Inside: Get been-there recommendation on tips on how to survive a serious kitchen renovation–and feed your loved ones throughout a kitchen transform.
Practically 20 years in the past, we fell in love with a small, 100-year-old home on a fairly, tree-lined road.
Principally, we fell in love with the bones of the home.
The kitchen, not as a lot.
The counters have been blue, the range was black, the fridge was off-white. It was useful however outdated. Clear however cramped.
We purchased the home figuring we’d have the kitchen reworked. As a result of how laborious might that be?
Yeah, proper!
The corporate we employed took the kitchen all the way down to the studs, pushed the ceiling up, leveled the flooring, dismantled an outdated coal chimney, opened up a wall, and located sufficient costly surprises alongside the best way to depart our unique price range within the mud.
Did I point out I used to be additionally pregnant, sick with nausea and vomiting, and had a toddler?
After all it was nicely value it. Right this moment I look again on the “earlier than” images and really feel grateful for our larger, extra trendy area.
Nevertheless it wasn’t simple. And one of many hardest components was preserving everybody fed with out a working kitchen.
So I made a decision to stroll down reminiscence lane with our personal kitchen makeover in case you’ve bought a transform in your future and need assistance surviving the method.
I additionally reached out to my Actual Mother Vitamin Fb group for his or her finest recommendation and bought so many nice suggestions, I needed to share them right here too.
Plus, I’m sharing before-and-after images of our renovation and the little “kitchen glow-up” we lately did.
6 Suggestions for Surviving a Kitchen Transform
1. Make a Non permanent Kitchen
Our contractor moved our outdated fridge into the lounge, the place we arrange a brief kitchen area with a small desk, microwave, and toaster oven.
A folding desk or card desk is useful for this. And earlier than you pack the whole lot away, put aside some objects that may show you how to in your makeshift kitchen, equivalent to:
- Espresso maker
- Reducing board
- Pots/pans
- Strainer
- Can opener
- Spatula and different cooking utensils/instruments
- Spices & cooking spray
Right here’s some reader recommendation:
“Discovering a devoted spot to have zones for various issues helped us. Cooking space, prep space, place for making lunches and so on. fortunately we have now an enclosed facet porch that labored completely.”
“We moved fridge & microwave to our stroll out basement, purchased a sizzling plate, toaster oven, and hubby constructed a kitchenette.”
“I had my makeshift kitchen arrange within the storage with the fridge, an induction sizzling plate, toaster/convection oven and a microwave. Additionally had the crockpot and rice cooker useful.”
“We sealed off our eating room and made it a makeshift kitchen. We had our fridge in there, a desk, on the spot pot, air fryer, and so on all arrange so we might entry it. We used paper plates and cups, and so on. we additionally bought a number of giant, heavy obligation plastic shelving items to make use of as short-term pantries. We packed the whole lot in plastic tubs that we thought we’d use (a slicing board, a number of knives, and so on) it was rough-but we made it!”
2. Preserve your sink so long as attainable
Everybody, together with me, agrees that coping with soiled dishes is the worst a part of a kitchen transform. So in case you can, cling on to your kitchen sink so long as attainable.
You may additionally have a sink you need to use in a basement, rest room, storage, or laundry room. However “don’t do dishes within the bathtub,” one reader cautioned. “It’ll kill your again. I ended up in PT due to that.”
READER TIP: “I stocked my freezer with crock pot dinners earlier than the work began and used sluggish cooker liners.”
3. Lean on small home equipment
Whereas your oven’s out of fee, smaller home equipment can save the day. Listed here are some to contemplate (ask a pal or neighbor to borrow in case you don’t have one):
- Immediate Pot
- Air fryer
- George Foreman grill
- Microwave
- Toaster oven
- Scorching plate/induction burner
- Electrical skillet
- Electrical griddle
- Camp range to cook dinner outdoors
READER TIP: “Be further good to neighbors and buddies within the months/weeks main as much as the renovation so you possibly can name in some favors & get invited to dinner.”
4. Time it proper
If attainable, schedule your renovation for hotter months when you need to use your grill and eat outdoors.
Bonus: Summer time can be when buddies and neighbors will journey. One reader recommended a swap the place you water their crops and fetch the mail in trade for utilizing their kitchen whereas they’re gone.
READER TIP: “Our Blackstone grill is savinnngg me proper now. It mainly does most of what you are able to do on a stovetop in a pan, it’s only a griddle: Stir fry model dishes, breakfast hash, and so on. in addition to burgers and whatnot.”
5. Meal plan & suppose E-A-S-Y
Having some sort of plan in place will help scale back stress (you’ll have sufficient of that already). Seize my free meal planning worksheet in case you’re a pen-and-paper individual.
Listed here are some reader strategies for lower-effort meals:
- Costco pre-made dinners
- Sandwiches
- Salad kits
- Dealer Joe’s frozen/microwavable meals
- Pre-prepped meal supply service
- Freezer meals you’ve made prematurely that you may microwave
- Pizza supply as soon as per week
Think about filling a plastic bin with shelf-stable objects you need to use for easy meals and snacks equivalent to:
- Peanut butter
- Shelf-stable microwavable rice and pasta pouches
- Canned meals equivalent to canned beans, soup, veggies, and fruit
- Vitality bars
- Complete grain crackers
- Immediate oatmeal
- Applesauce and fruit cups
- Cereal and granola
Seize extra concepts, plus 10 simple meals you can also make with out a range, in my put up 45+ Wholesome Dorm Meals Concepts
READER TIP: “Don’t suppose you need to cook dinner – chilly meals are nice, too. Deal with it as an journey.”
6. Let go of guilt
Give your self grace when you’re going by means of a transform. As a substitute of beating your self up over disposable plates and frozen dinners, channel that power into selecting out new home equipment and selecting between 500 kinds of drawer pulls. Right here’s what else Actual Mother readers needed to say:
“Don’t attempt to save the atmosphere in 3 months (which means you need to use paper plates for a number of weeks to save lots of your sanity), and keep your humorousness.”
“Paper plates, cups and plastic cutlery. Shake off no matter guilt you suppose it is best to really feel and name it ‘self-care.’ Make a listing of carry-out/dine-in choices you’ve got needed to attempt to work that expense into the price range in case you can.”
“There have been MANY occasions we simply had sandwiches and cereal for all 3 meals.”
“Preserve it easy as a result of life is sophisticated when your entire kitchen is torn up.”
READER TIP: “You possibly can all the time get compostable paper plates and bowls in case you use a composting service.”
Our kitchen transform
Listed here are some before-and-after photographs of our kitchen area, which was renovated 16 years in the past. What they did:
- Eliminated an higher block of kitchen cupboards and a peninsula separating the kitchen and consuming space to make one huge room.
- Eliminated a part of an outdated coal chimney and turned it into one facet of an ornamental mantle over our range (the facet cupboards have cabinets for spices, and so on.).
- Opened up a kitchen wall into the eating room.
- Eliminated a drop ceiling.
- Eliminated laminate flooring and wove the unique flooring from the eating room into matching hardwood within the kitchen.
- Put in new perimeter cupboards and black granite counters, plus a kitchen island with a soapstone countertop.
- Relocated the again door.
Our kitchen “glow-up”
Now that our kitchen is sufficiently old to drive, it felt like a great time for somewhat refresh.
So we changed the backsplash and the pendant lights to offer the room somewhat enhance with out spending an entire lot of cash.
