Surviving Your Kitchen Remodel

I always tell my clients to try and over prepare themselves for the kitchen renovation.  The kitchen is the heart of the home even for those that typically cook take-out.  No matter how quick the renovation is complete, it is a challenge to make do without a kitchen.  I recommend to my clients to setup a temporary kitchen.  This might be in their insulated garage, dining room, or even an unused (and cleaned) bathroom.  Ideally it will be near a location where you can hook up your fridge. 

A microwave, toaster, coffee pot and disposable serving ware and silverware are a minimum in your temporary kitchen.  If you have space, a crock-pot can be a great way to get more creative with your meals in the temporary kitchen.  There are even slow-cooker bags you can purchase so there is even less mess for you to clean up.

When I was remodeling our kitchen, we setup a temporary kitchen in our unused upstairs bathroom and used one of the studies as a dining area.  We had a toaster which was great for frozen waffles in the morning and the microwave was a good alternative to make instant oatmeal.  We kept all of the dry-goods and paper goods in the bathtub.  Lunches were while we were out, and dinner was a mix of microwavable items, take-out and breakfast round two.

The key to surviving your kitchen being out of commission is to be creative, inventive and not afraid to laugh and have fun with the situation.  The best part of it all is to have some funny stories of survival and a fantastic new kitchen.