Yes! What NOT to do!LOL
We started demo weekend after Thanksgiving, I packed nothing before that Friday, BIG mistake!My daughter and I pulled everything out and threw out lots of stuff, and then loaded things into the dining room. I wish I had started paring down before that. Less craziness trying to get it all packed up, and deciding what could be packed away for later.
A surprise for me was I couldn't stash everything in just one area! This surprised me, I don't have a big kitchen. I also thought I could leave stuff piled in the dining room, but even though we hung up a tarp in the doorway it was dusty, dirty, and just gross!!Plus I couldn't stand all that disorganization next to my partially ripped out kitchen. I'm not neat, but this was overwhelming to me.

I thought I would be so happy to see the old kitchen demolished, but it was really awful to have it half torn up, and the dirt and plaster dust tracked everywhere!

One thing we did right, set up a temp kitchen with even a functioning sink. I didn't think we should spend a day doing this. but I was wrong. It makes life much easier and takes some pressure off us.

My tips: 1 Start paring down early 2 Find an area to designate for storage 3 Put down runners to protect floors adjacent to kitchen 4 Yes definitely get something set up for a temp kitchen

Like stated above, pare down, pare down, pare down. Start now. Be brutal about it. Old pans, old plasticware, mis-matched. You can always buy new and shiny replacements later. That will be part of the fun!

I then packed my boxes based on the cabinet it came from. I also used smaller sized boxes, standardized the size and made large printed labels so it was easy to read what was in them.

I put the boxes I positively would not need to access (service pieces, etc.) in one space and covered them with a dust barrier. Boxes that I would access (some food, cutlery, etc.), I stored these in another easy to access area....our master bedroom. lol I withheld two plates, two glasses, one sharp knife, can opener, two forks, a couple spoons, etc. for what I call easy-access use and put all these things in one box.

So we are now working on our second week of the project. Eating out a fair bit but the few times I made sandwiches and other non-cookables, it's worked out okay.

Living so sparingly like this, makes me think about how little we can really live with. : D

Good Luck!

Pepper
~ All three inspections passed!!!

We have a split level. We put the stove in the basement and moved many of the old cabinets and counters down there as well. I don't think we could have made it without a temporary kitchen. Its actually been quite bearable.

One thing we learned the hard way: check the electrical setup of the space you're using for your temporary kitchen! Our electrical is newish, but we used our dining room as the temp space, which is not designed to handle multiple appliances. We ended up with everything (including refrigerator) plugged into one poor outlet, and consequently kept tripping the circuit. If you have an option of locating it somewhere where there are multiple circuits, do it. If you're going to be out of your kitchen for a long time (2+ months) I would even pay to have one added. Our sub-panel's in our basement, which isn't accessible from the house. Running back and forth every time we accidentally had the water kettle and the toaster on at the same time got really, really old.

A few other things I liked: electric kettle, which we didn't actually get for the remodel per se, but received as a gift just before demo---WONDERFUL! So much easier. I even heat water in it before cooking pasta so that the water boils faster once it's on the single burner. Single burner is great, too---I looked at buying an induction burner figuring we'd use it in the new kitchen, but in the end a friend just loaned us their old school electric one. It's amazingly versatile. Leave out any appliances that don't need the kitchen (waffle maker, rice cooker, stick blender, etc.)---they're useful to have around. Our toaster oven is our mainstay since we don't have a microwave, and I've also been able to cook a lot in that.

We don't have a temporary sink, since unfortunately the only two sinks in our house are the kitchen and the bathroom---but the bathroom is near the dining room, so it worked out. But that was by far the biggest issue---dishes were a pain to do in the bathtub! If you have the opportunity to have another setup with a functional sink, I'd do it. The sink is the very last thing in the kitchen to be functional again since it typically has to wait for counter installation, so you may have everything else back before that sink.

Good luck! We're at the tail end, and it's been a whirlwind---but so exciting!

Having a temporary kitchen, however rudimentary, is very helpful. Ours was simply the fridge and MW set up in the sunroom. We used the laundry room sink and, sadly, a lot of paper/plastic dishes.

One of the best things I did to prepare was to cook a lot of freezable-microwaveable dishes in advance. So, even when we were in the deepest, darkest depths of reno hell, we could have some real home-cooked meals. This really made such a difference to our mood and outlook, because one can only take so much in the way of take-out and sandwiches for dinner.

I wholeheartedly agree with others who have advised paring down in advance. We didn't do this and ended up tossing everything in boxes in a hurry and taking much longer than it should have to get everything put away when the reno was done.

