How to survive a kitchen renovation while working from home

With so many of us working from home now, renovation business is booming as people try to make their homes more liveable as they spend more and more time indoors. Be it breakfast, lunch, snacks or dinner, kitchen tends to be the local hangout zone in most homes so it comes as no surprise that it’s where most of the reno attention lies.

Home owners who have been through a kitchen renovation agree that the best way to get through it is to flee and stay somewhere else. But this option is not always viable especially when your home and office are now both the same. Here’s what to expect if you have to live in your home through a renovation and how to prepare for it.

Don’t kid yourself

It’s going to be messy. It’s going to be noisy. For about a week, if not more, you’re going to walk into a gutted kitchen expecting to make yourself scramble eggs for breakfast and then realize that you are barefoot in a construction zone!

There will likely be frustrating delays and unexpected changes during the renovation. Unable to fix anything else for breakfast, you may get addicted to nutrigrain, iron man has the get grit to get through anything, after all.

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Get organized, do the following before the tradie arrives

Make time to pack up the kitchen properly. Think about whether some sort of refrigeration will be possible. Perhaps there’s an old fridge in the garage you use for beer or a minifridge elsewhere in the house. It’s worth renting or borrowing a small unit. Just be sure there is a place you can plug it in outside the kitchen.

If possible, set up a mini kitchen in another room. Think about what equipment might come in handy for throwing together simple meals. Suggestions include:

·       Electric kettle

·       Toaster or Portable electric grill

·       Electric frying pan (if you have a place to clean it)

·       Minifridge

·       Cutlery including a good chef’s knife

·       Chopping board

·       Plates and bowls

If your house has a mini kitchen setup around the patio/ deck BBQ, you’re in luck. This would be perfect as your temp kitchen. Whether you’ll be eating takeaways, using the BBQ, you’ll need somewhere to sit and eat your meals and your covered patio/ deck may be perfect for this.

Pre-plan meals for the duration of the reno

Now that you know batter and other messy stuff is a no-go, get used to the reality of your new at-home menu. It will consist mostly of food you can toast indoors or throw on the BBQ, as well as soup, cereal and cold sandwiches.

Remember to include takeaway expenses in your overall renovation budget. And if you still intend to cook at home, stop by the supermarket every day for that night’s dinner ingredients.

Cleanup as you go

Keep dish detergent, a scrub brush and a dish towel at the sink you’ve designated as your temp kitchen sink. The designated food trash can should have a lid to contain odours and keep pests away.

Reusable is best

A lot of people go strictly paper and plastic for dishes and cutlery, and if that’s what you need to do to get by, there’s no judgment here. But it’s bad for the environment, it’s expensive, and it gets old. You will need only one plate, bowl, mug, glass, fork, spoon, knife and place mat for each family member because without a kitchen, cleanup will be immediate.

An alternative to plasticware is outdoor BBQ or picnic ware, it’s plastic and reusable.

Designate your home office as a Construction-Free Zone

Designate your work from home area as your sanity-saving space and be very clear with the tradies that it is off-limits for cutting through and for storing tools, supplies and the things that have come out of the kitchen.

Workers will want to spread into the closest spaces when they need to stash the new cabinets or boxes of tile, so if the room is kitchen-adjacent, be vigilant because it will be a slippery slope. One day, it’s one box of tile being stored there; the next day, it’s four major appliances.

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This article via does not constitute advice; readers should seek independent and personalised counsel from a trusted adviser that specialises in property, a tax accountant and property design specialist.