Our kitchen remodel was part of a 4 room remodel. We have two young kids, and I think a hot plate, microwave and small sink would have killed us. I essentially set the kitchen up in the garage. A couple things made this easier. The garage has a utility sink and the hot water heater is gas. I installed some Ikea cabinets, I hooked up the range to the gas line (luckily was nearby), set up the dishwasher next to the sink. The microwave fit on a shelf and the work bench became the prep area. We joked that this garage kitchen was better than our old kitchen.

The upside and downside was that we're doing much of the work ourselves. So the garage was the kitchen for about 4 months. However, the garage was pretty useless as a workspace. Every time I fired up the table saw, the "kitchen" was a disaster.

LOL - table saw in the kitchen. Wow, you are so brave - small kids and DYI is always so challenging. This time around I am paying except for demolition - I think that is pretty fun stuff. Thanks for your thoughts - in many ways the garage makes sense for me too except I don't have a water source there - although it is summer and there is an outside spigot next to the back door...

The "Kitchen Forum FAQ" has a link to some information on temporary kitchens. The FAQ is referenced in the "Read Me" thread.

Look for "The Temporary Kitchen Set Up" in the left navigation panel under "C. Surviving the Remodel".

Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!

I feel so fortunate. Before our kitchen was gutted we had installed a Kohler Harborside sink in an adjacent area (where it will stay as part of the remodel). So we have water and a huge sink for manually washing dishes.

When the kitchen was gutted everything but the range and refrigerator was removed. We left our range and fridge in place so we have a way to continue cooking. We've since had the gas company come and relocate the range to it's new spot. When the new appliances come in next week they'll cart out the old fridge.

We use our table as our work surface until they are done installing the cabinets and counter tops.

I sold our old cabinets on Craig's List for $500.00. The day before the guy came I took everything out of our cabinets and stacked everything on our dining table and baker's rack located in the dining room. Some stuff I boxed up and my delicate china I relocated to our sauna (too hot to take a sauna anyway). I also had to move our food to another spot because in the remodel we knocked down our pantry. I put up shelves in the broom closet and repainted it, and that's where we store half of our food. The other half is being stored in an antique "high boy" cabinet that we moved into an area adjacent to the new kitchen.

So this is how we've carried on for a week or so, with a week or so to go. It makes cooking interested . . . you have to walk into a few rooms to get what you need, but it's do-able. I hope this helps.

Hiya sjblick,

Well, we had a similar setup (old kitchen and one bath demo in one go, the only other bath was downstairs) and we went through the entire remodel without eating out (no microwave, or paper plates either), so it can be done. This is what we did:

1) We had the demo crew save us a piece of the old kitchen cabinet/counter. This was about a 36" section and it happened to have a pull-out cutting board. This we set up next to the fridge in the "dining" room (we don't have a formal dining room, this was a corner of the living room that was masked off from the demo with heavy plastic and a zipper "door". That really did keep most of the mess out). In the cabinets went the basics (and just the basics. A scaled version of the kitchen in effect) for indoor cooking (for us, that was: A george forman grill, an electric teapot (we use a french press for coffee), and an old electric skillet on loan) everything for prep (knives, bowls, etc.)as well as spices, dried goods like pasta and rice, etc.

2) we set up an outdoor kitchen. A BBQ and a propane powered camping stove did most of the heavy cooking.

Weekly, a menu was drawn up (we picked the meals carefully--nothing too complicated (one or two pots used tops!), and we tried to sneak in meals that could be easily warmed up or were equally good cold to stretch over 2 days. We kept a stock of "dips" (hummus, tapenade, etc.), cold meats, and ready-mixed salad for the days when we were both tired, late, and just couldn't cook (these saved us from take-out and pizza). Cooking was a 2 person event (one was the "sous chef" doing the chopping and cleaning up as we went, the other did the actual cooking and pitched in with prep). You will get used to taking everything you need from the fridge and up to the prep station in one trip (a shopping basket or reusable bag does it). Oh, and running up and down the stairs was a great workout.

