Surviving Your Home Renovations
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No matter how organized you are, living in your home while renovations are underway can be stressful. This is especially true when it is a large or heavily used area, like the kitchen. I’m going to walk you through some tips that I learned while we were working on our home renovations, so hopefully yours will go as smoothly as possible!
One Room at a Time:
Tackling more than one room at a time can be extremely overwhelming, especially if they are larger areas that the whole family uses. Sometimes you can’t avoid this if you are working on an open concept area. This was the case for us, as we wanted to take down 3 walls to open up our kitchen to the dining and living room area. Luckily, we had other rooms that were either already updated or didn’t need to be updated. Before we moved in, we worked quickly to get everyone’s bedroom finished, which was easy because it was just fresh paint and new flooring. We also finished the hallway leading to the bedrooms, and completed one full bath. The shower in the master bath was not finished, but we still had the vanity and toilet. We just used the shower in the other full bathroom that we made sure to also have finished before moving into our home. Once we moved in, we finished updating the basement so that we could have a clean space to escape to when drywall dust became an issue (it gets on EVERYTHING). All of this really helped us stay out of everyone’s way while they were working on the kitchen, and it gave us a sense of normalcy to have spaces that were not completely torn apart.
Set Up a Temporary Kitchen:
This can be tricky, but with a little creativity, you can make it work for your family! As we unpacked items for some of the finished rooms, we refilled our storage tubs with items that would not be affected by changes in temperature. I really like large storage tubs with lids that latch closed. We were able to move these items out onto the back porch so that they were out of the way. This really helped eliminate some of the clutter that can accumulate. We also used a bookshelf to hold all of our pantry items and any other utensils that we needed. We set up a small card table with a microwave, toaster oven, and air fryer. I put the coffee maker on an end table right by the couch for easy access in the morning! Finally, we signed up for a DashPass with DoorDash, which was super helpful at times where we just needed an actual meal
Our temporary kitchen during our big kitchen remodel.
Consider the Weather:
If you are renovating during warmer or even slightly cool months like summer and fall, you’ll be able to enjoy the outdoors as an escape from the renovation mess going on inside! It can also be nice to open up the windows and air out the house, especially if any chemicals are being used during your renovation. Who doesn’t like a little fresh air every now and then?
Recruit Family & Friends for Help:
We are lucky to have family close by to help with meals. My in laws made some freezer meals like lasagna and chili that we could simply reheat in the microwave. They also took our girls out to eat every once in a while, and we would sometimes go over to other people’s houses for dinner.
Try to Keep a Normal Routine:
Keeping some sense of normalcy amidst the chaos can be helpful for your mental health. If you are used to waking up, sipping your coffee, and getting in a quick workout before starting your day-keep this up! Try to keep as many things normal for you and your family as you can. It will help everyone feel like that have a little more control in their lives.
Declutter as Much as Possible:
This is the part that always stressed me out the most. There just wasn’t anywhere to put things that came through the door. Things like mail, papers from school, groceries, the occasional gift, the kids’ backpacks, and other personal belongings can be very difficult to keep organized; adding to an already stressful situation. I found that anything not needing immediate attention could go in a tub in a corner of a room somewhere until we are ready to start unpacking after the reno. Try to set up some sort of “command center” for important things like bills, school projects, etc. Set up some temporary (or permanent) spaces where people can keep their belongings. Finally, throw away junk and trash as soon as possible. It will only add to the clutter and the stress. Check out more tips on how to declutter by clicking here.
Hopefully you found some of these ideas to be helpful for you and your family during your home renovation! Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I’m happy to help as best I can!
