Tell Me How You Survived a Kitchen Reno......

[clutter]

I moved my fridge and a microwave into the foyer. Used a small toaster oven in the laundry room as well. But I admit, since its only dd and me, we ate out every night. We don't have a laundry tub, so it was a small bathroom sink or the tub to wash. I just didn't want to mess with it.

I was lucky. My renovation took just shy of 4 weeks. Seeing as my contractor was off for 2 days of it (school holiday) and the renovation involved tearing down/repairing walls and asbestos flooring removal, I think we were really lucky. Here's a clue: use a contractor who is busy. Since mine had a bunch of work to do after mine, he wanted to be done and move on. (He is also a perfectionist, so he didn't do a rush job.)

 

[Muushka]

Funny you should ask this question! We just completed ours on Thursday and it was supposed to be done 4 weeks earlier! No big deal though. I would say the one thing that I was so grateful that we had was an induction cooking hot plate. And of course the microwave that was supposed to be above the stove, that it sat upon in my dining room for 6 weeks! And the toaster/convection/broiler oven (stand alone). Our frig got to stay put because it was at the end of a wall with cabinets.

That induction hot plate was a life saver. I could use it anywhere in the house and expanded my cooking so much so that after the first 2 weeks I found myself making the same dinners I made when I had my kitchen in tact.

As far as the actual experience, it was a good one. I had our general contractor, who did a lot of the work himself, and his assistant for the most part. I always gave them a cup of coffee in the AM, kept the frig stocked with water and Coke and treated them to lunch a few times. That small act on my part created 2 men who would do anything to please me, over and above what I expected.

Good luck!

 

[rockyroad]

My word of advice is to just expect that things will not go as you might have hoped.

My house was flooded in the May Day Flood...just inches of water, not feet.

At the same time my mom was really ill and in intensive care...which kind of put things into perspective a bit.

And my daughter got married the week after the flood.
It was an outside wedding and both the wedding and the weather turned out beautifully.

We pulled out the carpet the first day.
Cranked up the central air and got a dehumidifier.
So no stink and no mold.
Also, found out that insurance did not cover any of it.

We are putting in ceramic tile that looks like wood.
The hardware store gave the floor guys the wrong grout and it turned pink when it dried. Big problem.
One room had to be busted out and relaid and and the grout removed out in another.

The slab was uneven and caused other expensive problems.

And then the kitchen...
We hired a cabinet maker to build the cabinets.
He put us off while finishing other jobs...after our kitchen was torn out completely.
Then there were problems with the finish I wanted.
The doors had to be sanded down and redone twice.
Then the cabinet maker got sick, found out he has cancer and is trying to finish up our kitchen working around his chemo and radiation.

I am still missing several cabinet doors, some shelves, one whole cabinet, a drawer and a bunch of trim pieces.
But the kitchen is basically functional.

On the plus side, the cabinets are wonderful.
We found the perfect pulls and knobs on clearance super cheap, 25 cents pulls and 60 cents for knobs.
And the colors of floor, cabinets, and countertop look good together.

And next we have to tackle the back bedrooms where everything was moved quicky to keep it out of the water, so things are just piled and not organized at all.
Plus I was at the hospital most of the time for 7 months and was not home to supervise.
And we need to paint where the walls had to be cut out and replaced.

Oh, and the yard needs a lot of work done before it gets hot!

One day at a time, you know?
And don't sweat the small stuff.