Having your kitchen renovated is a wonderful way to transform the space into something that you’ve always dreamed of, but it does require a bit of planning and organization. While your chosen construction company can be immensely helpful in the planning stages, you will still need to have your own ideas as to what you want from your new kitchen, and think about a few other things such as your budget and where you’re going to eat for the next few weeks while work is underway. The latter is something that’s often overlooked, but is one of the most important factors for being able to survive a kitchen renovation:
Eating and cooking – creating a temporary kitchen in your home
The contractors will need full access to the kitchen space while they carry out their work, and you will likely not be able to use the facilities for at least a month, depending on the size and extent of your plans for the new kitchen. With this in mind, you’ll need to think about where you’re going to cook and eat for the duration of the project, and whether you’ll be able to create a small kitchen elsewhere in your home, or if you’ll need to dine out.
Eating out is all well and good, and many families do it regularly, but doing it every single day can get expensive, especially if you have a large family. It might be that you have a large enough home to be able to cook and eat in another space for a few weeks, or perhaps you can move in with a friend or family member until the work has been completed. Either way, you’ll need to come up with a solution before work begins, and if you can’t, you may need to postpone the project.
If you continue to cook at home, be prepared to make some sacrifices
Thinking about where you’re going to cook and eat while your kitchen is being renovated isn’t the only consideration to make; you’ll also need to downsize your cooking equipment and tools, and may not be able to access an oven for a few weeks. Think about dishes you can make on the stove, or in the microwave, and plan your meals ahead so that you don’t have to stress about feeding your family while the project is underway.
Turn to disposable items
Without a full sink or access to a dishwasher, it may make more sense to use disposable (preferably recyclable or reusable) crockery and cutlery until you get back into your new kitchen.
Try to ignore the mess
No matter how professional and experienced the contractors are, they can’t help making a bit of a mess, but cleaning it up every day may not be possible, or worth the trouble. It’s better to turn a blind eye to the mess while the project is underway, and focus on how wonderful it will look once it’s finished.
As with any renovation project, it’s important to remember that the noise, mess and inconvenience are all temporary, and that the end result will absolutely be worth eating off of paper plates and getting takeout more often than you might usually, for just a few weeks.