How did you survive your kitchen renovation?

[gobluem82]

We're having our kitchen redone at the end of September, and it will be completely out of commission for 3 weeks. So, I'm looking for advice from all of you who have been throught this--what did you do about meals? I'm pretty sure we can move our refrigerator out to the garage, and we'll have a microwave, but that's about it. I'm hoping to make some breakfast and dinner stuff up ahead of time, but especially with no sink, it'll be tough. I'd appreciate any advice you veterans have!!

[jmarie]

but it ended up taking 6 weeks! I have a FOOD SAVER. So, I cooked and froze that way. We microwaved and ate on paper. We ate carry-out a lot. Towards the end, it got frustrating...but for awhile, it was a picnic. We had a lot of fun with it. the problem was the cabinets that kept coming in broken or mis-sized. THAT was the frustrating part. We did it ourselves..my husband said he could have made the cabinets custom made in better time, had we known the problems we were going to encounter. Just a head's up on what might happen...Good luck! You are going to love your new kitchen!

edited to say: YUP, YUP, YUP on the grill, too.

[katygirl]

I would use this as an opportunity to get VERY friendly with my grill!

[VictoriaL]

Keep lookin' toward that nice, new, more-efficent kitchen as you slog your way, kitchen-less, for those weeks. It kept my perspective! Alas, we did our renovation in the winter so grilling was not an option. I set up the dining room table (protected with layers of newspaper and a few tablecloths, then pushed against a wall with electrical outlets)with the toaster oven and microwave and indoor grill. The refrigerator was moved in there as well. The worst part was doing dishes-- the laundry room (which wasn't being worked on) is on the other side of the kitchen (with no other access from the rest of the house) so I had to trek the dirty dishes outside, around the house, and into the laundry room. Also, it was an unheated room as well. It was well worth the trouble, though!
Good luck (and keep your sense of humor...)!

[knunes]

When my husband did our kitchen renovation, he didn't take the "sink" wall of stuff down until he absolutely had to, and then he reattached the sink where it had been (without any of the cabinets around it) until he was ready to put that whole wall of cabinets back up. That meant that I had my sink throughout the renovation except for one 12 hour period. I've also heard of other people setting up a satellite sink in the laundry room....I think keeping your sink or having a satellite one can make the difference between a slight inconvenience and a real pain in the butt. You might ask the contractor.....
I cooked using the microwave, the gas grill, the crock pot, the electric fry pan, and I also ordered a single electric burner from Chef's Catalog (which I now have in storage as a "fifth" burner if I ever need one at the holidays), which I was able to use to heat water for pasta, heat canned items, etc.
Is the garage the only option for the fridge and the microwave? We set up our "satellite kitchen" in the living room, including some of the cabinets that were ripped out of the old kitchen (so I didn't have to pack up every little thing---I could leave the frequently used items in those cabinets) and a countertop. It was a lot more convenient than our garage, but then again, your garage might be connected to your house by a door, whereas ours is not.
I would say to count on it being out of commision for longer than 3 weeks (and be pleasantly surprised if it's only 3 weeks), and that if you don't end up with access to a sink, I would eat as many microwave dinners as I could stand (so as to avoid having to hassle with where to wash pots and pans), and use paper plates and cups for other things, and to do take out as often as you can afford!
Good luck and I'm sure it will be worth the hassle--mine is!

[SweetTooth]

We were out of commision (our stove and kitchen sink) from mid-November until Valentines Day (of 3002)- 3 loooonnng months. It was to have been done by Christmas!!

I used our grill, microwave, electric skillet and crock pot when we ate at home. We were able to put our refreigerator in another room as well as we have a laundry sink that I did dishes in. We ate out a lot and we have 2 grown children that are married and live close to us (10 minutes), we ate with them some. It got real old (I hate to be discouraging), but was really worth it in the long run. We now have a beautifully remodeled kitchen.

good luck and keep us posted on the progress

[sharris315]

Our kitchen took 7 weeks to complete. The refrigerator was in the garage; the microwave and coffee pot, in the dining room. I did dishes in a pan in a bathtub. We did not try to cook that much--we ate out a lot, which did get really OLD after a while. It was sort of like camping out I think (have only camped out in girlscouts). Recognize that this is probably going to be a pain, and just go with it. Also, I think the suggestion that it will take more than the projected 3 weeks is probably accurate.

Just keep picturing the beautiful kitchen you will end up with...

