My cousin called me two weeks into her kitchen remodel. I could barely understand her. She was talking fast, breathing hard, and somewhere in the background, I heard a circular saw.
“I cannot find my tax returns,” she said. “The contractor needs them for something. I have looked everywhere. I think they might be behind the refrigerator but the refrigerator is currently on my back porch.”
This is what renovation does to people. It turns reasonable adults into treasure hunters who dig through identical cardboard boxes at midnight praying to find the Wi-Fi password taped to a cutting board.
I told her what I am about to tell you. You do not need better organizational skills during a renovation. You need a different strategy entirely.
Get Everything Out Before Day One
Here is the mistake everybody makes. You think you will just shuffle things around. Dining room stuff goes to the living room. Living room stuff goes to the bedroom. Then the bedroom floor collapses under the weight of two couches and a treadmill.
Then you are moving everything twice. Or three times. And every time you move a box, you tell yourself you will organize it later. You never organize it later.
I did this exact thing when we painted our first apartment. I pushed everything into the center of the room and covered it with a tarp. Then the paint can tipped over. Now my grandmother’s quilt has a beige streak that will never come out. She still asks about it.
Do not learn the hard way. Get your stuff out of the house completely before the first hammer swings. We have units for exactly this reason. Clean. Dry. You lock it. You keep the key. Your stuff stops being your problem for a few weeks.
Pack The Boxes Like You Are Moving To Mars
You are not going to have access to your normal stuff. Pretend you are going on a long trip to a place where there are no stores. What do you actually need?
- I packed a tote for my last renovation that saved my life. Inside I put:
- One coffee mug that makes me happy (it has a chip but I do not care)
- Ground coffee and a plastic pour-over cone
- Paper towels and a spray bottle of cleaner
- Phone charger with a long cord
- Headlamp (you never know where the power will cut)
- Baby wipes
- One real towel, not the decorative ones
This tote lived in my car. Every morning I walked out to the driveway and made coffee on the hood. It felt ridiculous. It also felt calm. I was not digging through boxes at 6 AM while the crew stared at me.
Label Boxes Like You Are Writing Instructions For A Stranger
You think you will remember what is in the blue bin. You will not. I promise you. After three days of sleeping on an air mattress and eating takeout, your brain stops retaining information.
I labeled a box “MISC KITCHEN” and sealed it up. Two weeks later I needed a vegetable peeler. I opened the box. It contained one artificial Christmas tree and a bag of extension cords. The vegetable peeler was still in the drawer.
Label every box on the top and on at least two sides. Write what is actually inside. “Winter coats” not “clothes.” “Frying pans” not “kitchen stuff.” Take a photo of the open box before you seal it. Save the photos in a folder on your phone. Future you does not have time to guess.
Keep Your Daily Life Separate From Your Storage Life
This is where people lose their minds. They pack everything. Then they cannot find their toothbrush. Or their dog’s food bowl. Or the one pan that works on their camping stove.
Do not pack your everyday items with the stuff going to storage. Keep a dresser drawer open. Keep one closet rod empty. Keep your bathroom stuff in a toiletry bag under the bed.
You are still living here. You deserve to find your deodorant without excavating for it.
The Furniture That Stays Needs Armor
If you are keeping furniture in the work zone, wrap it like it is going into battle. Those thin plastic drop cloths are useless. One step and they tear. One gust of wind from an open window and they are floating around the room.
Use moving blankets. Real ones with padding. Tape them closed. Do not skip the bottom edges. Dust settles everywhere. Drywall dust is basically powdered glass. It scratches. It gets into fabric weaves and will not come out.
We see this all the time at the facility. People move their big furniture to storage just for protection. It is not about space. It is about not ruining a couch you still like.
Your Storage Unit Can Work Like An Extra Closet
Here is something I did during my last renovation that worked really well. I stored all my winter stuff first. Coats, sweaters, heavy blankets. Then, when the weather turned, I swapped them for summer stuff.
I visited my unit twice during the whole project. Once to drop off. Once to swap. It kept my temporary living space from overflowing and it kept my clothes clean. No dust in the closet. No sawdust on my work blazers.
We do month-to-month rentals specifically for this. You do not need a year lease. You need eight weeks and a lock.
Build One Corner That Does Not Suck
Renovation takes over your whole life. It seeps into every room. You sit down to rest and there is a bucket of joint compound next to the sofa. You try to read a book and the only clear surface is your lap.
You need one spot. One chair. One corner of one room. It does not hold tools. It does not hold boxes. It does not hold anything related to the project.
Put a lamp there. A plant if you still have one. A coaster for your coffee mug. Sit in this spot every day for fifteen minutes. Do not think about the renovation. Do not make lists. Just sit.
I did this in my bedroom. I moved all the construction stuff out and put a folding chair in the corner. I told the crew this chair is off limits. They laughed at me. They also never touched it.
Feeding Yourself During A Kitchen Reno Is A Full Time Job
Kitchen renovations are the cruelest. You lose your stove. Your sink. Your counter space. Sometimes your refrigerator ends up in the dining room plugged into an extension cord that runs across three doorways.
Eating out every meal will destroy your budget. It will also destroy your body. I ate pizza for six days straight during my kitchen reno and my skin still has not forgiven me.
Set up a food station somewhere else. A folding table works. A sturdy cart is better. Put these things on it:
- Microwave or toaster oven
- Electric kettle for coffee and oatmeal
- Cutting board that fits over the sink
- One chef knife, kept very sharp
- Salt, pepper, oil, your basic seasonings
- Real plates, not just paper
Make food you do not have to cook. Sandwiches. Salads. Yogurt and granola. Canned beans rinsed and thrown into a bowl with olive oil. You will feel less feral.
Take Pictures Of The Mess
You will not want to. You will look around at the chaos and think why would I document this nightmare.
Do it anyway.
Take a photo of the boxes stacked floor to ceiling. Take a photo of your temporary kitchen on the card table. Take a photo of your storage unit with everything lined up neatly.
Six months from now when the renovation is finished and your house looks like a magazine, you will scroll back and see how far you came. You will remember the struggle. You will appreciate what you built.
I look at my photo of the green tarp taped over the doorway and I laugh now. At the time I was crying into a cold cup of gas station coffee. Perspective comes later.
You Are Not Supposed To Live Like This
Here is what I told my cousin when she called me about the tax returns and the refrigerator on the porch. You are not failing at renovation. Renovation is just hard.
The people who stay sane are not the ones with perfect systems. They are the ones who admit that living in a construction zone is impossible and they need to remove as much stuff as possible before they try.
We have units ready right now. Climate controlled. Well lit. You can access your stuff seven days a week. You do not need a reservation. You do not need to wait for approval. You just need to get your boxes out of the way so you can focus on the work.
Stop shuffling things from room to room. Stop tripping over bins. Stop apologizing to the contractor because your grandmother’s china cabinet is blocking the electrical panel.
Move the stuff. Breathe. Then start the demo.
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