In this photo, you are looking at a kitchen nook that used to house a built in desk area that wasn't used much. It made more sense to add cabinets to the right wall and a beverage area to the back wall. When we opened this client's kitchen to their formal dining area, we lost a lot of wall space for cabinetry, but we gained even more by utilizing the old desk area.

When you are considering opening a wall between two rooms, it's best to have a structural engineer visit the space and tell you what framing changes will be required to open the wall. A big factor is how wide the opening will be. Different spans require different types of framing changes.

The other thing to consider is what you'll lose when you open the wall. Will it mean less cabinet space, less wall space to hang art, etc.