Renovation Diary

Buyer's remorse is the wicked cousin of 

Remodeling Remorse. 

It can strike without warning and without mercy.

I've renovated before, and the hair-raising project taught me plenty about buying older homes. You can't make them into something they're not. You must be patient with the house, concentrating on its virtues, making peace with the quirks. Trouble will happen. Sometimes you get lucky and hit on a solution. 

For example, take this wall. Art can't be hung. Furniture won't look right. The wall is cut up with a staircase, which is pretty, but the intercom is something I don't need or want. Apparently it was installed before the house went on the market as an update. Removing it appears to be impossible.

However, the box can be moved on the other side of the staircase wall. The HVAC return can be moved, too. 

My goal was to make the staircase smaller, remove the offensive intercom/vent, and add a bit of drywall. Then I could add a shallow dish cupboard, a smaller version of the one in the film 

"Something's Gotta Give."

source

While I don't regret moving the intercom/vent or enlarging the wall, I don't think a china cabinet will fit. But I can hang art, etc. This was a good thing, as Martha would say.

From this angle, you can see the problem: traffic flow and width of the opening. In my mind's eye, I see a cupboard, white dishes lined up, very Somethings Gotta Give-ish. Then a huge dog races into the kitchen and ... boom!

Nope, ain't gonna fit.

Something's Gotta Be Sacrificed when you're remodeling.

Also, you can see a new problem, one that might not have a happy ending. The wall between the kitchen and living room has been removed. I don't think it's wide enough. And it looks odd.

The original door was off-set to begin with (I never noticed):

The same problem cropped up when we blew out the dining room walls, but we had more space. It turned out lovely. But the kitchen opening worries me.

The Bathroom-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named is another worry, 

but it will be ignored for now.

I've got Renovation Remorse.

Will has a remedy. "Sell."

Something's gotta give, indeed. 

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