How long would you live with a kitchen like this?

[Pinkstuffs]

How long would you live with a kitchen like this?

You have air fryer, microwave and 2 ring hob but no surface space. Food is stored in a plastic box. Plates etc in makeshift drawers. Fridge as normal. No oven.

There is ongoing work most weekends so the kitchen is difficult to keep clean. No dining space. No heating in winter. Obviously no plaster flooring etc.

Edited to add, you have a small baby who is bottle fed.

Help me understand if IABU!

I put up with what you’re doing for two weeks and that was with a 10 and 13 year old. There’s NO way I’d put up with that for 10 months!

We manage 2.5 years with no oven. Slow cooker, hob, George Forman. Kettle, microwave and toaster. Also had a baby who was born 2 months in. We do have heating though.

I loved like that with a toddler and 8 months pregnant for about a month and until the new kitchen extension was in
It was a nightmare but was worth it in the end .
We had prep cooked and freeze before

I did it for a couple of months while dh fitted our kitchen outside of his usual working hours.

What's taking so long, is it a lack of money to finish it? Lack of time? Lack of will? Lack of skill? I think you need to become project manager and start planning what needs doing and when or it will never get done.

Our boiler blew on Friday but the reno was starting on Monday. We lived with no back wall on the downstairs, no hot water and a very very makeshift kitchen for almost 4 months. We got the basics of the new kitchen again the week before Christmas and kicked the builders out on 23rd December. We started on 27th august. Dd was 18 months old and I was doing a Masters thesis while working FT and DH was working FT at the same time....

We were surprised how we managed to- but we could see the paid builders making progress and I was not waiting on DH to make progress every week and expecting me to manage around a never- ending project. And we are quite organised - we had running water to the sink (but the sink moved around almost daily), the fridge was always connected, and we had a microwave all the time but there was a week in the middle with no cooker. The worktop was the draining board of the sink for most of it. And there was always a kettle - builders were big tea drinkers!

Most of our actual kitchen was upstairs in the spare room in boxes, and we used a handful of absolute essentials.

Our kitchen took about two weeks to do and I was at the end of my tether then. I would move into a rental next time and let the contractors get on with it.

Absolutely yanbu. A week would be my limit. One of dhs friends is a kitchen fitter. 1 day to rip out, tidy up, let other trades in. 1 day to refit carcass, then appliances, sink/plumbing etc. Then another day for doors and drawers and plinths etc. Then maybe a couple of days for decorating/tiles etc.

Cousin just had one done. Her and a joiner mate. 2 weeks start to finish and included tiling and flooring and a downstairs loo and pantry.

Is your DH not capable because honestly I'd have paid for help 9 months ago.

I managed without a kitchen for 2 months but my children were much older. I agree that you should get someone in to complete the work. It will be money well spent!

Three or four weeks, but longer in a nice summer (this one hasn’t been!). Sounds grim.

This is just bullshit from your DH - he is completely abandoning you to the baby care - please for the love of God OP - tell him enough is enough.

I just don't know why people put up with this shit.

v baffling as well - I had a new kitchen put in definitely in under 2 months that included removing an entire wall and putting in glass doors and entire new kitchen.

My aunt is renovating her farmhouse they bought three years ago. They only had kitchen finished last summer. For two years they had a microwave and a hot plate in their living room. They also collected all their dirty dishes and drove them into town to wash up at family member's home couple of times a week. I guess it can be done and I can see myself being able to cope reasonably well with it as long as work was progressing

Where is DH 7 days a week?

The main issue is the no surface space.

Could you get a fold out for now?

Even a wallpaper would be handy because they are cheap to buy and fold up.

You could get a slow cooker which would mean spending less time in the kitchen.

Absolutely not. We've had three new kitchens, one we fitted ourselves and the longest it took was two and a half weeks (that was an insurance job following a fire and we had been provided with a temporary kitchen for that). The other times were no more than a week- Dh took a week off work and we pretty much spent the whole week in there.
Any longer and I would have gone crazy.

I did it for 11 months with a one year old.

A week? Depends whether we could get fun takeaways and snacks instead of doing any cooking.

What's the delay? I couldn't manage for that long and would need it done asap. We did a renovation where at one point we just had what you describe in the one bedroom we were also all sleeping in, but it was just a few weeks and I couldn't have managed any longer.

Coming up to 3 years!

But we have upgraded from first makeshift kitchen to now a better makeshift kitchen in the ‘will be utility’.

But it’s going to be worth it! Kitchen just needs shelves, worktops and final fix plumbing. 🥳 (and the rest of the room doing ie. Skirting/ decorating etc.)

Babe is now a fully fledged toddler 🤣 hence the toys everywhere.

Only you know if it is worth the wait and why it’s taking so long.

Lack of oven would really grind me down since we 'toast/roast' lots: pizzas, sausages, Sunday roasts, salmon parcels.

Recently, my oven was out of action for several weeks and that was a big downer.

That would drive me mad especially with a baby. When I left ex DC were 4 and 7. I had a very basic kitchen small worktop. Did take the fridge freezer with us. Only had a single electric ring and microwave to cook on for a few weeks. The landlord did put a gas cooker in after a few weeks. I celebrated the next day cooked a tasty lasagne.😂😂😂

Erm, probably forever with an airfryer, microwave, and hob. I managed 6 months in a tent with only a bunsen burner for cooking, and dd was 6 months old! Although I do have low standards tbf.

That was a better version of our kitchen when we moved in here. We extended and made a new kitchen about 18 months in.
I had 3 small children at the time.

I lived like that for about four months when getting significant building work don. House was pretty much open to the elements and freezing - no working kitchen.

no baby though or children in the house.

I live alone and did have a lot of sleepless nights given the poor security,

I would never do to again.

We did for a few of months but only because DH, who was fitting the kitchen, had an accident and nearly sliced off his fingers with a circular saw. He'd only removed the oven a couple of days before.

Was involved in a major building project whilst pregnant and with a little one. Not having a proper bathroom with a baby was one thing but no way would we have had that sort of kitchen setup.
Think it's time to bring in support - you can afford it and it will massively improve everyone's lives. All credit to your husband for giving it a go but there is a time to take stock and consider alternatives.