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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Alternativea to a kitchen - which would ypu choose?

30 replies

VelvetSpoon · 10/04/2018 21:11

And AIBU not to be happy about any of them?

Previous thread here

In a nutshell my insurers are ripping out my kitchen to do repairs caused by a leak from the empty house next door (not the annoying neighbour side).

Because I actually read all the stuff sent tp me and don't rely on what I'm told over the phone, I've now established that the builders are taking out everything. This includes the oven and hob, and the fridge.

Re the fridge, my insurers thought it was going in another room. However as I told them its a bloody massive American fridge freezer. It was delivered without any of the doors on because otherwise it wouldn't have fitted into the house. So I'm not sure how they'll get it out but i don't have anywhere to store it.

So now I will have no kitchen they have said I can have either

A £10 meal allowance a day each
B a temporary kitchen on my driveway if it fits
C be put up in a hotel. However they were actively discouraging me from this!

None of the options is ideal. Especially since we are talking May before this is sorted. I am leaning to the temp kitchen but my bf says this will be awful and i should take the hotel....wwyd?

OP posts:
NewYearNewMe18 · 10/04/2018 21:14

Similar happened to us - hotel is ok if you don't have to faff making packed lunches etc ..... meals done, cleaning done, fresh towels and sheets delivered, laundry done ..... but it got boring after 3 weeks even though it was a suite.

Do you have small children?

NapQueen · 10/04/2018 21:16

Cant the fridge go into another room?

Original poster
VelvetSpoon · 10/04/2018 21:18

No small children, they are 16 and 19. Neither wants to stay in a hotel as they are not keen to share a room with their mum/ each other. They are obsessed with all their tech and the lack of gaming, Netflix etc would make them unbearable!

I've just looked at the temp kitchen thing and apart from the inconvenience of having to get dressed every time you want a drink etc it seems ok...

www.thetemporarykitchencompany.com/

OP posts:
atlaz · 10/04/2018 21:24

I'd take the meal allowance and then sort out my own temporary 'kitchen' in another room, with microwave and fridge and kettle.

atlaz · 10/04/2018 21:26

Actually, having clicked the link and seen what they're offering I'd go for the temp kitchen. Then kettle and electric coolbox for some milk inside if necessary.

Squ1ggle · 10/04/2018 21:33

That temporary kitchen looks pretty fab actually

HardAsSnails · 10/04/2018 21:37

Temporary kitchen looks great, just have a kettle and stuff indoors. There's a reasonable chance the work will take longer and the hotel will become a PITA.

Mammyloveswine · 10/04/2018 21:41

Im.loving the temp kitchen....didnt even know it was a thing! Id def go for that!

kabanner · 10/04/2018 21:41

My now ExDP decided to rip out the kitchen to do some work. Slow style. We had a kitchen set up in another room, kettle microwave, portable hotplate, toaster, fridge and freezer. We washed up in the bath.

During this slow renovation we ended up splitting up, I stayed for 6 months whilst looking to buy my own place. It was grim but doable for those 6 months.

The temp kitchen looks good so I would go for that with an indoor drinks making area and mini fridge.

FusionChefGeoff · 10/04/2018 21:42

I want a temporary kitchen - that looks awesome!!

ADHDAdult · 10/04/2018 21:43

Happened to a friend, hotel very bored no in a very short space of time!

Original poster
VelvetSpoon · 10/04/2018 21:46

Like I said on the previous thread, I've lived without a proper kitchen for months when we extended the house. I'm a lot older now though! I could probably set up the kettle in the utility room, and maybe keep a small carton of milk in there in a coolbag.

I was pleasantly surprised by the kitchen. Sods law the bloody thing won't fit on my drive...!

OP posts:
PlayingForKittens · 10/04/2018 21:49

I would take the meal allowance, ikea do a plug in portable induction hob for around £30. Set that up in another room with kettle, slow cooker and microwave. Sorted. Use the meal allowance towards buying a few more ready made things or easy ready prepared veg since you'll be short on prep space.

hilbil21 · 10/04/2018 21:50

I know someone who had a temp kitchen for 7 months it was fab

SomeKnobend · 10/04/2018 21:53

I'd go to a hotel. Sod the kids, they can sleep on a friend's sofa if they can't bear a hotel room!

Stinkbomb · 10/04/2018 22:12

£10/day each if you're relying on takeaways isn't great, especially for teenagers, and health wise, the temp kitchen looks fab though , you could always put a kettle & mini fridge inside if it's too much of a pain to keep going outside.

FrogFairy · 10/04/2018 22:43

As you have a utility room, I would be tempted to set up a mini kitchen in there. If you can buy a plug in induction hob, a mini oven, an Instant pot pressure cooker and slow cooker if you don’t already have one you will be surprised what you can cook. Possibly pull out the sandwich toaster and George Foreman grill from the back of a cupboard. I do appreciate you might not want to pay out for these but they would also have a place in the new kitchen.

JellySlice · 10/04/2018 23:11

Luckily I've never been in this position, but several of my friends have. All had children of various ages. The only ones who were happy with their choice of temporary solution were the ones who chose the kitchen pod. The same two things broke all the others, for both of the other options: (a) the lack of laundry facilities and (b) the food budget was never actually enough.

Prestonsflowers · 10/04/2018 23:16

I’d vote for the temporary kitchen every time, it looks great.
I hope it fits in you space though!!

Original poster
VelvetSpoon · 10/04/2018 23:34

The layout and size of the utility room is such that I can have a small tea making area but that's about it. There is a sink in there but only a very small work surface.

I think I am going to go for the temp kitchen. Although knowing my luck I will end up with something that closer resembled one of those dodgy burger vans in a layby than what's shown on the website!!

OP posts:
SimonBridges · 10/04/2018 23:41

I remember reading the original thread where you were trying to find out who to contact about next door. What caused the flood in the end?

I like the look of the temporary kitchen.

When we had our kitchen done we ate out for a week. It drove me mad.

Aquamarine1029 · 11/04/2018 00:31

I would ask if I could keep the temporary kitchen and then have an extra room in the house! That thing is amazing.

Original poster
VelvetSpoon · 11/04/2018 01:13

Simon, it came from the empty house next door. The old lady who owns it has been in a care home since last year. Her family hadn't been round to check on the house for a while and in the cold weather a pipe/ the tank, not sure which, had burst, and then kept leaking until eventually it came into my house. The damage next door is much worse than mine, ceiling has collapsed etc.

OP posts:
sameoldsame · 11/04/2018 06:40

Temp kitchen 100%
Hotel will be really awful, I’ve done it. Shit hotel. Can’t make a cup of tea
You end up just going there to eat and then going home. You can’t have things when you want them

£10 p/d is no way near enough for anything and you’d have to buy equipment

Pod looks fun! Let us know what it’s like

TERFragetteCity · 11/04/2018 06:44

We did 3 weeks without a kitchen and set up what we could in the dining room...we did have a remoska though but it was the washing up that was the problem. I'd go for the temp kitchen and set up a kettle and have a big 5l water bottle in the dining room.

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