Over the past month, the fiancé and I have thrown ourselves headfirst into a kitchen remodel. Correction. We have thrown ourselves headfirst into living through a kitchen remodel. Any homeowner with even the slightest sliver of remodeling experience will tell you that “undertaking” and “living through” a kitchen remodel are two totally different animals.

At the end of November, we are now officially halfway through our dream of turning this kitchen…

into this kitchen…

The past month has made us more than a just a little thankful for our must-have list of survival tools for making it out of a kitchen overhaul alive.

#1. The Crockpot

All hail the most ingenious kitchen appliance that doesn’t actually require a kitchen. We’ve dished up quite a few dinners along side the bathtub with this friend’s assistance. When you can’t stand one more bite of take-out, in swoops the Crockpot to save your grumbling belly and your sanity.

#2. Disposable Dishware

I can already feel the tree huggers out there starting to sharpen their reusable knives to throw at me for this endorsement, but without a functioning dishwasher, a tired-working-gal-living-through-a-kitchen-reno has got to do what a tired-working-gal-living-through-a-kitchen-reno has got to do. Good news is that there are plenty of ecofriendly versions available to make you feel a little less guilty.

#3. Pinterest Boards

When you are swimming in sawdust and are 99% positive you will throw yourself onto a pile of rusty nails if you have to live through one more day of this nonsense, stop. Take a deep breath (as you pour an oversized glass of wine) and pull up the Pinterest boards that remind you of why you hopped on this crazy train in the first place. There is light at the end of the tunnel and you have the fastest growing social media platform to prove it.