Hi guys, welcome back to my channel and to a temporary kitchen tour. Today, I thought that
I would show you around in case you are also doing a reno like this. If you don't know,
we're extending out the back of our house and having a new kitchen and everything. So
this will be our setup for about three or four months, and it's also the fourth time we've done
a kitchen renovation. So I feel like we've learned a lot. So I'm going to show you the appliances
that we rely on when we have a temporary kitchen, how we survive and all my tips. So
I hope you really enjoy this video. And if you're new to this channel and you like home content,
definitely subscribe. We have so much coming on this channel, but yeah, I think I'll just
walk you around like you're here with me. So first off, this is my office space. We
were actually going to do this room up when we moved in, but we're so glad that we didn't because
obviously it's now our temporary kitchen. So this is actually my desk that I work at. It was on that
side of the room, but we moved it over here so we'd have a bit of a counter space to work on.
And on this, since all the appliances that we've basically been cooking with, the first thing,
like the main thing I think you should definitely get if you're having a temporary kitchen is a slow
cooker. We've actually got some food in it for tonight. We're making a chicken stroganoff and
I'm actually making a whole slow cooker video very soon because we've been using it so much. So this
is a great tool and we also have an instant pot under the desk that we can also get out and use.
We also bought one of those hot plates. It's basically like a two ring hub. This one is
from Vonshef. We found it online, but you can also get them in places like Ikea or secondhand as well
because obviously when you buy one, you only need it for a short amount of time. So we've got that
and it's great for one pot pastas and anything you would make in pots and pans. Then we also have
our air fryer. I've made so many videos about what I make in my air fryer, but it's great for things
like chips, chicken nuggets, even pastries, basically anything you can make in the oven,
you can make in the air fryer as well and it's really quick, so this has been a great tool. We
also have storage for the boy's water bottles here on top of it, and then we also got this little
shelf from Ikea. It was super cheap, but we've been storing all of our plates and bowls on this.
And then we also have our microwave, so obviously we can heat up food, heat up beans, soup,
stuff like that. We still have my printer in here because I still need it for work,
and then our blender so I can still make protein shakes and smoothies for the kids. And with the
desk itself, we did a huge clear out of our old kitchen and of the office so that we could make
room for everything. And we put quite a few bits in storage in garage, but we cleared out so that
we could have a few usable drawers. So we've got all of the cutlery in here that we use day to day.
We've also got all of the kids' plates and bowls in here so they can access them. And then I've
got bigger utensils and sharp knives and stuff over here, Cling Film, tinfoil, all of that. So
it's actually been great to have so much storage. We also put these two little shelves up because
I still needed a place for all of my camera equipment so that kind of sits on there. And
then these are the shelves that I actually had in my office anyway. So we have filled it up with dry
ingredients that we use often, all of the tea and coffee stuff as well, herbal teas,
mugs. Obviously, we've got the kettle here and the toaster as well for breakfast. Someone actually
said to me when they did their temporary kitchen up, she was like, "You've got to get
instant noodles." So we could make that as well. But yeah, and then this shelf we've actually
repurposed. This was my youngest son's bookshelf at one point. We actually got it on Amazon, but
it's actually been great to have as a mini pantry for all of the spices, cans, oils and stuff. We've
actually managed to fit so much stuff on this. And then this is probably the main part of the
temporary kitchen. And this isn't something we've ever been able to have before when we've
made a temporary kitchen, but we have water in here. Matt kind of sweetened up the builders
to get them to run water into this room and they managed to keep this part of our old kitchen.
So we have not only got a sink, but we've got a washing machine. We have got a dishwasher as well.
So it basically feels like a proper kitchen. But as I said, if this isn't something you're able to
do, I mean, the way that Matt did it was obviously speak to the builders, do a lot of planning,
and then work out that the water and the waste is on this side of the house so that
they could link it up. It's made a bit of a mess on our outside wall, but obviously it's
going to be incredible for the next three or four months because it feels like a little kitchen.
When we were planning our temporary kitchen, we did loads of research and we looked at things like
renting a house for six months, but obviously the cost was massive and it was such an upheaval for
our family. We also looked at renting a kitchen pod, which is basically like a mobile home
that sits on your driveway and it has a kitchen in it so you can just use it when you need to,
but that also was coming out so expensive. So for us in the end, it was better to kind of make
a mess of an outside wall and have water in this room. You can also rent things like water coolers
so that you can have drinking water downstairs. In our last home, we managed to use our utility
area as a kitchen, but in the reno before that, we were just running up and downstairs doing dishes
in the bathtub and stuff. So this is definitely the best temporary kitchen we've ever had.
And you may have noticed that the fridge is missing. We actually couldn't fit it in this
room. So it's conveniently placed in the hallway. So we do have to come out into the hallway to get
anything out of the fridge, but we've kind of gotten into a routine with it. When we're
making breakfast, we just get the butter, the milk, everything that you need and take it into
the kitchen and then bring it back. And this also has four liters of water in it, so the kids have
been using it as a place to get drinks as well. Then over here we have our bin and we've actually
moved our sideboard, which was in the hallway into here so that we have a bit more surface space. And
on this, we've just got the bread. We've got so much bread and wraps and bagels and stuff,
cutting boards, a few more utensils, and fruit, paper towel and more stuff like that.
And then this little Ikea unit is a bookshelf we've literally had for like
10 or 11 years and we've painted it. It's been in so many different bedrooms, but this is a great
place for the kids' snack. So we've just got this clear storage. I think it was from the home edit
at John Lewis and we've got crisps, breadsticks, Ryvita, Barny Bears, biscuits and stuff,
and then some more like canned stuff down there, and a storage for more pots and pans.
And a huge tip when you have a temporary kitchen is to meal plan your dinners for the week. It is
way too easy when you don't have a proper kitchen to just say, oh, should we get a takeaway this
week? So if you want to maintain a healthy-ish diet and save a little bit of money as well,
it's great to meal plan. So this week, we're making five different slow cooker meals,
and then we're hoping to have a few leftovers from a few of those. Yeah. It's just been such a handy
tool. This slow cooker as well has a hot plate setting, so you can actually brown or fry the meat
in it first so that you actually get less things dirty. So yes, been amazing.
And by the radiator, we also have a dog bed for Kiki. If we're ever in here,
she really likes to be with us. She's a bit of a velcro dog. So she kind of sits there and it's
really cute. She'll watch you cook and stuff. So yeah, that is pretty much our temporary kitchen.
It's probably bigger than the kitchen that we had in our first ever flat together, like apartment.
So we're really, really pleased and downstairs in our house now we just have this room and a
living room, but it's actually been fine. One good thing about the renovations is
the kids could care less. They've been completely oblivious to what's going on, really. If anything,
they've just been excited, so it's been fine. So anyway, let me know in the comments what
are the kind of foods you guys would recommend eating if you are doing a big renovation and you
don't have a proper kitchen. I'd be in just to hear and ask me any questions in the comments,
but yeah, I think that's it. So thank you so much for watching and I'll see you soon. Bye guys.