I bought a house this year taking advantage of the fed grant for first-time home-buyers. Here are some before/during pictures (I'm not to the "After" stage yet).
When you walk into the house you used to see into a hallway staring at the furnace closet. Now you see an entryway closet and there is just a foyer, no hallway anymore.
This is looking toward the kitchen at a door that goes to the car port and another (on the left) that goes to the laundry room. The wall on the right is where the double oven is. I tore out all the panelling, took out that full wall and moved it out another foot or so, creating a breakfast bar and expanding the kitchen to include the eating area on the left of the first picture. (I closed off the door on the right to the car part)
[Here is the same view -one before and one now with paint and cabinets]
Here is a view looking from other corner into the same room. I closed of the door going into the back yard on the far right and took out the window to make room for the wall going across the room and added the french doors.
[Here's what it looks like now with paint and cabinets and furniture]
Here's what it looked like from inside and outside the house to close off the door and window and make an opening for the French doors.
This is the living room looking at the wall to the dining room/kitchen. The door on the right goes down the hallway to the bedrooms. So to create more of a Great Room/open floor plan, I have cut 2 six-foot doorways into the dining room and taken out the door to the hallway. Right now the new cabinets are sitting in the living room waiting for the kitchen to be done.
Well, I'm getting close to finishing the new drywall in the kitchen and dining room and then will be able to paint. It will be nice to have things put in place soon. Stay tuned for the "after" pictures. And feel free to come visit!