Surviving A Kitchen Renovation Part 2

Renovations of any sort can be tiring and stressful.  As you will remember, we had our kitchen and flooring replaced last year.  We had a crazy three weeks last August and I'm so glad I took the time to plan ahead.  Here's what I did to keep some organisation during a time of chaos -

*  Decluttering ahead of time.  When it's time to pack up your kitchen ( before it gets ripped out ),  do a major declutter / throw out.  Have a look at what you are storing in your cupboards and drawers.  Are you using everything ?  Do you want these items in your new kitchen ?  Do you like the colors / style ?  Is it broken / chipped ?  Do you have too many of the same thing ? 

There is absolutely no point in packing up items you just know you'll throw out later.  Set aside a couple of boxes and fill them up to donate to your local op shop.  When it's time to restock your new kitchen,  have another declutter.  You might find that things don't fit in or look right.

*  Having a budget for takeaway.  Even the most organised person will need takeaway during a renovation.  I can remember one day when our house was in total chaos.  Our carpet was being replaced at the same time our kitchen was having the kickboards and end panels installed.  Darren,  Jessica and myself were confined to a couple of metres in the family room.  Darren was perched on a kitchen stool.  I was balancing on a couch arm rest with Jessica sitting on the floor at my feet.   We couldn't access any other part of our home for three hours.  Darren had to make an escape through the sliding door to get Subway for lunch.

A couple of other times we'd had such busy days packing up and cleaning.  My hands were so sore from all the hard work that I couldn't pick up a knife to prepare a meal.  Fish and chips came to the rescue one night and a bought roast chicken for the other night.  Our girls prepared a little salad to go with each meal.

*  Cleaning as you go.  Yes the house will get really messy and dusty.  I tried to clean up the dust and bits and pieces off the floor at the end of each day just before dinner.  Jessica and I suffer from allergies so regular cleaning was important.  By doing this each day it kept the cleaning job to a manageable timeframe.  I'm a neat freak,  so knowing  parts of the house were clean helped me relax somewhat.  I used our old vacuum cleaner to keep the floors reasonable.  There was no way my brand new Dyson was coming out of the box until the renos were completed.

*  Preparing the house for renovations.  A renovation doesn't just happen.  It takes months of planning.  I used this time to declutter other rooms in our home.  The week before our renos started  I filled the toilet roll holders,  cleaned the bathrooms from top to bottom,  refilled all the Miracle Spray bottles,  paid the bills and got the finances and filing up to date.  These tasks might seem a bit odd to do just before a reno but when your house has been turned upside down,  you don't want to be searching for toilet rolls or a misplaced bill.

Here's the link to part one of surviving a kitchen renovation http://myabundantlife07.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/surviving-kitchen-renovation-part-1.html

I hope these ideas will come in handy when you are planning a renovation.

The finished product

Can you see the arm of the couch on the right ?  That's where I perched for three hours with Jessica at my feet and all this mess around us.  Lots of fun - NOT !!!

Our makeshift kitchen