Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Those countertop ice makers haven't come down in price, that I've seen.  That's supposed to happen once a product has been out for a few years, right?

Updates on Kitchen Fest 2026.

We had IKEA come out. I was skeptical but they put on a very professional presentation. They took all measurements and loaded it into a program where they (and I) could change the design and fixtures and whatnot. Couple that with no pressure at all, and I was all in. However, they just do the install. Demo, flooring, wiring, and other remodel type stuff is on us. He did say the guys doing the install could contract separately, but to date they haven't responded to us. So...

Onto a more traditional remodel company. I wasn't home but the wife said he was good and talked a lot about places to save money, which I like. He took measurements and said he would get back to us with a quote, so we shall see.

The big things I want are to move the cooktop onto the counter towards the living room, install a wall oven, and install ventilation that runs out of the house. However, if we go with the remodel, we may add onto that. Our house is from the 70's and so basically has the living room, then kitchen, then dining room layout. We could take out the partial wall between the living room and kitchen, since it seems pointless. We could also take out the wall between the kitchen and dining room and extend the kitchen there. That seems like a much bigger project, so we'll see how the pricing comes out.

And you're going to have that done during CFB Season???

Heh probably! Luckily there are other areas of the house I can watch football

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the open floorplan. We spend so much time in the kitchen that when entertaining, having a space that flows together is ideal. Plus, then I could see the TV when I'm cooking with my wife but sports are on...

Obviously I don't know your budget, or what it would cost, but I'd think about it from the standpoint that you're ripping your house apart, probably for at least a month or more. That's a massive disruption. If you don't do the more major work now, you'll probably never revisit it and do it later, right? So I'd try to think about whether it's worth skimping now if you're going to regret it forever...

What's the worst that can happen? You retire 11 years from now at age 58 instead of 10 years from now at 57?

Yeah, I've definitely thought about that. Getting rid of the living room wall feels like a no brainer. Opening up the other wall would be cool, but may be way more expensive. Plus my wife uses that room for her home office now, so there is some upside in keeping it segregated, especially with my plan to keep her working.

Make sure you evaluate any walls you're taking down to make sure they aren't structural. I've seen disasters happen.

We redid our kitchen in Cincy about 12 years ago.  I was reading at the time that "stainless was on its way out", so we talked about doing something other than stainless, but finally decided it was good enough.  It's still pretty extant.  Stuff is always "on the way out" when it isn't.  There is a reason "open concept" is a thing.

My wife watches these shows where some couple is looking for a place and they nearly always want "OC".  

Kinda funny, our current kitchen originally was pretty closed off, a galley design but with two entrances, and whoever lived here had an E shaped hole cut in the wall between the stove and dining area.  It works reasonably well, I've seen the other unit like ours which was never updated and the kitchen is pretty closed.  This building was built in 1988 so some facets can be dated, much has been upgraded around.

In 30 years, everyone will want closed-off kitchens and living rooms again.

No.