I'm in the process of setting up my temp kichen right now. Even with a small amount of drywall work, I'd remove everything, like you said, to clean out and get a freshstart. Our temp kichen is in the ajoining family room since our laundry room is just off that room and we have sink access there. We are moving the fridge, microwave and a toaster oven into the room.That room also gives us access to the deck and enclosed porch for grilling and using a propane stove. I've stored alot of seldom used kitchen items in plastic tubs.I've purchased inexpensive shelving for holding food, plates, cookwear, etc. We'll also be swapping out the family room furniture with the dining room furniture, so basically the family room turns into the kitchen.

We are in the 3rd week of reno of kitchen and laundry room. We had to empty everything out but I did A LOT of purging, so it's a good excuse to go through every cabinet, even if you do put things back in the cabinets not being removed. I loosely put everything in boxes (did not wrap dishes, etc) in the adjacent family room we actually use as an office. Everything is accessible if I need it. I set up temporary kitchen in DR. We moved the DR table over, stacked the chairs, and I have a microwave and toaster oven and plates, cups, bowls, and plastic utensils from Costco (I did not want to wash dishes in bathroom!) We also moved the refrigerator into the DR. I buy bagged ice and put in the icemaker which will still dispense. Under the table I have laundry baskets filled with the bread, PB, snacks, etc...It has worked out quite well. I don't cook much anymore (empty nester and DH travels for work all week)so I am happy with frozen entrees for dinner...The hardest part was going through the cabinets, which I hadn't done in years. Good luck!

Bought three big plastic rubbermaid type containers, with lids and emptied stuff we weren't going to need in the temporary kitchen (in the basement). One was full of baking tins/extra saucepans/metal stuff. Another seemed to be full of plastic boxes . . . and the plates and stuff went in the third. Un-needed cutlery went into trays in the boxes.

It helped prioritising it all later: anything not in regular use now stays in the basement, where it's still in those boxes and easily found.

So far as the temporary kitchen was concerned, I bought some tall table legs from Ikea for a few bucks, and raised the height of a worktable, using it as the counter - no backache and about $20. Old fridge moved down there. Also my electrician fitted a 220v plug onto the old wall oven cable, so I could run it off the dryer outlet. Lucky us already have a proper sink in the basement, so washing dishes was easy.
We also found 'state of mind' was important: we tried to treat it as an adventure and a cooking challenge: to create wonderful food with the minimum facilities, and it made it a fun experience instead of the awful one it could have been. Making it fun kept everyone calm!

we are in the basement as well....I have a convection microwave, george forman, electric skillet, toaster oven, crock pot. Plastic/paper ware from costco. we had an old upright small freezer we weren't using, so that become our pantry. we also had our spare fridge in the basement we are using. washing pots, pans ect in the laundry tub. overall, it hasn't been bad. We are just starting week 3 this week. Trader Joes has been a savior for us! I did a fully cooked leg of lamb with baked potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts last weekend.......hard to believe it came out of the basement! good luck!

I packed all my everyday dishes into china savers like these:

All our 'fine china' stayed in the buffet where we normally store it, but still had to be washed.

We ended up moving out for our reno (it included an addition and gutting all the bathrooms in addition to the kitchen) so we didn't need a temp kitchen. We brought a small supply of utensils and plastic plates, and everything else was stored in plastic tubs in the basement.

The china savers worked really well and I'm able to use them again because my mom gave me her Christmas china.

I think your idea of cleaning out and purging everything is good.

We did a gut, so I packed nearly all the dishes. Just having floors done recently, I'd do the clean, purge and pack. You won't be worried about anything getting broken, get in the way of workers and it will be easier to clean if you don't have to unload first.

I kept out my patio plastics and used some paper. Packed dishes went into a couple of dish barrel moving boxes and were moved into the garage. Kept out basic pots, a crockpot, a toaster oven and the micro we had slid into the overhead space while waiting for the reno. We used a 6 foot folding table and a shelving unit to set up our temporary kitchen. We also used the grill, camping stove and a turkey fryer burner (large pasta pots) for cooking (no basements here).

Precook some things if you can. Cooking is fairly easy, but the clean up is not, and having ground meat and chicken already cooked (some seasoned as taco meat or sloppy joes) saved time cooking and dealing with greasy cleanup. Liners for the crock pot are something I wouldn't normally use but bought for the time when I didn't have a kitchen sink. The micro was good for thawing or reheating and the toaster oven let the guys have some snacks and warm cookies (make the dough ahead and scoop and freeze cookie sized balls or just freeze in small tubs so you can bake a few at a time).