Clean-up was also a 2 person event. One washed, the other dried and put away. More workout.

When the kitchen was finally up and going,I can't tell you how much we appreciated it (you will too!).

I hope this helps.

We've been remodeling and using a temporary kitchen for so long it seems like the real thing. If you haven't already demolished your kitchen I can think of some things that have really saved us. We prepared many meals such as soups, chili, meatloafs, chicken dishes, lasagna that we froze in family size meals or indivdual portions. So when we were exhausted we could take some things out and pop in the microwave. We also kept fresh fruit and made smoothies for treats and to make sure we were eating somewhat healthy. And bagged salads and vegetables are a lifesaver. We used an electric skillet for eggs, grilled cheese, etc. I would highly recommend being near a sink if at all possible. I bought an old used metal table for food prep... something easy to clean! Put my microwave and convection microwave on a plywood/sawhorse table. Just make sure you have enough flat work space. Like the other poster said pare down! You don't want your good kitchen stuff going thru a remodel anyway. Things too easily broken in all the confusion. We also have gas grill and cook out almost 5 nights a week for dinner. It can be done. Pretend like you are going camping and take only what you will actaully use and need for the duration. Keep your toaster out too. And a coffee pot if you are coffee drinkers. A crock-pot can be helpful if you think the remodel will end up taking longer than you thought. From someone who is currently living thru it I wish you Good Luck!

The temp kitchen set-up info that buehl cited is a great help. I read it several times before deciding how to set up my temp kitchen, but it still wasn't enough prep apparently.

When we tore out the old kitchen 10 days ago I thought I was all ready. We have a finished basement with a dry bar which seemed to be the perfect spot until I made the first meal. It turns out the basement wiring isn't the best, and every time I run the micro or the hotplate while the TV is on it trips a circuit. It's the only working TV in the house that is not in my bedroom. So much for the best laid plans of mice and men ...

Luckily, I was able to convince the contractors and DH to leave the tiny island that houses the old sink and DW in place for now. I have already moved everything downstairs, but the hotplate is now plugged into an extension cord and sitting on the counter on top of the DW. With the weather being nice I am also BBQing alot. Everything must be carried from the basement to the kitchen to be cooked, then carried back downstairs to be eaten. Tonight I sat on a patio chair in the empty and partially destroyed kitchen cooking chicken on the BBQ and rice on the hotplate. At least the pots can be cleaned up in the sink when I am done.

My point is remember to check the load on any outlets you may be thinking of using before arriving at a final plan. Maybe even try a dry run before demoing the old kitchen, just to make sure it works.

Good luck!

I agree with Lululemon about the *^&@ electrical issues.

If you have all your kitchen miniappliances plugged into the same outlet, make sure it's a circuit that can handle more than one appliance running at a time. Argh.

And if you can't, apparently having everything plugged into a surge protector saves time because (mine at least) it trips the surge protector instead of the circuit breaker. So I don't have to run to the garage but it's not as easy as it should be to cook when I can't run the microwave and hotplate at the same time.

Hi, we are on our 4th month, with 4 kids. Teens on up. We have the fridge and microwave in the living room. I put the spices that we use all the time in a small box on the microwave and another set out in the barn. We have water and a range out there by the grill. Thank god for summer! I bought 2 huge rubber buckets to keep dishes, pans and canned goods in the hallway. Dishwasher is in so no more washing dishes in the tub. Coffee pot is set up on my desk in my office/sunroom (mandatory). Most of the prep work is done outside on the table on the deck and we uses as little pots, pans as possible. I would say one more month and we'll be done. This was totally DIY with both of us working and running a farm, so it seems as though my poor kitchen is taking forever, but I do love going in and just looking around at the little progress we get done every day or so. My best advice-just don't stress about the mess, the setbacks, and the unexpected. It gets resolved at some point! Good luck!