Renovating any aspect of your home can be a massive undertaking, but the kitchen, as it is one of the most used rooms of the house, can be extra tricky to navigate.
A kitchen remodel is not just a renovation; it’s a transformation that can elevate your home life. It’s an opportunity to enjoy a room that is purpose-built to your needs and incorporate a design that serves your life and family in a more personal and unique way. It’s little wonder why kitchens are the most renovated rooms in the home. They not only offer a more valuable investment for homeowners looking to boost the value of their property (a 2023 survey from Remodelling Magazine found that for every $100 you spend on kitchen renovations, you can increase the value of your home by $37) but also increase their enjoyment of their homes. This significant return on investment can give you confidence in your decision to renovate.
Planning a kitchen renovation can be a huge undertaking in itself. A custom kitchen design takes time and expert advice to put together, and working with expert designers and remodeling service providers can be of great value at this point. Their expertise can guide you through the process, ensuring that your vision is realized and your needs are met. But what comes next—preparing your house for the work—is all on you and can be just as huge an undertaking as the planning and design of what your new kitchen will look like.
These tips are designed to help you prepare for the disruption that a kitchen renovation can cause. By following these guidelines, you can ensure a smoother experience throughout the duration of the work, even when your kitchen is out of bounds.
Declutter
It can be a great idea to start decluttering your kitchen and look at what you are storing in tera, what you need or use, or what you’re just hoarding and getting it all organized and decluttered before your new kitchen is installed. Think of it as you’re packing up and moving home. What do you want to take with you to a new house, and what is taking up space you don’t want or need? Take some time to declutter and clear out the kitchen before your new kitchen is ready to be installed.
Storage Space
You’re going to need to move all of your appliances and equipment, food, beverages, utensils, and everything from your kitchen. This can be somewhat of an issue if you only have a small home, so this is the ideal time to address any storage issues you might be coming up against. Do you have space in your home to reappropriate your kitchen belongings to another room? Where will you store your refrigerator while it needs to be rehomed elsewhere for essential work? Can you navigate boxes in your home? Do you have space to set up a temporary kitchen, and where will it go?
It can be a good idea to consider hiring a storage container for a short period. While you likely won’t want to store your kitchen belongings in there, you can store other items from your home that you need to move to make room for your kitchen in other rooms.
Look at how you will navigate your home while your kitchen work is being carried out, identify what you can live without for this period; remember some work like a new kitchen with extension will take longer than smaller kitchen remodels, and then identify how you can live around increased items in the rest of your home. It’s also important to be prepared for unexpected issues that may arise during the renovation. Have a contingency plan in place and be ready to adapt to changes to minimize disruptions and delays.
Temporary Kitchen
If possible, you need to set up a temporary kitchen so you can still cook or prepare basic meals in the home. It might be that you clear a unit off in one room to add a microwave or use it for food prep, or you rearrange one room to accommodate a small kitchen-style space that is still functional. However, you need to be able to easily navigate the space and use your home without a kitchen, so this might not be possible in some cases. But it’s worth assessing your home to see where you can house a temporary kitchen to use.
Living Arrangements
Not everyone wants to or is able to live at home with no kitchen. For some or all of the work, it can be a good idea to look at living outside of the home to help you avoid the massive disruption it can have. It might be a great idea to book a vacation, stay with family, book an Airbnb, or do anything else that allows you to not live at home through some of the more disruptive work.
Never underestimate how much of an upheaval it can be to live at home while you have extensive work being carried out. Even if it’s only going to take a week to 10 days for example, If you’re without cooking facilities or part of your home is out of bounds, it can be massively limiting. Then, add to this that if you have children or pets at home, it can be even more complex and overwhelming.
For example, you can choose to reside only on one floor of your home, so you do not need to be anywhere in the kitchen. You might want to visit your parents for a week or leave the country. It’s entirely up to you, but be realistic about the chaos that can come with kitchen renovations and your lifestyle to make appropriate accomodations and living arrangements for this time.
Meal Prep
It goes without saying that you won’t be able to cook as normal during the kitchen remodel. That’s a given. So now is the ideal time to do some meal prep so you have easy-to-access meals that don’t require extensive preparation. If you’re still going to have access to a refrigerator and freezer as well as a way to heat meals, then you can spend some time prepping meals so you can heat and eat without relying on eating out or ordering take out every single day. Alternatively, plan easy, no-cook meals that your family enjoys eating while you have no workable kitchen. But even prepping for a few days or a week can be massively helpful and give you options to limit disruption.
Clear A Path
Contractors will be coming and going through your home constantly for the duration of the work, so you need to make sure that you remove any personal belongings or anything that impacts their access to this path. Create a clear path; again, look at it like you’re moving home and remove everything from the entrance to the kitchen and any other access points they need.
Cover these spaces with dust protectors to limit damage to flooring and walls and keep the dust from entering other rooms. But making everything as clear as possible and free from obstructions can not only ensure nothing gets in the way but also reduce the risk of anything getting damaged. Remember to remove furniture, storage options, pet accessories, artwork off walks, light fittings, and anything else that can be removed.
Change Your Mindset
Home renovations can be incredibly tough. However, one aspect that can often cause much frustration is the timeline.
When you’re given a timeline or duration for the work to be completed, it can be too easy to put your hopes on that specific date, and then, if things don’t go according to plan, it can cause significant disruption.
Instead of seeing the completion date as a set-in-stone time, like a birthday, think of it as an estimation instead. Plan, for the worst, hope for the best. If you change your mindset from thinking things will be over on the completion date, tell yourself it will be a week longer.
Instead of hoping for a smooth run, think of all the things that can go wrong and prepare yourself for the worst possible outcome of the work taking place. This way, the minor issues that will probably crop up won’t seem as big or delayed as disappointing.
Limit Visitors
Now is not the time to be having people in your home. So try as much as possible to limit visitors, use this time to visit other people’s homes, meet up at external venues, or simply ask people not to come to your homes until the work is completed. You will have enough going on at home, and your family life will be impacted due to work being carried out for this period without trying to host others in your home. Tell your close family and friends and anyone else you regularly have at your home that you need to meet at other locations for this time frame so you do not have to worry about people dropping by unexpectedly.
