Building work starting soon... survival tips please!

[PingPongBat]

Our new kitchen & utility room works start in 10 days' time. This will include knocking down an internal wall, creating a door in another one, moving a window, building another wall, plus all the usual plumbing & electrical stuff.

Have never lived in a house while building work is going on before & I am dreading it

Those of you who have been through this sort of thing... what are your tips for survival through all the dust, noise & lack of kitchen? (apart from trying to ignore the dust and having lots of takeaways)

Try not to get upset or stressed when everything is covered in dust. There's nothing you can do about it except take it in your stride and think of the end result. There is little point cleaning up all the time because the next day the dirt and dust will be back so count to ten and go with the flow.

They will leave your kitchen as intact as they can for as long as they can. That's when you'll be visiting friends/family for meals or getting to know the local take-aways.

If you leave plenty of tea bags/coffee/milk/sugar and some biscuits so that the builders can make their own, you can go out for the day for some respite.

Try not to get stressed and embrace the fact that your house is expected to be dusty and a mess while building work is going on. If you have another room you can set up a makeshift kitchen (microwave, kettle etc) do that then at least you can prepare yourself something to eat as takeaways get boring. Make the builders welcome with mugs/tea/ coffee/milk etc for them to make a cuppa but don't do it yourself or the job will end up as yours. Wrap up, the house will be freezing when they are working and doors will be open all day.

Thanks! I should have added, I'm going to be at work for a fair amount of the time they are here, but I'm only 5 mins away so can pop back if necessary.

Coats & scarves at the ready...