I got a bunch of clear storage tubs from Odd Lots, and used those for pretty much everything. I have some open shelving in our basement (where we have our temporary kitchen) and I used that for stuff we use every day. I'm also lucky in that I have a wet bar, so we have some counter space, cabinet space, and a sink.

For two months ahead of time I made freezer meals every weekend. I also have an electric skillet, electric pressure cooker, and crock pot--all of those have been getting a lot of work! So far we've managed to avoid a lot of eating out, but we bought a ton of restaurant gift cards around Christmas, when they were doing those "Buy $100, get $25" type of deals.

I recently did a complete kitchen gut and redo. A friend told me to set up a bookcase in the dining room to put everything I'd need on. What a great idea- everything looked tidy and was readily available. I put the microwave and hot water pot on a small table next to it and had an instant kitchen. The freezer was stocked with easy meals and meat for the grill, and I just got veggies from my garden and grilled those up. Of course, that was in early fall...

I did pack up the entire kitchen, but on the other side of the kitchen wall that had the plaster torn off of it, was a built in china cabinet. I had all my good china, crystal and extra dishes there, and left them as they were. Well, all that blown in insulation and plaster/drywall dust got into every crevice, so the first duties in the new kitchen, once the new sink was hooked up, was hand washing all the crystal and china to get all the dirt and dust off! It took quite a while and certainly gave the new sink a workout!

I had plastic everywhere, but was amazed at how crafty dust can be at getting into everything! I kept repeating to myself, 'this too, shall pass'! Good Luck!

Like others have said, I packed away most of my dishes into boxes and what not. I ran everything through the dishwasher once the kitchen was fully finished.

As far as eating goes, I was either microwaving things or eating out (basically my go to) every single night, though I understand this is not an option for everyone.

Good luck in your remodel.

Thanks for all these tips. It was just what I needed to get started. Chicago, you reminded me that I have china savers in the attic, and I'm going to dig them out.

I was beginning to think I was crazy, b/c contractor, KD, and Dh all told me to leave the dishes in the cabinets during the reno--I couldn't stand the thought of all that dust covering every single thing in my cabinets.

This will plan will allow me to purge, and give me a fresh, clean start in my new kitchen.

Purging begins tomorrow!

Thanks again :)

Good Luck tomorrow! So much excitement.

I agree about getting it out anyway. Might as well do it now and this way you can purge while the reno is going on. Plus all your stuff will be out and you can take some time to rethink how it is organized. It's a fresh start to where you want to locate your stuff.

Don't pack away the wine, whatever you do.

I couldn't believe how much stuff was in my cabinets. The frames are staying but my GC recommended everything come out because of the dust, etc. To say the least. Everything gets dusty and dirty. I can't imagine leaving things inside during reno.

Everything I don't use on a daily basis went out into the garage in boxes. No need to pack like you're moving. Some of that stuff may end up being given away or stored in the garage permanently. There were many things I haven't used in the 12 years I've been in this house, and I question why I'm hanging on to them.

Food, utensils, everyday dishes, pots and pans are in boxes in my dining room. I peer into them from time to time and snag a granola bar or tin of smoked trout.

My stove and fridge are still in place and work, but my sink and DW aren't connected. I've heated some soup and used the oven once, but prep and cooking really need water close by.

My coffee maker and cleanup area is my guest bath. I allowed myself one of everything (plate, bowl, mug, glass, spatula, etc.). I have to remember to wipe all my dishes before washing so no particles of food go down the bathroom drain.

My microwave is in my office and I rely on it to heat food for dinner. My cats think it's a great perch.

I'm into my third week like this with at least another week to go before my kitchen can start being put back together. I'm surviving. People live their lives in far worse conditions. I think I'm most anxious to be able to get boxes off the floor and clean the place. Everything's dirty and sticky.

Good luck with your kitchen! Take a lot of pics.

I couldn't believe how much stuff was in my cabinets. The frames are staying but my GC recommended everything come out because of the dust, etc. To say the least. Everything gets dusty and dirty. I can't imagine leaving things inside during reno.

Everything I don't use on a daily basis went out into the garage in boxes. No need to pack like you're moving. Some of that stuff may end up being given away or stored in the garage permanently. There were many things I haven't used in the 12 years I've been in this house, and I question why I'm hanging on to them.

Food, utensils, everyday dishes, pots and pans are in boxes in my dining room. I peer into them from time to time and snag a granola bar or tin of smoked trout.

My stove and fridge are still in place and work, but my sink and DW aren't connected. I've heated some soup and used the oven once, but prep and cooking really need water close by.

