Renovating Your Kitchen

Forget scrambled eggs for awhile. If your kitchen is being renovated, you will be ‘camping out’ for some time! After the arduous process of packing up your kitchen, which will produce more boxes of stuff than you ever knew you had, you’ll begin the challenging process of being kitchenless. Here are some tips at surviving the period of time until your newly remodeled dream kitchen is complete.

Paper or Plastic?

Not having a dishwasher is probably the most inconvenient thing about your life now that you have moved out of the kitchen. Take a trip to the dollar store, forgive yourself for temporarily being unkind to the environment, and stock up on paper plates, disposable cups and plastic silverware.

The Fake Kitchen

You will need to set up a temporary kitchen which at some point you will probably come to refer lovingly as your “Redneck Kitchen.” An outdoor sink, and a corner of a nearby room in which to house your microwave and refrigerator (usually the one you just ripped out) are invaluable. Whether it’s a card table and chairs or your actual kitchen set, you may as well just pick a room and make it your ‘temp kitchen.’ The oft-unused dining room is usually perfect for this set-up.

Eat Out

You will soon become sick of the take-out menus of every nearby restaurant, but eating somewhere else is often the easiest way to avoid the hassle and mess of cooking at your place. Chalk up the expenditure to the cost of doing (kitchen renovation) business! And don’t forget to call your friends and talk about your kitchen renovation- maybe they will take pity on you and invite you for dinner!

Dining In

Since you won’t be able to eat out every day of the week, you’ll need some easy-to-make meals at home. Microwaveable frozen dinners come in handy, so do crock pot dinners and sandwiches. Keep it simple- cereal in disposable bowls for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly for lunch, etc.

Get Out of Town

No time like a kitchen renovation to get out of Dodge. Planning your kitchen renovation during a scheduled vacation is a great idea- even if one hasn’t been planned, it may be a good idea to consider visiting relatives or friends during the month or so you’ll be without your cookie pans.

Most of all, be patient. Soon enough, after all the choices of countertops, appliances, and flooring, you’ll be back in your kitchen.

With eggs and a side of bacon!

This article originally appeared on Suite 101, copyright Mary McCarthy.