How to Survive a Kitchen Renovation
Washing mugs in the bath and getting hooked on Pop-Tarts… Here’s what to expect if you stay at home during construction
Becky Harris
15 December 2020
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
So you’ve decided to renovate your kitchen. Congratulations, and I cannot wait to see pictures of it when it’s done. But in the meantime, you need to know what to anticipate and how to handle it.
Home renovation pros and those who’ve been through a kitchen renovation agree that the best way to get through it is to flee and stay somewhere else. But this option isn’t always viable, so here’s what to expect if you have to live in your house through a renovation and how to prepare for it.
Home renovation pros and those who’ve been through a kitchen renovation agree that the best way to get through it is to flee and stay somewhere else. But this option isn’t always viable, so here’s what to expect if you have to live in your house through a renovation and how to prepare for it.
This story was inspired by this kitchen, which belongs to the author’s parents, Joy and Dan Harris. This was the state it was in during the middle of summer 2018.
Be fully aware of what’s going to happen
It’s going to be messy. It’s going to be noisy. For about a full week, you’re going to walk into a gutted kitchen expecting to turn on the coffee-maker and then realise that you’re barefoot in a construction zone. (It’s OK, it happens to the best of us.)
There will most likely be frustrating delays and unexpected change orders. Unable to make anything else for breakfast, you may get addicted to Pop-Tarts. And you will find yourself rinsing a dish in a small cloakroom basin or the bath.
Concentrate on letting go of control, because if you try to hold onto it, you’re toast. This would be a good time to take up yoga or learn to meditate. In addition to helping you find a calm place mentally, it’s a great excuse to get out of the house [restrictions permitted]. Find some good classes or apps and head to the park.
Be fully aware of what’s going to happen
It’s going to be messy. It’s going to be noisy. For about a full week, you’re going to walk into a gutted kitchen expecting to turn on the coffee-maker and then realise that you’re barefoot in a construction zone. (It’s OK, it happens to the best of us.)
There will most likely be frustrating delays and unexpected change orders. Unable to make anything else for breakfast, you may get addicted to Pop-Tarts. And you will find yourself rinsing a dish in a small cloakroom basin or the bath.
Concentrate on letting go of control, because if you try to hold onto it, you’re toast. This would be a good time to take up yoga or learn to meditate. In addition to helping you find a calm place mentally, it’s a great excuse to get out of the house [restrictions permitted]. Find some good classes or apps and head to the park.
Make preparations and get organised
Plan to do the following before demolition begins:
If possible, set up a mini kitchen in another room. Think about what equipment might come in handy for throwing together meals. Suggestions include:
For the rest of us, it’s more of a challenge. The mini kitchen can go just about anywhere in your house, but cleaning up is the catch. So think about how you’re going to handle a small-appliance cooking mess before you make it – this may involve the patio, a hose and a washing-up bowl.
I didn’t include measuring cups or mixing bowls among the things to leave out of the packing boxes (see below) because making pancakes or anything else that requires them is not an easily cleaned-up meal – rinsing out a batter bowl in the small basin in your lovely main bathroom is a bad idea.
Menu plan
Now that you know batter and other messy stuff is a no-go, get used to the reality of your new at-home menu. It will consist mostly of food you can toast indoors or barbecue outdoors, as well as soup, cereal and cold sandwiches. “You’re going to want to buy stuff that you can stick a spoon in,” says Dan Harris, who is living through a kitchen renovation and is my father.
Clean up immediately
Keep washing-up liquid, a washing-up brush and a tea towel at the sink you’ve designated as your clean-up site. The designated food bin should have a lid to contain odours and keep pests away. Scrape dishes into the bin, wash them, dry them and put them back in their designated spots.
Plan to do the following before demolition begins:
- Carve out time to pack up the kitchen properly or arrange for movers, since it’s a big task.
- Think about whether some sort of refrigeration will be possible. Perhaps there’s an old fridge in the garage you use for beer or a mini fridge elsewhere in the house? If not, it’s worth renting a small one or buying one second-hand. Just be sure there is a place you can plug it in outside the kitchen.
- Include takeaway food and [if permitted] restaurant expenses in your overall renovation budget.
- Change your attitude. Tell yourself and anyone who usually listens to you vent that you’re adopting a chic, healthy lifestyle that involves shopping daily for that night’s supper provisions. Note that these shopping trips will require some time management, but, on the plus side, they will get you out of the construction zone.
