Clean up Your Kitchen Renovation
No matter how big or small a renovation, it can create a mess that easily spreads throughout your house. When you’re living in your home during the work, it can create tremendous stress as you try to go about your daily life while contractors are in and out.
A little planning and extra work ahead of time will help you keep the non-construction areas of your home clean and functional during the renovation. It may seem like just another “extra” to take care of when you plan for the rest of your renovation, but you’ll really appreciate a place away from the mess and chaos of the work once it starts.
Pre-planning and keeping your house as clean and organized as possible will also help when the reno is complete. You can jump into decorating and enjoying your new space without it taking forever to clean up the disaster. So, if you’re planning a renovation, use the following suggestions to keep things as functional as possible.
1. Plan how you’ll keep kids and pets safe during the work
Before you start your plan for surviving living in your home during a renovation, take inventory of your family and your specific needs. Do you have small children? Pets? Having a place to keep them safely secured, away from the power tools, mess, and other dangers are crucial to reducing your stress during a renovation.
Designate the areas of the house that will be strictly off-limits until the renovation is done, and then come up with solutions to keep them out of the work zone. Baby gates, locked doors, or some other means of ensuring they stay safe are crucial to being able to relax in the midst of a project.
2. Figure out approximately how long the project will take
Knowing what to expect can help you formulate your plan to survive living in a construction zone. Although this is important for any project, it is especially crucial if you are remodeling a kitchen. The kitchen is the heart of the home, and having it unusable for a while can create hardships. After all, you and your family still have to eat. Have a plan for how to handle meals while the kitchen is out of commission. Some options include:
Prepare and freeze meals that only need to be heated up, then set up a microwave cart with utensils, paper plates, and anything else you might need outside the work zone. You can continue to eat healthy, homemade food, without trying to cook in the middle of a remodel. A folding table or outdoor patio set can serve as a dining room if that is part of the work area as well.
Decide on take-out options for the duration of the project or order meals from a delivery service.
Go out to eat. Going out for dinner can give you and your family a break from the construction chaos going on in your home. It can serve as a time to relax.
3. Spend a little time cleaning up at the end of each day
Whether it is a DIY project or you’ll have an entire crew, ask them to help you keep the workspace clean each day. If you’re using a contractor, discuss this with them. Ask that all extension cords, power tools, and other equipment be stored neatly in a designated area at the end of each workday. Even if you’re fortunate enough not to need the area of the house where the renovation is taking place, a little clean-up at the end of each day will still help things feel less out of control.
Plus, taking a little time each day to keep the mess under control will make it much quicker to move back into the space when the work is done.
4. Invest in a high-suction vacuum
A high-suction vacuum will be your best friend during your daily clean up after the crew goes home. Many types of renovation result in dust, dirt, and even mud being strewn across the work area. The fine particles will inevitably find their way into the rest of your house. Using a shop-vac or some other high-suction vacuum at the end of each day will limit the amount of dirt that floats outside of the workspace.
5. Block off the work area
Completely containing all the dust and debris is impossible. To keep it under control, hang plastic over doorways that separate the rest of the house from the work area. Thick plastic sheeting can reduce the spread of dust to the rest of your home dramatically. The plastic also does double duty by blocking the view of the work area. Sometimes, out of sight and out of mind is best if the mess stresses you out.
6. Dust your home each day
The hanging plastic helps a lot, but it can only do so much to contain the construction debris. Set aside five or ten minutes every day to dust during the remodel. Use a damp cleaning cloth and run it over all flat surfaces, doorways, and things such as wall art and fans. After a remodel, even once you have cleaned up, your entire house can have a musty, icky feel to it from the excess dust. Tackling it in short segments each day can prevent a significant clean-up job when the renovation is done.
7. Create a place to take your shoes off before you enter the “clean areas”
It’s normal to be excited about checking on the project progress each day. Just remember to take your shoes off after you leave the work zone or you’ll spread drywall debris, dirt, and dust throughout the clean areas of your home.
8. Organize any necessities that you’ll need to access during the project
Organizational prowess is crucial to remaining in your home during a remodel. If you’ll be displaced from your master bathroom, have a shower caddy or bag for all your toiletries that you can take with you to another bathroom, especially if you’ll be sharing with kids. If the kids will be using your bathroom, designate a specific space for their things as well.
If anyone is sleeping in a different room, make sure there’s enough space for their essentials in the room where they ‘ll be sleeping. Treat it like going on vacation. You don’t want to have to buy replacements for things someone will need, nor do you want to have to uncover and climb over furniture that you’re storing in the garage during the reno to find the toy that your child can’t sleep without. Pre-planning for the temporary inconvenience of remodeling will save you loads of frustration.
9. Designate a temporary replacement space
When you’re renovating a central space in your home, consider temporarily converting another room into a replacement for that space while the work is underway. For example, if you're refinishing the fireplace hearth in your family room, consider turning the guest bedroom into a media room temporarily so that your family still has a place to relax and gather. It may be a little more crowded than you’re used to, but it will help your family find a little peace and tranquility during the upheaval.
Plan ahead for a peaceful renovation
Keep your eyes on the prize. The temporary frustration will soon be a distant memory, and you’ll be enjoying your newly renovated room before you know it! Still have questions about what to expect during a renovation? Get in touch with Alpha Surfaces today!