Guest post by Nicola from Mum on a Budget
A couple of years ago we went through a major renovation process in our home. We built an extension to the side of our home, which housed a new kitchen and dining area as well as undertaking a garage conversion at the same time. Due to finances we stayed put in our home whilst the work was undertaken, which came with its own set of challenges, to say the least.
Here are my top tips on how to survive the home renovation process with your sanity intact:
Provide a kettle, milk and biscuits
Buy a cheap kettle that you won’t mind getting ruined, and on day one provide this to the tradespeople along with instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, biscuits and milk – and tell them to help themselves. I started by popping my head in a couple of times a day to offer everyone a hot drink but this is a terrible plan – the tradespeople would change from day to day, sometimes there would be more people than I had mugs, they took their breaks at varying times, plus it’s a big ask to do this every day for how many weeks or months the renovations take. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we would treat them to bacon rolls or ice creams on hot days, but in general when people are in your home for a long time it will suit you (and them) to mostly leave them to see to themselves. If you are having a Kitchen extension done, this could make such a difference to you, too!
Have an escape plan
Every now and then your home will become unbearable – the sound of knocking down walls is one of the loudest noises I’ve ever heard. Sometimes the electricity will have to be turned off which means no wifi – a total nightmare when you work from home. Therefore it’s important you have somewhere you can retreat to, whether this is a friend’s house or a local cafe.
Invest in an airfryer
In the four months our renovations were ongoing, there was probably 6 weeks where we didn’t have a kitchen. We had a lot more takeaways in this period than usual but obviously it’s not financially feasible to do so every single night, so we had to somehow cook at home most of the time. Enter the airfryer to the rescue! I learned during this time that you can cook pretty much everything in an airfryer. A top tip is that you can snap a frozen pizza into smaller bits to make it fit in the airfryer, and it comes out really tasty. We also used the BBQ a lot during these weeks – luckily it was during the Summer!
Buy disposable plates
For the (relatively, in the grand scheme of things) short period of time that you go without access to a kitchen sink, buy a large pack of disposable plates/bowls. Washing up in our tiny bathroom sink was not an enjoyable experience, and minimising the amount of things that needed to be cleaned made a huge difference to my sanity. Make sure you go for ones that are biodegradable.
Leave the outside until last
There is no benefit in getting your garden beautiful then walking all over it to renovate your house. It should always be left until last. When you are ready look for the plants you like then buy your grass. Be sure to look at the quality of the grass whether you choose a turf company in Plano or artificial grass you need to be sure you like it before you pay!