Oh, and also---we had initially planned to get rid of our fridge pre-demo to have it out of the way during the project, and get the new one afterwards. We didn't because neither of us got our acts together to call the utility company to come pick it up---soooo glad! It wasn't a big deal to move it a few times, and it's allowed us to live off of frozen food and have milk for cereal, etc. Can't believe I ever thought we should be fridge-less during the reno! Keep your fridge, even if you're replacing it.

1) No matter how small your kitchen is you just cannot believe how much stuff is there. I had very little that I actually had to throw away but still took up a lot of boxes and plastic rubbermaid bins. We tend to stock up on things when they are on sale. Don't start the night before demo starts.
2) Wherever you set up your temp kitchen, put a box or two with the things you will need on a day to day basis such as cereals, snacks, plastic wraps, etc. We are getting by with just a MW. Refrigerator is still hooked up in kitchen but with water disconnected. I asked GC when he plans on unplugging it and he said they would move to the eat in end of the kitchen and work around. That is a big plus. We had stocked up on frozen leftovers.
4) A toaster oven or a hot plate is a great item to have. Found out that the local Wal-Mart or Target only sells hotplates online.
5)Have found cleanup much easier now that we are not using pots and pans and I only have to wash the plates, etc. No stove to clean or counter to wipe up.

Demo started on the 8th. Getting real bored at the routine of not having a kitchen. Just got word that it doesn;t matter if the template guy comes before Christmas as the factory/workshop is closed until january 4th. so, no complete kitchen until mid-january.

We have a wonderful carpenter who cut out the old sink with a bit of countertop attached, built 2x4 legs for it, and made temporary connections to the roughed-in plumbing. So there have only been a couple days when we were without a sink (until today, when the cabinet installation started.) That's a HUGE help. They moved it whenever it was in the way of their work, and hooked it up again for the evening before they left.

I imagine not everyone is lucky enough to have a crew that will go through this hassle for them, but it may not hurt to ask.

Actually, my GC was none too pleased ("Where in the job description does it say 'Will provide temporary sink for homeowner?!'") but he knew from long experience that this thorough and thoroughly stubborn carpenter would do it anyway. God bless him.

You must plan a temporary kitchen. Chances are it will take longer than expected to complete your project. I also used the opportunity to organize things according to function when I packed up - and then stored things close to where they are needed. A drawer for things I use when baking, etc. Everything was scattered before. Made it very easy for my family to learn the new layout. Also a good time to clean out and throw away a lot of dated pantry items, spices, replace things that were worn, etc.

We are loving our new kitchen. So worth all the planning, the problems, AND the expense. Good luck and hope yours goes smoothly and turns out to be more than you ever hoped and dreamed!

I have to add, buy chocolate and/or wine.

Seriously, we use a rubbermaid in our shower for a sink. It became much better once we bought a new showerhead setup with a detachable hose that can reach down.
The micro is important and we have used the George Forman grill a few times. I have rubbermaids for categories, such as plates, knives and forks in one (all disposable), and the same set up for some real stuff (have to micro in ceramic or glass, not plastic). We had planned on paring down the food in the house but got moved into the bsmt 3 weeks ahead of schedule with little warning (no bad weather and lots of progress = ahead of the timeline).

Since our master bathroom, bedroom and dining room were also getting torn apart, we had to pack those rooms as well. The hardest part was the bsmt was not truly ready yet to accept all the boxes, so the first day was tough. I spent the next 2 days unpacking, organizing and basically trying to make the bsmt livable for up to 2 months for a family of 4 and way too many boxes. We packed enough stuff for our needs downstairs and also put stuff away. There was no way we could have everything we usually access at our fingertips. It felt like packing for a long trip.

One thing I realized after work started, was that I was uncomfortable taking a shower in our bsmt when a crew of men were working upstairs. I know no one would walk in on me because the door has a lock, but they frequently have me come upstairs to answer a question, make a choice or troubleshoot with them. I figured I'd pop upstairs from time to time and check on progress but the reality is, they come down and get me quite a few times a day. I never can really let my hair down for any length of time. I have learned to shower at night and deal with morning hair (can't blow dry if it is late and the kids are sleeping).
Having 4 people share one bathroom is tough because dh needs a good amount of quality time on the throne with his sensitive stomach, so I usually wait until after everyone else is asleep to have some time in the bathroom for a shower.
You get over having perfect makeup and hair pretty quickly unless you enjoy getting up before dawn. I am at the point that the pounding now wakes me up rather than alarm in advance. I need the sleep too much and am not a morning person. I grab every extra minute of sleep I can. I am careful about wearing a bra around the house though, lol. They have seen me with no makeup and my hair not quite done (headbands and ponytails are a god-send) but even I have my limits, lol.
Good luck and welcome to our "crazy for doing it this time of year" club ;)

Start packing up as soon as possible. My remodel hit both my kitchen and dining room so I started packing my dining room weeks ahead of time. Then I started packing the less often used items in the over the fridge and over the oven cabinets. Luckily I have a spare bedroom to use, but I was still surprised by how many boxes I carried up there. Even with all of the advance packing I had done, when they called to say they were ready to start, I still had a full day of packing and setting up the temp kitchen.

