How do people stay interested in the whole tedious, soul-crushing process of home renovation?
I mean, it’s all very exciting when you’re drinking red wine and drawing up grand plans at the kitchen table. You sit there saying grandiose stuff like “We could knock this wall through and extend the bathroom” despite not having a single molecule of a clue how to do it and £500 to your name.
For that moment though, buoyed by the ambition of your singular vision and dreaming of Kevin McCloud talking to camera, you feel like you can achieve anything. Even though all you’ve done is sunk half a bottle of Jam Shed and drawn a wobbly rectangle on the back of an envelope.
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But what about when the diggers turn up, and the rain, and all those other Channel 4 TV presenters? How do you keep going when you’re halfway through the project and you realise you’ll be in debt for the rest of your life? What happens when you have to admit to George Clarke that you’ve gone £300k over budget because you bought a downpipe from Sweden that will be stuck in customs for two years?
The fact is, there’s only a very, very small percentage of people who will remain excited about renovation for long enough to convert a water tower in Barnstaple into a four-bedroom luxury family home. Most of us would give up and buy a new build after a week. Anything to avoid learning about cladding.