- Set up a temporary kitchen. Your refrigerator will likely be moved out of the kitchen and into a nearby room. It would make sense to set up a makeshift food prep area in the same room with a table, microwave, crockpot and small cupboard for dishes and dry goods. If you don’t have a cupboard, use a plastic tote box with a lid to keep construction dust off the dishes and food.
- Choose the best place for washing dishes. A utility sink, the bathroom sink, or even using a wash basin in the bathtub are all possibilities. It may not seem too convenient but just remember: short term inconvenience will be long forgotten once your beautiful and functional kitchen is completed. That being said, the environment will forgive you if you use paper plates and recycle them for a couple of weeks.
- Stock up on easy to prepare foods. Cereal, bread, peanut butter, meal bars, noodle cups, canned soup, cheese, plus raw fruit and vegetables all make quick and easy snacks and meals with very little clean-up. Frozen or prepared meals are just fine, don’t sweat it.
- Keep meals simple. Meals that are easy to prepare and clean up are really what you’re aiming for here. Create a meal plan using recipes that can simply be heated up in the microwave or that can cook in the crockpot while you are out at work during the day since you most likely won’t have access to your oven or stovetop.
- Accept invitations. Say yes to everyone who invites you over for a meal! Frankly, you might even want to invite yourself over for the occasional meal with family or friends.
- Dine out. Inevitably, there will be days when there is drywall dust in the air and it just won’t make sense to be eating dinner at home. Leave a little room in the budget to eat out and enjoy sitting down for a tasty meal that someone else gets to make and clean up.
Tips For Surviving a Kitchen Renovation
Gutting and remodeling a kitchen is a big undertaking. For the sake of this blog, we’ll assume you’ve already worked with a kitchen designer to choose the layout, cabinetry, countertops, finishes, and so much more. As the start date of your home remodeling looms near, you’ll need to plan out how you are going to survive without a kitchen for a few weeks.
