Learning how to survive a kitchen remodel mostly means planning before demolition day. Set up a small temporary kitchen away from the work zone and fill your freezer with ready meals. In a typical kitchen remodel, Colorado Springs homeowners go about 6 to 8 weeks without a working kitchen, and those preparations carry you through them.
Week one is strange. Your coffee maker sits on a folding table in the dining room, the fridge hums out in the garage, and the room your family uses most is closed off behind plastic sheeting.
Giving up that room is hard. You still have school mornings, work calls, a dog that needs to go out, and dinner to figure out every night; none of that stops because the cabinets came off the wall.
Aspen Kitchens has remodeled kitchens in Colorado Springs since 2010, with an in-house team and a dedicated project manager on every job, so we’ve watched a lot of families live through this stretch. The ones who have the easiest time get their house ready for it before demolition starts.
How do you set up a temporary kitchen during a remodel?
Pick one room away from the construction with an outlet and a flat prep area. Then move in the small appliances you use every day. That spot becomes your functioning temporary kitchen for the next several weeks.
Where you put your temporary kitchen during remodel work matters more than what goes in it. Temporary kitchens work best close to a sink and far from the dust:
| Spot | Why it works | Watch out for |
| Dining room | Close to where you already eat | Often sits right next to the work |
| Basement | Quiet, out of the way, and common in Colorado Springs homes | Stairs to carry food and dishes |
| Laundry room | Usually has a utility sink | Can be tight on counter space |
| Garage | Room for your old fridge | Cold in winter |
Keep it small. A microwave, a toaster oven or air fryer, a coffee maker, and an Instant Pot or slow cooker will handle most meals. Add a folding table, a power strip, and a few clear bins for pantry basics. This makeshift kitchen will cover more than you’d guess.
When you’re preparing, see if your contractor can move the refrigerator and microwave to your temporary space. A working full-size fridge, even if it’s parked in the garage or dining room, can make the stretch much easier for everyone.
Where do you wash dishes without a kitchen sink?
Use the next-closest sink in the house. A laundry room utility sink makes the best temporary sink because it’s deep; a bathroom sink works for small loads. Scrape plates into the trash first so food doesn’t clog the drain. Keep a dish tub, a scrub brush, and a drying rack right beside that sink so you aren’t carrying wet dishes from one end of the house to the other every single night. Paper plates help too. Use them for a few weeks without guilt.
What can you cook without a kitchen?
More than you’d expect, if you cook ahead. In the two or three weeks before demolition, fill the freezer with meals that reheat well: soups, chili, casseroles, breakfast burritos, and marinated meats ready for the grill.
During construction, lean on one-pot meals. A slow cooker or Instant Pot turns out a full dinner with a single pot to wash, and the toaster oven covers anything that needs to be crispy. The grill moves cooking smells and cleanup outside, which helps a lot when your kitchenette is in one corner of the dining room, with the nearest sink all the way down the hall.
Takeout helps too. Treat it as a break rather than the plan, because eating out for three meals a day for six weeks gets old fast.
How to survive a kitchen remodel with kids and pets
Set clear boundaries on day one. The work zone is off-limits, and it should look off-limits: a closed door, a baby gate, or a plastic wall that everyone respects. Construction areas have cords, blades, and loose nails. A boundary a five-year-old can see works better than reminders in the moment.
Pets are harder. Crews prop doors open while they carry in cabinets and haul out debris, which is exactly how a cat slips outside, so check where your pets are every time the crew arrives. Demolition noise can stress a nervous dog. Keep pets in the room farthest from the work with the door shut. If a friend offers to take them on demolition day, say yes.
Keeping construction dust out of the rest of the house
Ask your contractor, before work starts, exactly how they’ll contain the dust. Common measures include plastic sheeting or zip walls around the kitchen, floor protection along the path the crew walks, and covered air vents in the work area.
Dust from a kitchen renovation travels, so move anything you care about out of the nearby rooms, run a vacuum with a HEPA filter in the evenings, and change your furnace filter once the dustiest stages are done. Demolition and drywall sanding are the worst of it. Expect some dust no matter what.
How long will you be without a kitchen in Colorado Springs?
About 6 to 8 weeks for a typical project. That’s the active construction window for most of our kitchen remodels in Colorado Springs. The full process, from first consultation through design, ordering, and the final walkthrough, usually runs closer to six months.
Most of that extra time comes before anyone touches your kitchen. Cabinets alone can take 8 to 14 weeks or more to arrive, and you keep using your old kitchen while you wait.
Planning your kitchen remodel with Aspen Kitchens
Surviving a kitchen remodel comes down to setup. Pick your temporary kitchen spot, stock the freezer before demolition, choose a sink for dishes, and set house rules for everyone, pets included. Once those are in place, the weeks without a kitchen feel like an inconvenience rather than a crisis.
It also helps to know what’s happening in your house each day. At Aspen Kitchens, every project has a dedicated project manager who meets you onsite before demolition to review job conditions and answer any questions you have about the weeks ahead. You can follow schedules, changes, and messages through our CoConstruct client portal. Your bid is itemized, so you can see where each dollar goes. That visibility takes much of the stress out of living through the work.
Remember: it’s temporary. In a few weeks the plastic comes down, the fridge comes back inside, and you’ll be cooking in the beautiful kitchen you’ve been dreaming of.
If you’re weighing a kitchen remodel in Colorado Springs, schedule a free consultation with our team. Bring your questions about timing, and we’ll help you figure out whether a winter start fits your calendar. Before you come in, read how our remodeling process works.
Frequently asked questions
Can I stay in my house during a kitchen remodel? Most families stay home through a kitchen remodel, as long as they have a working bathroom, a bedroom away from the dust, and a temporary kitchen. The hardest day is demolition, which is loud and messy. If you can, plan to be out of the house that day.
Do I need a permit for a kitchen remodel in Colorado Springs? That comes down to scope. The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department says cosmetic work, such as replacing kitchen cabinets and most appliances, usually doesn’t need a permit. Moving plumbing or adding electrical circuits usually does. PPRBD asks homeowners to check with them before starting. Your contractor should handle permits and inspections.
How do I prepare my house before demolition starts? Label boxes by room and donate anything you haven’t used in a year. Set aside a week’s worth of dishes and utensils for the temporary kitchen. Clear the countertops, cabinets, and pantry a few days before demolition so the crew can start on schedule.
Further reading
- Feeling Overwhelmed by a Remodel? Start Here. A good first read if the whole project feels like too much to manage, including how the first consultation works.
- Homeowner Permits (Pikes Peak Regional Building Department): the official list of what does and doesn’t need a permit in the Pikes Peak region.
- How to Survive a Kitchen Remodel (Houzz): practical tips on setting aside a construction-free room and eating during the remodel.
