Kitchenless

So, how is it going having no kitchen you ask? Well, you didn’t really ask, but I need to let it out somewhere.

In a few short hours on Tuesday, our kitchen went from this:

 Office Mum kitchen

to this:

Office Mum kitchen

To be frank, not having a kitchen isn’t quite as much fun as I thought it would be. I have very
fond childhood memories of getting a new kitchen sometime in the early 90s; it seemed like a fabulous adventure at the time. Living in the sitting room, toaster beside the couch, breakfast at the dining room table and Chinese take-aways for dinner.

Now I’m wondering why our experience this week is not so much an adventure – it’s more an abandoned-on-a-desert-island type feeling. Maybe it’s because my parents weren’t also knocking down walls and replacing windows and our dining room sojourn was only for a day or two. Or maybe it was a dreadful time for my parents and they were very good at hiding it.

Or perhaps it’s because I shouldn’t have scheduled exams to coincide with building work – turns out studying and drilling don’t mix.

Or maybe it’s because washing dishes in the bathroom sink just doesn’t feel quite right.

office mum photo of dishes

But the replacement solution of paper plates is not much better – try giving a toddler his dinner on a plate that flops over to one side when he picks it up to walk around the room. The sweeping brush is getting a lot of overtime. The girls keep sticking their forks through their plates, and complaining that their cereal is spilling out of the paper bowls. But really it’s because they’re trying to eat at a knee level coffee table while sitting on a couch. It was never going to work.

Perhaps it’s because we have no safe, above-toddler-height surface for the kettle so have been doing without tea and coffee all week. Or could it be that we’re fed up hacking bread with a butter-knife, because the bread-knife has been put away somewhere.

Maybe I’m tired of trying to think of dinners that can be prepared using only a microwave, a paper plate and a butter-knife.

Or is it just plain old cabin fever: five people, a microwave and a fridge in a sitting room for two weeks is just too much to bear.

Like most things in life, there are some upsides; grabbing some cheese and a beer when we’re sitting down at night is wonderfully simple. No more walking to the kitchen – just reach over to the fridge. We might make this a permanent thing.

And tonight we’re having a take-away, on real plates that don’t bend and using real cutlery (don’t tell the kids).

And the builders are making progress; there’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel.

Office Mum kitchen

 

 

Post Script:

Quite a few people have asked to see photos of the end result, so in true before and after fashion, here’s how it looks now (well, not right now – it’s a good bit messier, but you know what I mean)

 

 

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12 thoughts on “Kitchenless”

  1. That gave me a great laugh, sorry. I snorted my drink out at the cheese and beer in the sitting room. Love the little visitor in the photo too. Looking forward to seeing the finished product, but I really do feel your pain with getting any kind of renovations done with kids in the picture. You’ll just have to all check in to the Four Seasons, it’s the only thing for it.

    1. That is absolutely what we should have done. It’s not too late – there’s still a week to go. And my husband will read this later….hint hint

  2. Oh no!!! BUT it is kind of funny when you’re reading about it and not experiencing it!’!!! AND I’m sure it will look and be amazing when it’s finished and will be worth it. What are you studying? Best of luck in the exams.

    1. I really hope it will look amazing after all this – I think my husband and I will pretend to one another that it does even if it’s awful!
      I did a digital marketing course, without realising that there were exams afterwards – yikes 🙂

    1. It will be worth it for sure. I just didn’t think of all the impacts – and ESPECIALLY the tea situation. We’re getting plenty of take-away coffees when we’re out, but there’s nothing like putting on your own kettle for a cup of tea

  3. Won’t it be wonderful when you have your new kitchen. My SIL is currently extending hers. They will have to move out next weekend for a number of weeks. I am sure she is experiencing that same “sinking” feeling you are. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

  4. Won’t it be wonderful when you have your new kitchen. My SIL is currently extending hers. They will have to move out next weekend for a number of weeks. I am sure she is experiencing that same “sinking” feeling you are. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

    1. I would give a million pounds for a sink right now! That’s the bit we’re missing most. My poor underrated, under-appreciated sink will never be taken fro granted again 🙂

  5. I went through this before Christmas. In my head it wasn’t a big deal..in reality it was a bloody nightmare! It was all worth it in the end though and I even lost weight as it was such an effort to make food!

    1. That’s gas about the food – I went to make lunch the other day and just couldn’t bring myself to try yet again to cut the bread without a proper knife so just skipped lunch. Silver linings eh!

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