So two teen girls, two adults, two cats, and a dog are making do with a single bathroom and early-morning wakeup calls (even on the weekends), as our main bathroom gets a full makeover. While it pays to be focused on whether you’ll be able to recoup your renovation investment—and whether your renovation design choices will stand the test of time—it’s also important to minimize the stress of your home improvement project. Because being in the midst of a renovation, with all the noise, the people in and out, and the dust, is guaranteed to make you feel frazzled. Here’s how we’re surviving (and almost thriving) through our current remodeling project. In the weeks before your start date, take the time to get rid of whatever you can, so you can make some room. Bonus: You’ll have fewer things to keep dust-free throughout the renovation! To make things simpler, I broke out a lot of those small kitchen appliances that can make putting together a meal a lot easier—my crockpot, electric kettle, microwave, and grill made cooking dinner without a kitchen a little easier. (One of my friends cooked out every night when her kitchen was out of commission.) RELATED: 5 Deliciously Simple Slow Cooker Recipes With Just Two Ingredients As someone who very recently spent an entire evening searching outdoors for a cat who reappeared as if from thin air in our basement, I can definitely tell you: Find a way to safely corral pets away from the work area and exterior doors that may be left open accidentally. It may even be worthwhile to spring for a little doggy daycare time to keep your puppy out from underfoot. Removing area rugs or putting sheets or heavy-duty dust cloths over upholstered furniture will help minimize hard-to-remove dust in your soft items, while clearing shelves of decorative items can make it easier to keep surfaces clean.
