Hello. I'm new to the forum and hope that you can help my husband and I. We just bought a 1990 DW on a permanent foundation and want to open up the kitchen to the LR area. Our LR, Dining area and kitchen are in a U pattern.

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kit dining area :

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entrance living room :

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We currently have in the middle wall (the wall in the center of the DW - if I'm not mistaken, this is a load-bearing wall) a coat closet and a bookcase.

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kit dining area :

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entrance living room :

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We want to take down the middle wall and convert it into a breakfast bar. We plan on putting a post at the end of the breakfast bar for support. What we want to know is, has anyone done this before, and if you have any tips.

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break. bar post

We also have a wood-burning fireplace in the corner of the LR that we would like to convert to gas. It has an unsightly paneling above the mantle that goes to the ceiling that we want to either cover or remove.We also want to remove the faux stone surround, and replace with tile. Also, the base needs to be lowered to the floor, because it juts out into the room too far.

Any help/tips would be appreciated.