How to Survive a Kitchen Remodel

The two most important things you’ll need when deciding where to set up your temporary kitchen during a remodel are plumbing to wash dishes and an electrical outlet to plug in appliances. The laundry room or basement are often good options. Another is to take a corner of your living room or home office to make and store food, and use the sink or bathtub in the bathroom to wash your dishes.

Things to keep in mind when choosing the location for your temporary kitchen:

• Keep it away from the kitchen remodel where dust is flying around and people are constantly walking in and out.
   
• Concentrate it to one area. Don’t have it spread all around the house.
   
• Stay away from rooms with carpet. If anything spills, it will be more difficult to clean up.

It’s helpful to keep your routine as normal as possible in order to survive your kitchen remodel, so keeping items you use every day in your temporary kitchen will help you live through the chaos. Do you drink coffee every morning? Keep your coffee maker or Keurig handy. Do the kids go for the Pop-Tarts when they get home from school? Make sure the toaster oven is accessible.

Another important factor is knowing whether or not you’ll have access to your fridge and freezer. Consider moving your fridge to the garage or another room so you can continue to use it during the remodel. Being able to store cold things and freeze meals will make it easier to plan ahead, stick to your normal routine and save money on takeout.

Another kitchen renovation survival tip is to keep small appliances handy to make it easy to cook without a stove. Here is a list of suggested items to help you get through your remodel without having a fully-functioning kitchen:

• Coffee maker/Keurig
• Hot plate
• Toaster or toaster oven
• Slow cooker
• Electric griddle or skillet
• Electric kettle
• Microwave
• Mini fridge
• Chest freezer
• Tupperware
• Good knife
• Grilling tools

Planning meals around small appliances is a great way to prepare for your kitchen remodel. This will make it easy to keep your routine as normal as possible and help you save money. Here are some ideas to help you start planning:

• Slow cooker: This is the perfect excuse to try new slow cooker recipes, and if you use liners, you don’t have to worry about washing the pot.
   
• Microwave: It’s easy to pop in a microwaveable meal. You can also make meals before your remodel and freeze them, so all you have to do is put them in the microwave. Another option is to make enough food to have leftovers and reheat them throughout the week.
   
• Toaster oven: Believe it or not, you can put more in your toaster oven than toast and frozen foods. Try making pizza, roasting asparagus or even broiling salmon.
   
• Electric griddle or skillet: It’s basically a portable stove, so it’s easy to make eggs, sauté vegetables or cook chicken.
   
• Grill: If the weather is nice, break out your grill.

It’s inevitable. No matter how much you plan, there will be days when you just won’t be able to stand cooking with limited appliances, won’t want a microwaved meal or will be too burnt out on the remodel chaos to figure out how to make food. When you decide to get takeout, here’s what we suggest:

• Save some for later. Takeout orders often have enough for you to have at least two meals. It’s like creating your own buy-one-get-one deal.
   
• Try the grocery store. Most supermarkets have an entire prepared foods section and a salad bar.
   
• Find your favorites and rotate so you don’t get sick of them.
   
• Designate certain nights of the week for takeout.

On the plus side, there’s a chance you’ll get sick of ordering food which will make you that much more excited to finally use your beautiful new kitchen.

See if a friend or family member will let you use their kitchen to prep and/or cook meals. You can prep items in bulk so you don’t have to resort to chopping and marinating in your living room or laundry room. Then, all you have to do is throw it all in your slow cooker or skillet to cook.

If you have a friend nice enough to let you cook some meals in their kitchen, you can put them in the freezer and reheat at home. This will help you avoid eating out too often to save money. We recommend making a little extra to offer to the person who was nice enough to relinquish his or her kitchen and invite them over for a meal once your new kitchen is complete.