Temporary Kitchen Setup Advice
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Hi everyone! We’re about to start a full kitchen renovation that will take several weeks, and we need advice on how to set up a functional temporary kitchen in another part of the house. We’ll have no access to our sink and stove during the reno. We have a living room and dining room which is on the same floor as the kitchen and will be protected from the dust with plastic. We also have a basement.
What essentials should we prioritize in a temporary kitchen? Any tips for organizing appliances (microwave, hot plate, toaster oven, etc.) in a small space? How do you handle washing dishes without a proper sink? Any other hacks or lessons learned from your own kitchen renos? Where should you move the fridge? How do you recommend storing the contents of our current kitchen cabinets as they are being demolished too? We’d love to hear your experiences and suggestions! Thanks in advance! |
Anonymous
|
Do you have an outdoor grill? We ended up using that 90% of the time for cooking. It was just easier.
Washing dishes is the worst part. I limited everyone to one plate, one fork, one cup, and theoretically they were supposed to wash their own. We also had a plastic dishpan to collect dishes and transport them to the bathroom for washing. Pans were really hard to wash in the bathroom sink which is part of why I just used the grill constantly. We also ate a lot of sandwiches and takeout. I would probably set up the kitchen in your basement, especially if you have a sink down there. Also, the plastic does an Ok job of protecting the living areas from dust, but it is not perfect. Put anything extra away before construction begins (throw pillows, knick knacks, consider rolling up carpets). Anything you leave out may need to be cleaned afterward. Think about where the guys will store the supplies and materials they will be using in the kitchen. In our case that was the dining room, so that wasn't really usable either. By a month in you will be so sick of it, but it ends eventually and then you forget about the process. Good luck. |
Anonymous
|
We cleared out furniture in a very small dining room and set that up as a temporary kitchen. On One wall we set up counter height commercial wire shelving (ordered from Webstaurant dot com ) that we used for the microwave, breville countertop convection oven/air fryer, and we put a few cutting boards on top of one side to make a small “counter space” area. On the shelves under the counter we had plastic storage drawers and lidded bins for kitchen supplies paper towel etc. the Fridge was in same room on a perpendicular wall, and we moved in a large bookcase to serve as our pantry. It was summer so we were able to set up an outdoor sink.
If you drink tea or coffee, rent a water cooler with hot water capacity. I got that idea from houzz forums and it was great. We also ordered meal kits that were easy to assemble and bake so that we wouldn’t have to eat takeout all the time . Lean into disposable products; we stocked up on various paper takeout containers and bowls and disposable utensils to minimize dishes . |
Anonymous
| We just finished our kitchen Reno. We used paper plates and cutlery. Washed the few regular dishes/utensils in our laundry sink. We never used our hot plate but did use our toaster oven and microwave. |
Anonymous
Also, we set up the temp kitchen in our basement. |
Anonymous
|
Can your builder rig up a temp sink for you in your temporary kitchen? Ours did one in our dining room. They used some of the kitchen cabinets that we were pulling out and got a cheap countertop from Home Depot. I forget if the sink was our old one or a HD cheapie. They also put our outgoing fridge in the space. We didn't hook up the ice maker. I used boxes for our pantry type items.
We kept all of our plastic/melamine dishes and cups. Same with tupperware. Totally agree with the person who said to grill a lot! I learned to grill everything. Microwave and toaster oven were also key. (toaster alone wasn't enough). If you're a crockpot person, buy the liners. I made a habit of cutting/chopping/prepping a lot of things at once to minimize dishes. So, dice the whole onion and put it into the fridge for later. I also bought some prepared veggies or the bags of salad already washed. We used the microwave for tea and had our coffee maker in our space with disposable filters. Get some paper cups and plastic utensils for when you really can't deal. My kids missed things like pasta and pancakes. Also, taco shells really do burn when you heat them in a toaster oven! Good luck and I hope your kitchen turns out beautifully! |
Anonymous
| One more tip: we happened to have an old small dorm fridge and we set it up in our temporary kitchen. It was super useful. Our full-size fridge was set up in the dining room, which was inside the plastic-sealed work zone, so not easily accessible during the workday and a long way from the temp kitchen. Having a small fridge with the things we needed in the temp kitchen was great for breakfast and lunch especially. If your setup is similar I would try to borrow one for the reno. |
Anonymous
|
We just went through kitchen reno. It was just two of us at home and I can only imagine how challenging it would be if we had small kids at home.
We set up makeshift kitchen in our dining room. Microwave, coffee maker and toaster were our only appliances. The crew moved our fridge into breakfast area of kitchen so we had access to that. We planned on using paper plates but ultimately we ended up using our daily dishes and utensils. We had a small bin under the table and end of day we’d do dishes in our mudroom utility sink. Sounds like an awful chore but it was just like when we stay at a small lake cottage…but with no view. 🙂 It was tough not doing true cooking but we did do a fair amount of carry out. Best of luck with your kitchen! It’ll be worth it! |
Anonymous
|
We did this in an apartment and used the dining room as a temporary kitchen. We moved the fridge in there and set up a console table with a toaster oven, microwave, coffee maker, and hot water kettle.
We stored most of the contents of the kitchen cabinets in big plastic bins that we piled in a corner, plus we set up temporary shelving for non-perishable pantry items and a bare bones selection of dishes, mugs, glasses, etc. Dishes were washed in the powder room sink. I will be honest about two things: (1) I'm generally against disposable plates, etc., but we kept a supply on hand to make life easier during that period; and (2) we ate out and had dinner delivered fairly often. Our renovation took five months, but it was well worth the hassle! |
Anonymous
| I had a laundry sink in the basement and was able to hook up the dishwasher to it. |
Anonymous
|
Or renovation took 4 months. We set up a temporary kitchen and dining area in the basement, as our regular dining room and living room were part of the renovation.
For appliances, we had: Ninja air fryer / toaster oven combo (this was awesome for fish & chips, chicken cutlets or tenders, toast for breakfast, and so much more - definitely the workhorse appliance) Microwave Plug-in induction burner (great for making pasta, which my kids could live on) Slow cooker (definitely get liners to make clean-up easier) The only problem was that running any two appliances at the same time would blow a breaker, so I had to plan any cooking to only use a single appliance. We also grilled a lot. For dishes, we tried using a bathroom sink - but honestly I ended up finding it easier to just set up another card table with two Rubbermaid bins. Fill one with hot soapy water, the next with hot clean water for rinsing. Really wipe each dish off with a rag before putting it in the soapy bin. Drying rack next to them. We used a lot of paper plates. I gave up on being environmentally conscious for 4 months. We also got an easy takeout at least once a week - and usually ordered enough to have leftovers for lunch a couple of times. |
Anonymous
|
We set up our temporary kitchen in our garage that had adjacent access to a powder room for the sink. But we moved the old fridge in there, set up a table with a microwave, toaster oven and hot plate. We used a lot of plastic and paper plates, grilled and ate out a lot. For anything large we needed to wash we used the set tub in the basement. Dining table was set up in the family room. Our reno took 6 months from spring to fall.
|
Anonymous
| Air fryer. |
Anonymous