Julie Morgenstern's Cook Nook

O, The Oprah Magazine | From the Spring 2007 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

After knocking down a wall, Julie Morgenstern's kitchen was open.

So she tore down the kitchen's outer wall to create a seamless flow between the dining room and her new cooking space.

This one big construction project in the renovation blurred the boundary between the kitchen and the dining room, yielding the inviting space Julie had yearned for. "Now when I entertain, I can talk to my friends while I'm cooking for them," she says.