How to Survive a Kitchen Remodeling Project

You use your kitchen everyday, so surviving a kitchen remodel can be a chore. There are a few simple steps you can take to make it easier on yourself. Be flexible and you'll survive to see your beautiful new kitchen.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Spare room
• Crock pot
• Toaster oven
• Tabletop mini-stove
• Disposable dishes

1. Hire a reputable kitchen remodeler. Check with your local Better Business Bureau or a business referral service, especially if a builder's bid seems too good to be true. You don't want to hire someone who walks out halfway through the job.

2. Talk to your kitchen remodeler about deadlines. It's important to know how long you're going to be without a kitchen sink or an oven.

3. Set up a camp kitchen, preferably in a room with running water. Otherwise, you will need to designate one room for food storage and cooking and another for cleaning dishes. Buy a crock pot, a toaster oven, a tabletop mini-stove and lots of disposable dishes for your temporary kitchen.

4. Keep your temporary camp kitchen tidy enough to keep you sane, but don't go overboard. Revel in the fact that "clean" means having all your cereal boxes lined up in a row on the table.

Tips & Warnings

• Laundry tubs and bath tubs make good substitute kitchen sinks. Lay out a large towel and allow your dishes to air dry.
• If you like to put things off, do yourself a favor and don't move back into your remodeled kitchen until you've done everything to it that you want to do. Otherwise, you may find yourself putting off that paint or wallpaper job indefinitely.