You will definitely need a temp kitchen. Mine went into the far corner of the family room which is steps from a powder room. That little powder room was a Godsend for 2 months. We only went out to eat once towards the end, the rest of the time dinner was made on the BBQ. Stock up on plastic dinnerware and wine. On days when you have had it up to here with living in a construction zone, wine helps to make it better.

Make sure you also plan where any pets will stay during the construction. The only absolutely secure place I had for my cats was my bedroom. Sharing my bedroom with their litter box for 8 weeks wasn't pleasant, but I knew when I left for work that there wasn't a chance that one might accidentally be let out of the house.

Forgive me if I'm repeating what someone has already said. I'm not absorbing well just now. For the fancy glassware, pretend you're moving. Strong boxes and tissue paper. If you have packing peanuts or bubble wrap around the house, those are great too. Label the boxes and tape 'em up.

I didn't realize all the different delays I would have over tiles. I ended up with no heat in the Winter and nowhere to prep food. Just a microwave really, and a hot plate I couldn't stand to use without a vent.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is plan your temporary situation as if your remodel will last at least twice as long as you expect.

For packing up, start with the stuff you need least, like the glassware maybe, and start stashing boxes wherever you have a safe corner. If you don't have any place, rent a storage unit. And start packing tomorrow. Yes, two days before Christmas. Pack a box. Just one. A little one, even. And keep going. I think it took us 3-4 months of starting with the company dishes, until the kitchen, laundry and dining room were all packed up and stowed. That's working at it about 8 hours per week, mostly two people working together.

Rent a dumpster first and pitch, pitch, pitch or donate to Goodwill! It's unbelievable how much STUFF is in those cabinets you never use.

I bought LOTS of big sturdy plastic tubs with lids. I was shocked how much of our house/garage was overcome with kitchen stuff.

Our lower level family room was where we hung out. We had an 8 foot long folding table with our daily needed items......coffee pot (I can do without a LOT of things, but my coffee is NOT one of them!) paper plates, plastic silverware, paper towels, pills/vitamins, cereal, snacks etc. Kept all these items in two plastic bins.

We have a small beer fridge we kept lunch meats, milk, yogurt in. We did cereal for breakfast and sandwich/chips for lunch and went out for most dinners or brought home. For 3 months. Gets old really fast.

I also have a large collection of vintage Moser & RS Prussia art glass. Very delicate and valuable. I hand carried most of this up to a 2nd floor guest bedroom and put them on dressers and in dresser drawers. I could of invested in bubble wrap and packed it, but felt better just moving it far out of the line of fire.

Also invest in lots of plastic throws to put over all your furniture if you're doing any plastering. That dust gets over everything!

The only thing I would add which might seem obvious is to label the boxes! I thought I labeled everything really well, then part way through the reno tried to find something that was in a box that only had generic labelling. It also helps when you go to put everything away in your brand new kitchen.

Since our reno also included new hardwood through out the living areas, I knew there would be more dust than usual. I put sheets and plastic on everything. I even taped plastic over the built in bookcases to keep them clean and took down all the drapes. I also got a roll of that sticky back carpet protector and put it on the bedroom carpet areas that would get the most traffic.(our bedrooms are on the same floor as the kitchen) It is amazing how far that dust travels! When it was all over it really helped to just be able to take up the plastic and not worry about cleaning.
One other thing I found helpful is to put up plastic sheeting on the kitchen openings when they are going to be sanding drywall. Our GC was really good about this and it helped so much.

If I could do it over again, I would have packed up every pictures and decoration in all the adjacent rooms. Even with plastic and sheets hung, dust found it's way into every crevice. I have a feeling this dust will linger for months!

Stock up on A/C filters!!

I took all pictures off the walls and packed up all decorative items in every room on the first floor and also took pictures off the wall on the stairway to the 2nd floor. That helped when they were finished and I could start cleaning, I swiffered the ceilings and walls and could just put my pictures and stuff back.

I could pretty much say "ditto" to every single comment on here. We dove into the demo with such wild enthusiam that I really didn't plan the packing/storage/temp kitchen well at all. Even though it's worked out for the most part, that was really just luck and not good fore-planning. We still order in and eat out more then we should, but at least we know we don't HAVE to.

