More Kitchen Work - The Header Goes Up

When you take out a support wall, you have to put up a header in its place.

I honestly don't understand how these studs:

can be replaced with this header:

I'm just thankful it works, because it makes it possible for me to have this extra space in my kitchen! The refrigerators and stove are where the basement stairwell used to be.

This is by no means the final arrangement for the kitchen. We're going to be working on developing the big picture of where we're headed with this project, then as money becomes available, we'll fill it in piece by piece. And don't look at these pictures too closely, because I am in dire need of cleaning my appliances!