If possible, set up a mini kitchen in another room. Think about what equipment might come in handy for throwing together meals. Suggestions include:
- Coffee-maker
- Electric kettle
- Toaster
- Slow cooker
- Portable electric grill
- Electric frying pan (if you have a place to clean it)
- Mini fridge
For the rest of us, it’s more of a challenge. The mini kitchen can go just about anywhere in your house, but cleaning up is the catch. So think about how you’re going to handle a small-appliance cooking mess before you make it – this may involve the patio, a hose and a washing-up bowl.
I didn’t include measuring cups or mixing bowls among the things to leave out of the packing boxes (see below) because making pancakes or anything else that requires them is not an easily cleaned-up meal – rinsing out a batter bowl in the small basin in your lovely main bathroom is a bad idea.
Menu plan
Now that you know batter and other messy stuff is a no-go, get used to the reality of your new at-home menu. It will consist mostly of food you can toast indoors or barbecue outdoors, as well as soup, cereal and cold sandwiches. “You’re going to want to buy stuff that you can stick a spoon in,” says Dan Harris, who is living through a kitchen renovation and is my father.
Clean up immediately
Keep washing-up liquid, a washing-up brush and a tea towel at the sink you’ve designated as your clean-up site. The designated food bin should have a lid to contain odours and keep pests away. Scrape dishes into the bin, wash them, dry them and put them back in their designated spots.
Make a list of things to leave out
Figuring out what not to pack is key, because once you box up your stuff, you won’t be able to find anything you need until after the kitchen is completed and the boxes are unpacked.
Suggestions from people who’ve been through this recently:
A lot of people go strictly paper and plastic for dishes and cutlery, and if that’s what you need to do to get by, there’s no judgement here. But it’s bad for the environment, it’s expensive, and it gets old. You will need only one plate, bowl, mug, glass, fork, spoon, knife and place mat for each family member, because without a kitchen, clean-up will be immediate.
And no extras are required; please know that no one else wants to be a dinner guest at a house undergoing a kitchen renovation. It’s like the Seinfeld episode in which Kramer revealed that he had prepared all the food in the shower.
Keep paring down
While packing up the kitchen, keep a donation bin nearby. As you touch each item, ask yourself if it’s worth packing, storing, unpacking and then finding space for in the beautiful new kitchen.
When was the last time you used it? Does it, as Marie Kondo asks, spark joy? Where are you going to put it in the new kitchen? Can you imagine yourself using it in the new kitchen? The answers to these questions will let you know if you should wrap it up and pack it or pass it along to someone who needs it.
Figuring out what not to pack is key, because once you box up your stuff, you won’t be able to find anything you need until after the kitchen is completed and the boxes are unpacked.
Suggestions from people who’ve been through this recently:
- Barbecuing tools
- Carving knife, bread knife, paring knife
- Cutting board
- Two or three platters
- Coffee, tea, sweeteners, a few mugs
- Paper plates and napkins
- A set of cutlery and a dish-and-glass place setting for everyone in the household
- Washing-up liquid, washing-up brush or sponge, washing-up bowl, tea towels
- Salt, pepper, favourite spices
- Foil, clingfilm, a storage container or two
- A few serving spoons
- Tin opener, bottle opener, corkscrew
- Pet food and bowls
- Place mats and a tablecloth
- Large tray for carrying food from wherever it’s prepared to wherever it will be served
A lot of people go strictly paper and plastic for dishes and cutlery, and if that’s what you need to do to get by, there’s no judgement here. But it’s bad for the environment, it’s expensive, and it gets old. You will need only one plate, bowl, mug, glass, fork, spoon, knife and place mat for each family member, because without a kitchen, clean-up will be immediate.
And no extras are required; please know that no one else wants to be a dinner guest at a house undergoing a kitchen renovation. It’s like the Seinfeld episode in which Kramer revealed that he had prepared all the food in the shower.
Keep paring down
While packing up the kitchen, keep a donation bin nearby. As you touch each item, ask yourself if it’s worth packing, storing, unpacking and then finding space for in the beautiful new kitchen.
When was the last time you used it? Does it, as Marie Kondo asks, spark joy? Where are you going to put it in the new kitchen? Can you imagine yourself using it in the new kitchen? The answers to these questions will let you know if you should wrap it up and pack it or pass it along to someone who needs it.
