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!

We did June - December so about 7 months, but our biofeedback turned one half of our double lounge into a temporary kitchen with a plumbed in sink. We had an undercounter fridge, undercounter freezer, a console table that served as a prep space, electric two ring hob, microwave, kettle and toaster oven. Set up an ikea billy bookcase as the main storage space, with an additional trolley. It ended up being ok (no kids though) but we had a lot of takeaways, salads, sandwiches and simple one pot meals like pasta. Worth it in the end though because I love our new kitchen. We did have heating and proper flooring though because we were in our living room.

I'd say that you need a kitchen when weaning starts. Is he hiding behind the DIY to get out of parenting? Why would you rather not call in help?

Took my DH a few weeks while working full time to completely do over the kitchen. Call in the help. He can feel emascif he wants, but 10 months is a MAJOR pisstake.

I managed two weeks a few years ago before air fryers where a thing and my little one was about 8. Any longer or adding a baby would have torture.

Call in help OP. Life is too short. We have had other trades in to do ours and my DH is a builder but is just too busy to do much in his spare time.

At the absolute minimum you need some workspace. We managed to pick up a free kitchen on FB marketplace, chucked the old knackered worktops and made a cheap ply worktop which actually looks great. An unwanted sideboard might also work in the short term. Do you have a van?

8 - 12 weeks max. Given that you can afford it and are fed up with it you sound like you really do need outside help.

With a baby, not at all.

We had major works done and it meant no kitchen for 2 weeeks. We had a temp set up in another room, but it was hard! I don’t even cook (my husband does it all) but found it unbearable. The lack of a dishwasher was the hardest.

We started exactly this when our baby was 6 months and it's still the same a year on. Hoping to be finished by Xmas

We had no kitchen at all when I was pregnant about 5 months to 8 months. We just had a table, microwave, fridge in the lounge and washed plates in the bathroom sink. It was OK I just lived off ready meals and school dinners at work :)

Just need to make another 'kitchen' somewhere else!

As someone who was promised if we bought this house it would have a speedy renovation , have now lived in a building site for 12 years , you have my sympathy !

Why is it taking so long? We've always fitted our kitchens ourselves, always within a couple of weeks. You need to get DH to work out a proper timetable, or else accept, with good grace, the help of a builder.

We did it about 18 months. No roof for a winter. No heating. Child was 5/6yrs so not the bottle feeding issue. It was absolutely soul destroying and I will not for one second take for granted hit clean running water and a roof over our heads.

I can't understand why anyone would live like this for over 10 months when they can afford to get someone in. You should be enjoying your first year as a family and you should be a team in looking after the baby, you must be exhausted doing it alone 24/7. Even more so not having everything you need

We did it for 10 months. It almost broke me. Cooking, storage and washing up on the dining table. Having to schlep to the laundrette every week.

I would never, ever do it again.

But it has been worth it as I love my new, spacious kitchen.

With a small baby? I'd have no patience past about 2 weeks!

If you can afford it I'd be saying enough is enough. I can't stand living upside down like that

I coped for about 6mths, with a young baby and I was doing the kitchen fitting myself. Breastfed not bottle fed thankfully, as at that point washing and sterilising might have been the thing that tipped me totally over the edge.

Why is your dh not keen? It’s this kind of shit that led to my separation to be honest @Pinkstuffs. His constant need to prioritise his wants/desires to do things his way before the families needs.

We lived similarly for about a month and I wanted to either kill or be killed by the time we were done.

I would be having a conversation with DH - either he takes 2 weeks off and you get it done, or you get outside help in. I would give a time limit for the two weeks off as well, and I don't care if that's unfair because it's summer holidays, it is supremely unfair that you are having to live like this with a small baby.

Have done it for a couple of months pre dc - moved into an old house with nothing but the sink - and currently have no oven, but do have worktops etc so can't complain.

Two things jump out at me - your DH is barely at home compared to you, so the impact on him is minimal whereas this is where you are 'stuck' every day, along with a baby. Secondly, you say you do have the money to finish off but 'DH not keen to spend it'. Taking my 1st point into consideration, sod that frankly. He's essentially telling you to put up and shut up, while he's out of it every day. That's not being a good husband and father tbh. If the money is there, it needs spending to give you & dc a better home.

Renovation was late starting, took about 6 months, I was pregnant, I came out of hospital to no kitchen, we had a stand pipe in the kitchen, kitchen never got its snagging done, as I just wanted all trades out so I could enjoy what was left of my maternity leave. Luckily I was able to breastfeed.

Last time it was 5 weeks and I almost went over the edge.

I’d be ok with the kitchen for a few months.

I’d be ok with the slow-progress-non-helping DH for about 20 minutes.

We had our kitchen ripped out when our baby was about 5 weeks old, but finished when she was about 10 weeks, and that was long enough (and we stayed with my parents!) solidarity though, my husband did a lot of DIY so the full week of mat leave and then a full weekend also solo childcare is super hard work