My house is small, no 1 room can hold the entire temporary kitchen. The bathroom has the only other sink in the house so we use a lot of paper/plastic products but do wash the coffee mugs, some real silverware and drink cups. We also have the coffee pot in there (obviously not the most sanitary setup) and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to fight with DH to put it back in the kitchen where it belongs when this whole thing is over. It's definitely the highlight of the demo process.
We have the microwave and toaster oven in the living room and the dry goods and flatware/serving stuff is in the computer room. The only room on the 1st floor that does not house any kitchen overflow is our bedroom :) We were able to pack up most of the kitchen and store it in the basement, all stuff I knew we wouldn't be using.
Oh and the fridge is still in the kitchen. We're just moving it around as we work.

I would've loved to be cooking on the grill the past month and a half that we've been without a kitchen but I have NO prep area and it's really just not worth the hassle. since we're DIY-ing this whole thing I'm too flipping tired at the end of the day to start worrying about what's for dinner, so it's just easier to order a pizza or go out for pasta.

Good luck!

I second what everyone has said about using this as an opportunity to pare down (and also perhaps see what you are missing or what needs to be replaced). We donated three boxes of kitchen stuff, and this was after a big move only 18 months ago!

We had a usable sink in the laundry, but when that was out of commission for a few days I was trucking dishes up to the bathtub. We used the grill a lot, and also the crockpot, MW, and toaster oven. We really missed having a cooktop/burner.

Here is a blog post with pictures of my temporary sunroom kitchen--we reused some of the old cabinets for storage:

Here is a link that might be useful: temporary kitchen

I second:
Expect everything to get dirty/dusty no matter how hard you try to keep it contained.
Check your electric where you are putting the temp kitchen - we tripped the breaker every time we tried to run the micro and the toaster oven at the same time.
Try to organize the packing. We're still looking for stuff.
Have a working sink. This was honestly the worst part of us. Washing in the bathroom got very old, very quick. Luckily our house used to be a 2 flat and the upstairs still has the kitchen sink. We actually hauled the dishes upstairs to wash.
Expect to eat out much more than you expect to. Unless you are really dedicated. I thought we were. We weren't.
Expect it to take much longer than everyone says it will. We were supposed to be done in July. We're wrapping up now. Part of this delay was a baby born in August ;)

Hmm. Thinking through it, the only additional thing I can think of is don't do this while expecting a baby! Though, having done both now, it's better than doing it right after having the baby =P

oh and one other thing...it's not just about planning for eating without a kitchen but general living without a kitchen too. If you store your mail/bills/reading material in the kitchen you'll need to make sure you have an organized space for that stuff too.

I always did my bills in the computer room and kept general mail and reading material in the kitchen....well without a kitchen that stuff made its way into the computer room and bills were getting lost in the shuffle. I wish I would've planned that out better as well.

Yes, ditto all the above! We moved out for 10 weeks (our reno went way beyond the kitchen) and brought along what we'd need for cooking for that time: the plastic 'lunch' dishes, a few basic cooking tools and pots/pans, towels and dish drainer. I ran back a few times for more stuff, but we lived with just the basics for those 10 weeks... and I learned what I can live without.

As others have said, count on the dust to be everywhere. Even though our builders covered and taped off doorways, and we covered all our stored furniture/dish boxes with tarps, they still got dusty! You will put your new DW to work when the kitchen is done, and your vacuum. If anyone in your home has dust allergies or asthma, you might want to count on a night or a few in a hotel when the builders start sanding the drywall tape.

Remove light fixtures and pictures from any walls in the paths between your kitchen and entrances to the house.

We packed much of our china and every day dishes in storage containers like the ones linked below, and either put into the buffet or plastic bins and/or covered with plastic tarps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dish storage containers

Everyone has given great advice. This might help too. First, lower your expectations, pretend like you are camping. Go ahead and user paper plates, cups and plastic wear. Realize that you are going to lose things ALL the time. Go ahead and eat out or get take out. You are saving money by living in your house. Many people move out during remodeling. Things are going to get dusty and dirtier than you can imagine.

As part of our remodel, we were without heat for several weeks, we were (and are) without a washer and dryer, we have only 1 bathroom for our family and the only sink is in our new master bath. Low expectation.....

If you have a basement or another room that isn't used as much, install a temp kitchen in there. Keep a cabinet or two to set your microwave on, put the fridge next to it, etc. That way you have cabinet space and albeit small, a bit of counter. Keep essentials in this for making sandwiches, etc that are easy. Nothing is more frustrating than being hungry and you can't find what you need at your fingertips!

Hopefully this room will either be near a laundry room (sink) or bathroom so that you can do dishes in either the wash sink or bathtub!

