passage wall will work far better and keep you in touch with the study play room. Barn doors make ordinary doors look boring cheers

There's a house near us that a builder bought and did a total reno, and can't be sold as everyone hates the floor plan but more importantly the kitchen. No one is prepared to spend the money to change it. be careful, correct open plan with an Island bench is what most look for next to a WIP.

Do you mean because of the distance between the benches? I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to kitchen layouts, obviously lol

Benchtop to island, the walkway, try to achieve minimum 900mm, for best result try to go closer to 1200mm. Larger than that will feel a bit too far for reach.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

Definelty gives me some things to think about.

A 3D view for you Nicole, which includes a doorway between the play room and laundry for easy access to the out door area for the kids to play. cheers

Are there any other options that wouldnt involve taking out walls, or am I just doomed with the current layout?

change the doorway between kitchen and playroom and you can have a new galley style kitchen without removing and major walls as i suggested last Saturday

Would there not be too much distance between the cabinets if I were to go for a galley style?

I worked out the distance would be just shy of 1500mm from cupboard door to cupboard door

Nicole, why don't you engage a professional kitchen designer to go through some real world options with you, and assist with clarifying your thinking about what you really want. Everybody in this forum is so helpful, but lost of opinions can muddy your thinking.

Houzz has over 110,000 professional kitchen designers listed on the pro page.

I have designed a few kitchens with 700mm deep base cabinetwork which look good, and work well, and in your case would reduce your galley space to 1300mm which is much more manageable if you are using both sides of the kitchen.

Best of luck,

Dr Retro

of Dr Retro House Calls.

Nicole you don't have to have 700 deep cabinets especially if you are trying to keep costs down and use Ikea or Bunnings flat pack cabinets which base cabinets come 600 deep, the cabinets get set 100 out from the wall and you have a 700 deep bench top. cheers

Thanks guys!

I've booked a kitchen designer to come in later this week.

I think all the different suggestions have left me unsure on which direction I want to go.

your original statement was to design a brighter more open kitchen and that should start with some sort of extra lighting or skylight to brighten the space then as already suggested the "gap" can be reduced with the deeper counter over base cabinets but remember when the kitchen has to also be used as a path between the laundry and the rest of the house a little extra width is useful so that one person can stand at the stove or sink while another can walk behind...there's no perfect kitchen, only the best compromise to suit the available space and budget... your cabinets look safe and functional so why not add some extra bright electric light globes and/or a new ceiling lights while you're searching for the best option

Velux sky light or take down that old dark awing which is making kitchen and interior dark,

You reckon removing the awning would bring in enough light?

I would think so, perhaps you should try some to see cheers

That was my plan this weekend. Will pull off a couple of sheets and see how it goes.

Hi Nicole, just a few more thoughts, take away the access from the kitchen into the laundry and you can have fridge and pantry along that wall. A servery through the kitchen window and Alfresco.

The laundry is now opens from the study so that you don't have to drag washing in and out of the laundry via the kitchen. the study will also give you somewhere to fold any laundry cheers

I like that idea!

Plus, moving the laundry door will help bring in some light into the laundry too.

It's darker than the kitchen at the moment.

Hi Nicole, another idea for you. You could open up kitchen more by taking out internal laundry/kitchen walls,replace laundry door with a glass door which would let more light in. Washing machine could be hidden behind folding doors or build bench over it if it's a front loader. Pantry, cupboards or open shelving along wall depending on what type of w/machine you have. Close up the doorway from the playroom to the kitchen which will give more bench or cupboard space. We have skylights in our house, they're brilliant plus led light bulbs. Maybe you could put either a longer window, glass splashback or a folding servery window for easy access to bbq area. Take off end cabinet to the dining room. If your archway in loungeroom is gyprock you could attempt it yourself, just knock out the arch bit it will come back to a square opening and re-plaster. I did it to my daughters. Family handyman's website is great because it shows you how to do all types of renovations. If your handy you could do some things yourself to save money, second hand doors and windows in great condition as well. Good luck with your kitchen reno.

I've torn one of the archways down already. There are two in the house. So I like to think I'm reasonably handy lol

I like the idea you have, but I don't think I'll be in this house long enough to justify spending that much money and effort on it.

I'm looking for a better kitchen layout that will help maximise the value of the property without spending an arm and a leg on it.

Paint, LED light bulbs, new kitchen door handles add a few plants and accessories and new glass door on the laundry all which you can do yourself

So I've taken just one roof sheet off and omg what a difference!!

I think I'll be doing g a trip to bunnings and replacing the majority of the sheeting with a heat resistant clear poly.

sometimes the simplest options are the least obvious, congratulation

I have heard that saying before.

Sure makes sense.

well done, do you actually need that area to be covered would it be better as an open pergola?

The wood is pretty rotted in some places (I'll be replacing the whole structure down the line) so I would probably leave it covered to try make it last longer.

I also have lounges and bbqs out there.

So after having a kitchen designer coming to my home, I've decide to go the route of removing the wall to create an open plan living area.

Is there anyone you guys can recommend in brisbane that I can contact?

Great news, Houzzers are very good at what they do, did your kitchen designer suggest anyone that might do the wall and kitchen cheers

No, they didn't suggest anyone.

At the time of the appointment I was still contemplating it, but after further thought, I realised it would add more value to the property than just remodelling the kitchen without removing the wall.

I also realised that when I first viewed the property before purchasing, the first thing I thought about was how the wall needed to go.

I had forgotten about that after living in it for a few months. Lol.

You won't be sorry, can't help you with a tradie, friends or Bunnings who deal with a lot cheers.

Any thoughts on that hi pages website for trades?

sorry no, just make sure they have the paper work, check with OP's that have work done in your area cheers

Can anyone tell me what licences I should check that a builder has to remove this wall?

I've been playing around with a pantry location.

Originally, I was going to move the pantry into the laundry with some custom shelving and cut the laundry space in half.

Now, Im thinking of cutting into the study area and building a wall there, and converting the new space into a long and narrow walk in pantry.

Either that or build half a wall and put built in shelving in the study.

Building the extra wall will reduce the need to cover in the door way that is currently in place and instead utilising it.

Thoughts?

p.s. this isnt too scale.

Hope this free e book helps you with your renovation -- tons of info for you to research the options available --

https://www.aok.net.au/ebook/