How to Live through Renovation (with Video)

Mom and I both started our home renovations within the past 4 months…we are slightly crazier than your typical duo, but I think it’s a perfect opportunity to show two VERY DIFFERENT perspectives on how to live through home renovation! Regardless if you’re doing the work yourself, or hiring it out, a home remodel is still a lot of work and effort! These tips will apply to you varyingly depending on the scale of your renovation, but I do believe they will make the process a little easier.

1. DON’T TOTALLY GIVE UP ON LIVING CLEAN (aND LIFE IN GENERAL)

Your home might be in shambles (literally!), but you’ll still need to maintain a sense of normalcy. Find a space that you can keep clean and make it your sanctuary. It’s easy to let the construction mess spill over into other areas of your life…we found ourselves two weeks out on laundry, late to work and eating extra unhealthy meals. This in turn affected our mood and our productivity. It’s a scary cycle to get caught up in.

Even when Andrew and I first bought our fixer upper we knew we were going to renovate at some point so we totally let ourselves go…We lived in a total mess rather than living in our normal routine until we start begin construction. At one point I just realized we needed to get it together while we plan. I started doing the laundry and cleaning the house and even putting items in their place…I know that seems so silly when you’re just going to knock down walls, but it’s so important to make yourself comfortable even in temporary conditions. There’s a reason this tip is first!

2. MEAL PREP

There is nothing more exciting than ripping out an old kitchen and demoing away all the dated features…but there’s also nothing more challenging than living kitchenless for 2-3 months…Mom has great tips for living without a kitchen, because she admittedly did it all wrong. The results were a BEAUTIFUL new kitchen + a few pounds on the scale. One day I caught her with a bag of carry out on her night stand and a jar of tartar sauce on the dresser…Missing a kitchen can really change your diet routine 😂

My best suggestion is to make a little kitchen area, even if it’s in your bedroom. Put a microwave, coffee maker, paper plates and silverware to make due. Eating out is fun as a night out, but every meal gets old. I never thought I would utter the words, “I’m SO sick of eating out.” These are a few of my best tips for meals during renovation when your kitchenless:

Explore healthier options (at first, you’ll want to eat all the guilty pleasures, but quickly you’ll be feeling repercussions)
Portion your take out meal in half (often times, order sizes are SO large, you can split it up for dinner and lunch the following day)
Don’t Forget About Grocery Stores (we frequent Sprouts for their salad bar, hot items like rotisserie chicken, and soup stations). Head to the store and get creative with sandwiches and salads!
Find friends/family that love you that will make you dinner in their fully functioning kitchen a couple times during the process. People, if you know someone going through a remodel, help a friend out and make them a home cooked meal! It is heaven sent!

3. PATIENCE IS KEY

It might (will) take longer than you think. Renovation is character building. At the end of this process you will have a beautiful home and the patience of a saint. Follow up with your contractors to try to stay on schedule, but have grace and be patient. It will be worth it!

4. BE PRESENT

Peek in a lot. Get involved. Ask questions. It’s your house! Don’t be afraid to peek in on your project (I do ALL DAY LONG!) or ask questions or voice concerns. Being present will move things along and allow you to make sure those details don’t go unnoticed. Being involved has created an open line of communication with all of our subcontractors where they’ve introduced ideas to me I never would have thought of, plus I have a peace of mind that they understand what my vision is. I might not understand every technical thing about construction, but I don’t let that hold me back from asking questions.

5. ENJOY THE PROCESS

I know, I know that’s a cheese ball tip! Truly it’s the best advice. Creating home should be a joy. Have grace in the process, laugh a lot at the chaos and remember it’s an adventure with many round bumps. I’m writing this in the middle of renovation living in my parent’s upstairs with my three dogs and husband. There are many days where I ask myself “WHAT WAS I THINKING?” But I’m so excited for the outcome and to be able to make improvements to my home/neighborhood and inspire others to do the same. WE CAN DO THIS PEOPLE! I’m writing this blog post to give myself a pep talk. It’s more for me than it is for you.

What are your renovation tips? I’m needing your tips my friends!

Happy renovating!