The bones of the kitchen in our house was always so great! The problem was there was no dining space. I honestly don’t know where the previous owners had a table. But, behind the kitchen was a bedroom that HAD to become the dining room (not formal dining-just regular kitchen dining).
One of the first things we did after we bought place was tear down the bulk of the wall between the kitchen and the bedroom. There was carpet in the bedroom that we pulled up to reveal the same hardwood floors that were throughout the rest of the house. It was immediately evident that this was the absolute right choice! We left a few studs in place since we believed the wall was load bearing and that wall remained this way for A YEAR!
Now, in March 2021, we finally got to finish removing the rest of the wall and putting up a barn beam in its place to bear the weight and support the structure. I absolutely adore the story behind the beam itself.
Rewind to a year ago when we first started tearing down the wall and planned to put up a beam. We purchased a super cool, hand-hewn, old barn beam from a guy around here that takes down old barns for a living. It was very long when we first saw it at the location of the barn tear-down. Unfortunately, though, when they cut the beam into the lengths we needed and to deliver we saw that the beam actually was not in good shape. The core of much of the beam was rotted out and there was a big split that worried us. We weren’t confident that the beam was sound enough to be supportive, since this isn’t just for looks. So, the beam sat and the project took a back seat.
Fast forward back to today. My parents live just 4 houses up the road and they have 40 acres of woods that run a farm field behind our property. Nestled on the front of their woods is a little, old barn with gorgeous rough sawn beams! The barn has started to fall apart and it cant be used as it is, so my mom and dad said we could have at it! These beams tell a much cooler story than a beam we just bought from another farm. They are from the family’s property and the woods we all enjoy regularly in many ways.
Check out the progress from start to finish…
The BEFORE