Have your contractor install plastic zippers so that if they or you need to go in and out of the room, you can do so easily and it does keep out the dust.
Also, I've used these dust mats when living in the house and having to walk through the space to get to other spaces, and they work amazingly well.

Here is a link that might be useful: stop tracking dust!

I had a temporary kitchen set up in the basement. Our old center island made a great counter to keep the coffee pot, toaster oven, and microwave. I got some shelving from the GC to keep most of my kitchen supplies on, which made the the cooking situation much more bearable. We did have the use of a large laundry type sink in the basement. I packed up all the dishes, glasses, and serving pieces. We ended up using plastic silverware and paper plates as time savers.

As far as cooking, I splurged on a rice cooker and wokked a lot of stir frys out in the garage. Buying precut veggies helped a lot. The stir frys were fast, fresh, easy and delicious. Other than that, we also grilled out. I can't stand most take out food, so I was very dedicated to home cooking.

This is a photo of the wall where I was able to use the shelving from my GC. I think we had 4 of these steel shelves. I kept my spices in shallow boxes so that I could access them for cooking.
{{!gwi}}

And this is our prep and cooking space on the old center island that we put in the basement. Not a ton of room, but functional.
{{!gwi}}

Good luck. And like everyone else says, it always takes longer than you expect.

We realized as we were planning our temp kitchen that we would not be able to use our old over-the-range microwave on a table, so we needed to go ahead and purchase the new one to use throughout the renovation.

One thing more: if you're having wood floors finished/refinished, if at all possible, plan to be away for a day or two when they are being done. The smell of the polyurethane is nigh unbearable. I'm getting a headache just remembering it.

--Amy

Lots of great advice here, but I'll just chime in with what worked for us. We set up a temporary kitchen in our dining room with a card table and cheap chairs. We had a crockpot (essential item!), a toaster, microwave, coffeemaker, rice cooker and our old fridge. We used our 2 of our old cabs and a piece of MDF as a counter/prep space. We used plasticware/paper plates. The sink issue was the hardest. We had to use the bathroom sink or the bathtub.

On the weekends, I would make stews/chili/chicken/meats in the crockpot and re-heat them for meals. I I also bought rotisserie chicken at the grocery and used that for lunches for the kids. We tried not to eat out that much but did occasionally.

I agree with trailgirl, it's sort of like camping. In a way it was easy for us because we love camping and roughing it, but the dust and noise was another story. With two little kids and a big dog, we tracked dust everywhere. I was constantly vacuuming. We were always sneezing and my allergies went nuts.

Here's our temporary space looked like:

If your workers are going to be using one of the household bathrooms/powder room - make sure you have old towels, a roll of kitchen paper or whatever. Mine were careful, but obviously didn't want to make a mess of my good towels: they were happy I had put a pile of old ones in there.

Temp. kitchen: simple rice cooker can also function as a crockpot, or simply as a pan to heat soup, or even boil pasta: you just have to keep clicking it back to "cook" when it goes over to "warm". With that and a single plug in ring, we cooked every night, for 6 weeks.

We moved the coffee machine upstairs to our bedroom, and used a thermos to hold milk. That way I could have my essential morning coffee before having to 'get respectable' when the workmen arrived: helped my sanity!

Good luck: and treat it as an adventure. We decided to make it a challenge to cook as well as we normally would, and it made for some great creativity and fun.

My advice would be to have a portable induction cook top. We also have a Breville toaster oven and our Keurig coffee maker and we were able to create most meals that we normally would have on a smaller scale. We are only two people so it was pretty easy to deal with. Also lots of Costco plastic plates ,cups and eating utensils.

Wow -- you guys are great! And now I'm even more worried than when I posed the question!

I hadn't thought about the effect of dust everywhere. Our TV room/library is right next to the kitchen, so now I'm thinking plastic tarps over bookshelves (or do I have to pack books, too?), over the TV, over the furniture (except when we're sitting there) and, I dunno, putting away the little speakers for the sound system. This is all made worse by the fact that we have a large dog and three parrots, who currently live in cages in a wide hall just off the kitchen. Clearly, those guys will have to move. Unfortunately, we don't have a spare bedroom.

This temp kitchen idea is going to take some thinking, too. No obvious place for that.

Fortunately, I have time. We're not at this stage yet, but I'm glad it occured to me to worry about it!

So...dare I ask....what's the average weight gain from eating out everyday for the duration of construction?