My coffee maker and cleanup area is my guest bath. I allowed myself one of everything (plate, bowl, mug, glass, spatula, etc.). I have to remember to wipe all my dishes before washing so no particles of food go down the bathroom drain.

My microwave is in my office and I rely on it to heat food for dinner. My cats think it's a great perch.

I'm into my third week like this with at least another week to go before my kitchen can start being put back together. I'm surviving. People live their lives in far worse conditions. I think I'm most anxious to be able to get boxes off the floor and clean the place. Everything's dirty and sticky.

Good luck with your kitchen! Take a lot of pics.

Sorry for double posting. I have no idea how I did that. :-/

I forgot to mention that we used the grill for every dinner (unless we went out.) If you have a gas grill (or if you have the patience to fire up a charcoal grill on a regular basis) then that will help with your dinners. Make enough grilled meat (if you're a meat eater) for dinner and the next day's lunch: chicken wraps, steak sandwiches, fish tacos, etc. Less cleaning that way and of course you don't need an oven.

I saved the large boxes that my new kitchen chairs came in, cut them in half, and packed everything in them. I organized them by cabinet, first: Dishes, gadgets, pots, etc. The smart thing to do would have been to cover them with sheets, though...everything got dusty!

Packing everything but necessary items and weeding out the old that can be donated.
We're setting up the temporary kitchen in our basement, as we have a wet bar, with sink, fridge, microwave and lots of wine in the cellar (LOL). Will keep the electric skillet, crock pot, toaster oven handy as well. Freezer in the garage along with our existing large fridge. Cooking lots of stews, soups, lasagna to freeze...and we'll grill in decent weather.

Wow, so many great tips! Thank you so much.

Beekeeper's Wife, I"m totally with you on your thoughts re: purging. It has felt great to get rid of so much stuff, and I'm taking my time figuring out how to put it all back in a more organized fashion.

Like Linelle and others, much of my stuff ended up in the dining room and garage. An unused portion of one bathroom is about to become the kitchen, and chest in the hallway will be the coffee station.

Just trying to figure out if I want to put the $100+ into a mini fridge. I have one in the garage, but it'll be dusty and full of the contractor's guys in there, and I eat small snacks throughout the day.

I'm going to get some free moving boxes from Craig's List. Then I'm going to pack and purge. Luckily I have a large laundry room that can act as a temp kitchen. Biggest issue for me is going to be refrigeration as we have a tiny fridge (something my husband kept under his desk at his old office) we can use. Our current fridge is a built in SZ and I don't think we'll be able to use it because of the tipping danger when it isn't installed or braced. Still have to ask my contractor about that.

Planning on keeping out plastic dishes, a few regular dishes, some paper, the microwave, frying pan, crock pot and camp stove (hadn't thought of it until I read this thread). Think I'll stick a six-foot folding table in the laundry room to give me a tad more space to work. I'm very lucky that I'll have a deep utility sink to use during the remodel.

Got some great ideas from this thread! Thanks!!

i posted this thread 2 years ago when I was starting my kitchen remodel. I think its still valid.

http://ths.gardenweb.com//forums/load/kitchbath/msg0519523521743.html?38

Here is a link that might be useful: what did you eat during

I agree with the others that this is a great time to purge and re-invent your kitchen (even the re-used cabinets). We set up the temporary kitchen in the laundry room due to the sink and counter space. Have been living with microwave, crock pot, rice cooker. I'm surprised that we haven't used the grill yet, but I'm sure we will soon.

I wanted to mention our solution to the storage question. I was preparing to package up all the dishes, glassware, etc... when I realized that it would be easier to use the shelves in our big linen closet (in the bedroom hall, away from the construction) for the kitchen stuff. So I "packed" (ie; garbage bags, and boxes) the extra sheets, towels, table linens, etc... and put those in the storage unit, then used the shelves for the dishes, pots & pans,glassware. It was much easier than wrapping the dishes and I don't have to worry about things breaking.

Good luck with your project! It's a mess, but will be worth it in the end.

I don't think anyone mentioned this yet, sorry if they did.
We got a single burner induction cooktop. It was about $60 on amazon and let's me heat up soup, fry an egg, boil pasta, etc. We also splurged and got the Breville countertop convention oven. It is great!

Ditto on cleaning out shelves to hold your "kitchen stuff" in the temporary space. We made the living room our kitchen and cleared out 90% of the built-in bookshelves to house casserole dishes, the crock pot, rice cooker, etc and one section is all food as though it were our pantry. People who see our living room kitchen are really impressed. With the wet bar sink, it really does function exactly like a normal kitchen. (Of course we moved the fridge in here as well and even have a desk set up for the kitchen computer.)