After 330 days of living in darkness, daylight finally pours into our kitchen—and it feels incredible.

The whole job took our licensed contractor Steve and his excellent assistant Tara nearly seven hours (we’ll share more about permits, why we hired pros, and how we found them in a separate post). While they worked, John, Clara, and Burger stayed at his sister’s house to avoid the chaos; I stayed home to answer questions, hand out snacks, and watch. They were fantastic, and the result—still raw but thrilling—has us giddy.

Here’s a straightforward recap of how the opening went. This isn’t a how-to or a DIY tutorial—we left the heavy work to professionals.

First, Steve and Tara used a power saw to carefully cut the full doorway opening into the kitchen paneling. Our first surprise: there wasn’t drywall or plaster behind the paneling—just studs. Good thing we had painted the paneling months ago instead of tearing it down looking for drywall.

Opening the wall also revealed what an electrical wire was doing inside, so we had our electrician on call and ready to fix it while the wall was exposed.

On the other side, they cut through two layers of drywall. When that section came out, light streamed in and I pretty much lost my mind—in the best way possible.

We’d previously confirmed with an HVAC pro that removing the old vents wouldn’t affect the system. With his okay, John went into the crawl space to disconnect and cap the vents so the exposed vents in the wall are no longer connected. We’d done the same thing in our first house during its kitchen remodel.

To support the new opening, Steve and Tara built two temporary walls while they installed and reinforced a robust wooden header. They worked on securing the header from both above and below in the crawl space. From inside the kitchen, peering through the planks of wood to see grass, leaves, and sunlight felt almost surreal—like a small tropical canopy outside our window.

You can see the large wooden header and the patch of drywall that will need work above the doorway. They chose to do the header work from the dining-room side because drywall is easier to patch for a seamless finish than damaged wood paneling. Smart move.

They also framed a half-wall for the new peninsula to rest against before wrapping up for the day. As they drove away, we just stood there marveling at the transformation.

My favorite view now is the magnolia out front acting like a giant canopy with light streaming around it. The kitchen that used to feel cavernous and dark now basks in daylight. I’m a little delirious with joy—there’s actual sunlight on our fireplace for the first time since we moved in.

One practical detail: an electrical outlet was reinstalled near the right side of the half-wall. Once the peninsula is installed, most of that wall will be hidden, but a foot of wall space will remain visible—perfect for a convenient outlet for laptops or phone chargers.

Steve and Tara finished their portion of the work, and we paid them for a job well done. Now the remaining tasks fall to us:

• Drywall, mud, and sand the half-wall and the area above the doorway on the dining-room side where the header work was done.
• Add a door jamb, construct a wooden ledge over the half-wall, and install trim.
• Prime and paint the walls, jamb, baseboards, and trim.

Even now, with unfinished edges, we can clearly picture the finished space: two or three pendant lights over the peninsula, a large chandelier above the dining table, painted cabinets, stainless appliances, rich mocha cork flooring, and a cozy chair by the fire. The vision is there; the light makes it all feel possible.

The half-wall looks a bit odd without the peninsula behind it, so we’re excited for that next step. We’re already working on drywall and expect to share more updates soon. As a reminder, our plan is to complete the kitchen overhaul over the next few months—removing and selling the old counters, installing new counters, creating or sourcing matching cabinet doors for the new peninsula cabinetry, priming and painting cabinets, tiling a full-wall backsplash, building and installing a range hood, adding open shelving, and laying cork flooring ourselves.

There’s plenty left to do, but we love a renovation challenge—and most of all, we love light. Oh happy day.