Lived the last six months with a toaster oven, an electric skillet and coffee maker in the laundry room which fortunately has a sink. The garage is adjacent and holds the second fridge. Cooked and washed dishes just about every day. Boiled pasta in the skillet, browned meatballs in the TO, combined with sauce in the skillet. Made rice, soup and veggies in the skillet. TO turned out pretty great meals: steaks, chicken, cornish hens, stuffing, pork roast, etc. Even had a few guests over for meals. Relied on prepared mashed potatoes instead of freshly made, but that was more because everything is still boxed waiting for post-construction to move-in. Liked the efficiency of the TO so much that I'm seriously thinking of a permanent upgrade despite my new double MasterChefs waiting to be used.

Yes, to dust, grit between your teeth, frustrations, etc. A little wine with dinner helps a lot some days. But the negatives will become a memory, and you'll have a great space to enjoy for years to come so hold on to the long view and gloss over the daily stuff. Good luck!

Go to a local liquor store and pick up some boxes, they have dividers that are great for protecting stemware, glasses, candle sticks and vases. Give a call and ask them not to break them down and you will come and get them. DIDO dust everywhere!! Cover your electronics, sofa's and chairs with plastic during day and leave sheets on when you use them at night. Also, a great tip my contractor recommended, leave a few 5 gallon buckets of water around the house, dust will migrate to water, just dump every morning and add fresh water... really helped :-) good luck

Just be sure you don't do TOO good a job with setting up the temporary kitchen. Every time my husband sees me turning out a solid meal, with little fuss, in the hallway "kitchen," (most recently while I was deglazing the George Foreman grill after using it to sear the pot roast, and getting all the fond into the crock pot with the meat) he comments with a wink, "So just why are we spending all this money on a big kitchen?"

Mnerg that does sound impressive...I LOVE my George Foreman but have never heard searing and deglazing used to describe the cooking experience. Your DH is quite lucky.

@seaduck, how extensive is your project? Ours was relatively simple, and we really didn't have big dust issues. Demo day for sure, so we stayed out of the house that day and had dinner out that night. But after that, it was pretty minimal. We did keep the kitchen door closed (harder if you have an open layout so maybe more of a problem there) and we did get a fine layer of dust in the dining room (next to kitchen) from demo and other related sawing---but it really hasn't been a problem. The bigger issue was just tracking dust and dirt around the house because we had to go through the kitchen to get outside, so for a while we used the front door and made the dog go around through the side yard. But once the floor was in, we went back to going through the kitchen as usual, and it was fine. However, we only took down one wall and did not take our walls down to the studs in most places, so if you're doing more extensive work, YMMV.

Don't start a renovation just before the holidays! Ours started about 3 weeks ago and should finish up mid January. Initially it should have finished before Christmas. We're doing a lot of odds and ends including new flooring in the living family room, kitchen, all main areas except the bedrooms. (Sorry, but not completely OT since we are getting flooring in the kitchen).

Now all of our furniture is piled in our bedrooms, we are living in half concrete/half tiled floors, there is no place to sit so we can't have guests over and wow, is it dusty--every.single. place. The dust is even in cabinets before the kitchen tile was demo'ed.

We have been living on Panera, Chipotle, etc but the guys are finishing early tomorrow so I will attempt to cook!

It will all be worthwhile but I am sure it will take a month or longer for the dust to be gone.

Gsmama, I've had a lot of practice with the borrowed George Foreman, given we haven't had a working stove since moving into this house last April. I'll be happy to give the it back to my MIL when the new range gets hooked up. (Cabinets came yesterday, and are in except for the moldings!)

buddysmom: don't worry -- we have a long way to go before we start, so no danger of demolition in the next three days!

Artemis: It's extensive enough. We're keeping cabinets, tho' they need new hardware and paint. New countertops. New refrig, sink. New flooring. The walls right now are a combo of wallpaper and plastic laminate (fullheight pl. lam. backsplashes from counter to upper cabs) on top of drywall, so that will have to be stripped and patched and then painted. We redid the ceiling lighting and replaced the cooktop and dishwasher a few years ago.

Even if you put a dust 'tarp' over your furniture, etc. tape it down to the floor and try and make sure that the plastic is the really large size so there are no gaps.

I plan to dust the larger spaces and excess dust from the plastic before it is pulled up and then touch up afterwards.

As far as eating out all the time and you are not used to it, I've found the best thing is to:
1) Eat at semi-self serve locations. I don't feel pressured to order as much food as I would from a waiter.
2) If you are two people dining out, order two dinner salads and share one entree. Or...if you are a solo diner, eat half and take half home to heat the next day in the micro.
3) Or if circumstances permit, order a large lunch, eat half and take the rest home for dinner that evening.
4) Try to eat like you would at home. Do you make a lot of sauces at home? If no, then don't order items heavy with sauces when you eat out or get it on the side. Don't eat bread with every meal? Then ask the waiter not to leave it on the table. Don't temp yourself. Little things like this can be real calorie savers as there are a lot of hidden calories in dining-out-food.