Designate a room as a construction-free zone
In the film Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes’ advice for surviving a renovation is to “pick one room and make it yours”. This concept is key to renovation survival.
Designate one room as your sanity-saving space and be very clear with the contractor that it’s off-limits for cutting through and for storing tools, supplies and the things that have come out of the kitchen.
The best options are rooms that are not bedrooms and not directly adjacent to or above the kitchen. Workers will want to spread into the closest spaces when they need to stash the new cabinets or boxes of tiles, so if the room is kitchen-adjacent, be vigilant, because it will be a slippery slope. One day, it’s one box of tiles being stored there; the next day, it’s four major appliances.
Tempted to tackle your kitchen? Find kitchen designers on Houzz.
In the film Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes’ advice for surviving a renovation is to “pick one room and make it yours”. This concept is key to renovation survival.
Designate one room as your sanity-saving space and be very clear with the contractor that it’s off-limits for cutting through and for storing tools, supplies and the things that have come out of the kitchen.
The best options are rooms that are not bedrooms and not directly adjacent to or above the kitchen. Workers will want to spread into the closest spaces when they need to stash the new cabinets or boxes of tiles, so if the room is kitchen-adjacent, be vigilant, because it will be a slippery slope. One day, it’s one box of tiles being stored there; the next day, it’s four major appliances.
Tempted to tackle your kitchen? Find kitchen designers on Houzz.
Set up a table for eating
Whether you’ll be eating takeaways, using the barbecue, or becoming an expert with the slow cooker, eating off TV trays from the sofa or picnicking on the living room floor will get old pretty fast.
Some people use their patios during nice weather; others set up a card table or a drop-leaf table with a pretty tablecloth. Wherever it is, be vigilant about cleaning up crumbs after meals.
Whether you’ll be eating takeaways, using the barbecue, or becoming an expert with the slow cooker, eating off TV trays from the sofa or picnicking on the living room floor will get old pretty fast.
Some people use their patios during nice weather; others set up a card table or a drop-leaf table with a pretty tablecloth. Wherever it is, be vigilant about cleaning up crumbs after meals.
Get to grilling
Camping and living without a kitchen have a lot of things in common, including cooking under the stars. If you’ve ever wanted to improve upon your barbecuing skills, this is your big opportunity.
Research recipes and techniques, follow inspirational barbecuers on social media, and try cooking things you’ve never tried on the barbecue before. Keep the tools you’ll need out of the packed boxes, and the accompanying condiments in your makeshift kitchen.
Camping and living without a kitchen have a lot of things in common, including cooking under the stars. If you’ve ever wanted to improve upon your barbecuing skills, this is your big opportunity.
Research recipes and techniques, follow inspirational barbecuers on social media, and try cooking things you’ve never tried on the barbecue before. Keep the tools you’ll need out of the packed boxes, and the accompanying condiments in your makeshift kitchen.
Tell us…
Have you made it to the other side of a kitchen renovation? What helped you get through it? Which kitchen items were must-haves? Share your best tips with us in the Comments.
Have you made it to the other side of a kitchen renovation? What helped you get through it? Which kitchen items were must-haves? Share your best tips with us in the Comments.
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@HU-420637236 - in the last photo? Those stools are from Palacek.
I’m going through a kitchen renovation at the moment. We have a medium sized dining room so I have carefully planned out our makeshift kitchen. We’re using chairs and glass table from the garden for the kettle, toaster and tea prep. Got a designated tea and coffee station for the builders. Using our dishwasher as a work top by placing one of our cabinet doors on top and using one as a backsplash. We have a cheap IKEA hot stove unit and cooking on there. Fridge is in the dining room too.
Dining table is large and pushed this against the wall utilising underneath the table to store posts, pans, food. On top is the microwave in the corner and breakfast/ snack items. We’re lucky to have a closet underneath the stairs using our IKEA wire rack to place plates and food items including the emergency wine.
Unfortunately our bath is the sink using a washing up bowl to wash dishes and tipping excess into the toilet bowl. It’s not fun but I’m racking up those steps 🙌. We sealed the living room off with a plastic sheet that has a zipped door to isolate dust and to provide sanctuary when you need an area that’s not cluttered. So far though it’s going well and not as bad as I thought it would be though I do miss my oven.
this is really nice I am new in this field but I want to do some freelance projects in interior design as to start my passion job work. can you help???