Post 4: Prep Is the Most Painful Part

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New year, new kitchen

I started 2022 off with my kitchen renovation. It was planned to occur between Jan 10 – Feb 24^th. That meant around 7 weeks of noise and commotion, so I would need to find a place for my little friend Zooey (my skittish cat) to live during this time. Luckily my Dad was able to take Zooey, and she actually ended up being there for ten weeks! There was possibly going to be ten days when he would be away in February, but that didn’t happen thanks to the rise in Omicron cases.

Once I had deposited Zooey with her grandpa in Barrie, I started packing up my kitchen. It felt like moving, but I was not going anywhere, so it was a strange feeling. I bought some Rubbermaid totes, emptied all my cabinets, and stored the items in my basement. It looked like I was on an episode of Hoarders! I also found a menagerie of cat’s toys, and a missing turkey baster top under my sofa. Thanks Zooey. 🙂

Temp kitchen for the win

My renovation savvy friend, the one who referred me to Debby at Timeless, loaned me a mini fridge and microwave that she had used throughout her renovation. She came by the Sunday before my renovation to help me set-up a mini kitchen in my guest room, a dishwashing station in my guest bathroom, and a living room with TV in my bedroom. Her lessons learned from her renovation helped me create the perfect temporary set-up that carried me through the renovation. It looked like a little apartment upstairs and honestly was larger than several of my previous living spaces throughout my university life. 🙂 I even moved my wine fridge into my office, so after a long day at work, I could reach over and grab a glass of wine!

Rookie Tip: I purchased a collapsible sink from Amazon to wash my dishes in my bathtub. It was a life saver as I didn’t have water in my kitchen for the entirety of the renovation! It had a drain so i could empty the water easily. I also placed a small plastic table with a dish rack in my tub to dry the clean dishes as well. This in addition to my mini fridge, microwave, and toaster oven, helped me prepare some light meals, instead of ordering takeout every night. Who am I kidding? I ordered a lot of takeout too 🙂