It takes a bit of discipline when eating out everyday. The first fourteen years of living with Honeybunny, we ate out seven days a week so I was pretty conscientious about weight gain. For the past several years, our daily routine has changed dramatically and as a result, we eat substantial lunches and very, very light dinners so coping with our evening meal situation has not been too difficult.

Pepper
~ Suffering from floor tile trauma...with a smile on my face. : )

I agree about sauce and dressing on the side and skipping the bread. I also try to leave some for leftovers so that I don't have to worry about lunch the next day or can just have a can of soup alongside my leftovers. We are at the 10 day mark and it is already getting old to eat out so much. I have cooked a few meals, but the clean up in a bathroom is a real pain.
Yesterday, we ate at TGI Fridays and they had a combo meal wth an app or salad, an entree and dessert. I asked for 2 salads instead of dessert and had the dressing on the side. It felt good to eat more like I would at home and we will probably go back again soon and use the same strategy.

do not pack away your favorite cast iron skillet because it is so heavy. you will miss it! and remember the renovation will take at least twice as long as they tell you!

I think you'll be okay with dust given the extent of your work---that's less extensive than ours (total gut) so if you're keeping the cabinets and just stripping/patching the walls rather than knocking down old plaster or popcorn ceilings, it will be far less dusty than it would be otherwise. Floors will depend on what you're putting in---if it's wood and you're sanding, that will be dusty from what I've heard. We did linoleum, which was pretty dust-free. Once it was in and the walls were patched, it was smooth sailing---cabinetmakers did minimal sawing.

Agreed on the cast iron skillet, too. We kept out all the cookware that would fit on our single burner or toaster oven, and that was terrific to have. Frittatas, roasted vegetables, pies, biscuits, spaghetti---all relatively simple with single pots. Also tapped into Trader Joe's frozen foods and local takeout spots a lot (much cheaper than actually eating out). Local bakery makes half-baked chicken pot pies, and local pizza place does half-baked deep dish pizza---both worked in the toaster oven. Quesadillas worked well on the single burner. Jiffy cornbread mix bakes up very well in the toaster oven, and goes well with canned chili. I also froze a bunch of soup before we started, so we had that once a week for the first month or so. We would have grilled a lot had we started before rainy season, but didn't manage that---oh, well!

A lot of good advice. We lived without a kitchen for 6 months. I missed the sink the most.

Some other thoughts:
Set up a coffee bar/wine bar in the master bedroom. A dorm size fridge and a cheap coffee pot can help you feel more civil in your sanctuary.

Crockpots are great. Plan crock pot meals and your life will be easier. Be careful where you set the crockpot...it can damage nice wood furniture.

See if you can get invites to friends houses for dinner. Promise them you'll return the favor when your kitchen is done. Sometimes just getting out of the house and having a real meal in a non-construction zone house can help lift the spirits.

Shop online for 1/2 price restaurant gift certificates. Restaurant.com is one option but there are a lot of others out there. We tried a lot of new places in our area because of this.

Get a toaster oven that is big enough for frozen pizzas. Trust me on this. Frozen pizza can be a life saver when you need a quick meal. Salad in a bag and pizza and a bottle of wine saved many nights for us.

Keep a sense of humor. It will all be worth it in the end.

Oh yeah, and about the weight gain...I added 15 pounds. Ouch! I didn't worry about it too much. I was too stressed out from a DIY kitchen project, working full time, taking care of kids plus I am taking night classes at a local college too. I simply didn't have time worry about the weight gain.

But I did have a plan for getting it off when the kitchen was done. We committed to not eating out at all for the first month after the kitchen was done. We did this to break the habit. After that we limited eating out to once a week and that included lunches out.

I also found a fabulous online/mobile tool to help me track calories. Online the website is called FatTracker.com. On mobile the app is called Calorie Counter. The 2 link together. You enter your goal weight and calories you want per day...in my case 1,200. Everything you eat, you log...the program knows the calories of most foods. It also can track your exercise and give you a net for the day (calories in minus calories expended). I diligently tracked and lost 40 pounds so...off came the weight I gained during construction plus some more. I weigh less than I did when I was in my early 20s. Can't say enough good about this program to help one become aware of the calories of what they are eating.

Even with eating out/ordering in as much as we have over the passed 6 weeks (avg 4 times a week) I managed to lose almost 5 lbs so far :) I guess it helps that we're DIYing the whole renovation. I spend most nights (especially weekend nights) going to bed so sore like I was at the gym for hours!