Shar

[jmarie]

One more thing.....BE SURE TO TAKE BEFORE PICTURES! I didn't think about it until it was too late!
Joyce

[vbak]

After Thanksgiving dinner, 1993, we moved everything out of the kitchen because the next day the back wall of our house[kitchen and dining room] was going to be knocked out. In addition to the kitchen re-do we also added on a large room. December 23rd the counters were installed and we were happy campers. We used the crock, electric skillet and micro to make meals. Dishes were washed in the laundry room sink. Thank goodness my mom was there to help out. It will definetly be worth it.

Vicky

[BarbaraL]

We have an extra refrigerator in our finished basement, as well as a utility sink. We used the gas grill (would have used it even more if our renovation hadn't have been in February), the microwave, toaster oven, electric fry pan and an electric "burner" (like one unit from an electric stovetop - I used it in college, and some people use them camping). We got alot of convenience foods and some take out, and even brought home food from our work cafeteria to reheat at home. We also used alot of disposable plates, etc to lessen the clean up. It was a pain, but getting my bright new shiny kitchen was worth it!

[ChristineB]

You are so smart to think & plan ahead!! I am currently in week two of our kitchen demolition and we are already going crazy!!

My first advice is to make sure you cover EVERYTHING in your house in the vacinity of the kitchen! Thank goodness for my mother in law b/c I had no idea how much of a mess it was going to make in the rest of my house. Even with us covering everything we still have the dust from demolition all over our house. If you have vents in your kitchen it will be blown all over your house~it is so messy.

For food, we set up a small table in another room with some pantry type food, toaster oven, coffe pot, cups, plates, napkins, utensils. It still has been very difficult. First of all you do not want to be eating anywhere near your kitchen because everything is covered in dust from the drywall etc and it smells like chalk, it is like eating in your garage...blek! We have been using our grill but it still is difficult b/c you just don't realize all that you need from your kitchen to grill (spatulas, some sort of marinade, sink to rinse veggies or utensil off, cutting board, steak knives etc, .)
I would definitely suggest freezing some meals ahead that can be microwaved. Also invest in some glad storage containers and paper, plastic products.

Everyone keeps saying that it will all be worth it in the end, and I know it will but I had no idea it would be this messy & chaotic.

Another thing to think about is if you have pets you may want them to go stay with a friend during the construction. Our pup was completely scared by all of the loud noises (cutting metal, house shaking, vibrating etc.) I know their ears are even more sensitive than ours so I know it must have been hard on him. We now are taking him to a friends house everyday when they are working.

Our friends invited us over for dinner last night and it was such a treat! Maybe you can invite a few friends over and they will return the favor when you kitchen is being remodeled

Hope this helps!
Christine

[d_ferrero]

I was without my kitchen for 6 weeks and I agree with Vicci... keep thinking about the new space you'll have when you don't want to look at another meal out of the microwave. For me, my microwave, crockpot, electric skillet and the grill were lifesavers (as was the occasional pizza delivery and takeout sushi. ). Good luck and post pictures of the progress!

[Elizabeth B]

Alicia - We just finished a kitchen remodel and everyone has given you great advice, but keep in mind that there are going to be times when you'll feel like Christine B. Your house will be a mess, you'll be worn out from washing dishes in a tub, you'll be sick of having strangers in your home, etc., etc. But you WILL get past that and one day soon your kitchen will be finished and it will be well worth it. One great thing for us was that our next door neighbors had us over for dinner 6 times during our remodel!! Sunday night we had them over for a special dinner to celebrate the end of that process. When I think back now on the whole remodeling process (approx. 5 months, start to finish), it's a blur.

Christine B. - I can feel how worn out you are from your post. I remember posting when I felt that way and someone on this board helped pull me out of it. Two weeks in is a very hard time - they've done all the demolition, usually found problems they weren't expecting and are probably starting the drywall. Once you get past the drywall, life gets a lot easier and a lot less messy. Hang in there!

Elizabeth B.

[Gail]

In case you haven't looked at past threads on the subject, here are some which may offer additional input:


http://community.cookinglight.com/sh...hlight=remodel
http://community.cookinglight.com/sh...hlight=remodel
http://community.cookinglight.com/sh...hlight=remodel
http://community.cookinglight.com/sh...light=kitchens

[VictoriaL]

Originally posted by jmarie
One more thing.....BE SURE TO TAKE BEFORE PICTURES! Joyce

Yes, yes, yes!!! DH is an architect and he does this on all of his projects anyway, so we took several photos then, when all was done and up & running (and still very clean!) he took shots of the same views. It was so neat to see the exact "before & after" shots. Unfortunately, our renovation took so long that we had plenty of time to get the "before" photos processed so that we could refer to them when taking the "afters".