I think it helped that we're doing it over the holidays because I haven't been able to bake and I can actually enjoy a few cookies at work and taste test what my mom gives us without feeling guilty and coming home to eat my own stuff.

artemis - I can't believe you put the idea for chicken pot pie in my head when I am trying to be good, lol.

Since I would usually be making several batches of Xmas cookies and many pounds of rainbow cookies in Dec, and since we are out of our kitchen, that should save me a bunch of calories. I have been trying to eat the food from our pantry and freezer a lot, so have not grocery shopped much at all since reno started and mostly bough fresh fruit and veggies. I had planned on big batch cooking leading up to the demo, but got surprised when demo moved up by 3 weeks. In the days before demo, there was so much packing to do that we ended up eating out or taking in to not slow us down with the job at hand.
Our radio station has a half price deals section which I took advantage of, but today I got an email that they are an additional 50% off with the special coupon code. Keep an eye out for similar savings in your inbox. For instance, I got 2 $50 gift certificates to a restaurant for $30 ($25 plus $5 for "shipping"). The pizza place we like got us 4 $25 ones for the same $30. You really can't beat that! Discover card pays back 5% on restaurants, so there is a little help there too.

--Get a good shop vac.
--Buy two or three fluorescent colored tape measures and write your name on each one.
--Buy a couple extra brooms and dust pans. Get plenty of blue tape, duct tape, adhesive tape. Get a couple sharpie pens and couple fattie markers and put your name on all of them or tape spoons to the ends of them.
--Decide where you're going to store the old flattened cardboard boxes so they're handy when you need them.
--Decide where the various kinds of waste will go--wood, plastic wraps, sawdust, etc.
--Make notes of where you stored stuff--where did that turkey platter go? In what crevice will you be stuffing the rubber boots or the Easter baskets? (If you know which of the boxes in the mound in my basement contains Christmas stuff, let me know.) If you buy stuff in anticipation of its installation, decide what thoughtful place it's going to be in temporarily and tell others! (How silly--I have a wonderful vintage lighting fixture which might be right there in the jumble of boxes, but which box? And meanwhile, I had to waste a precious afternoon just to buy a $60 standby piece because the electrical inspector was coming! I'll probably be living with it for years.)
____

Be sure you have truly finished the decision making. Don't put off things because there is a birthday party and a school project and you're stressed at work. The kitchen timetable can't wait for you to have a good day. Allocate time to think clearly--put it in the calendar if necessary, whether it's go-to things like visiting a showroom or the HD, or a conversation with spouse, or a second look at Aunt Jane's fabulous XYZ, or a final, really thoughtful look at all the plans, specs, etc.

Be sure you have made sensible final decisions as to siting of electrical switches, lighting fixtures, electric plugs. THINK! This part of the work is very very hard to undo once it's buried inside walls and the guy with the talent and the license has left the premises. Think through the 3-way switches, the overlarge banks of switches, the actuality of when you will want to turn something off or on. You can't say later, "oh, by the way, let's just change X." Electrical stuff is more lasting and important to your daily life in a kitchen than a paint color or the size of the soffet or the placing of the sink sprayer but you probably spent less time planning it.

And the great suggestions just keep on coming! Thank you, everyone!

Florantha -- this is a good list; hadn't thought about some of this stuff. And I suspect your caution about things electrical is a good one...I've been thinking we could figure some of that out as we go.

As for all the toaster oven/George Foreman chefs: you guys are impressive. When I was in school (and this was before today's foodie culture), I knew two guys who ran a catering business out of their dorm room, mostly for faculty parties. They cooked everything with a 70s equivalent of a toaster oven. So I know it's possible.

One last thought---have a separate, designated area for any kitchen junk that's purchased before it's needed (faucets, sinks, etc.)---ours just went into our dining room because we hadn't left any good places for it (had filled everywhere else up with boxes!), which meant it was always underfoot. If I ever do this again I would designate a corner of a room just for things related to the reno (including tape measures, screwdrivers, etc. that aren't in active use), so they can be easily found. We even had the permit get buried at one point, so it wasn't on hand when the inspector was there---not good! Luckily he remembered the last visit and let it slide!

Get a large folder/holder where you put all pieces of paper related to the reno (business cards, packing papers accompanying purchases, estimates, bills, etc.). Have a notebook where you write all notes related to the reno (keep a few blank pages at the front for names and numbers of people and suppliers so you can find contact info quickly). The notebook lives in the folder. Every piece of paper related to the reno goes in the folder immediately. Both should be larger than you think you need. Over time you can organize them as you need but the key thing is that if you need a piece of paper, you know it is in there somewhere