Dumb as a Doorknob: Making Mistakes & Laughing at Plans

This past Sunday, we swapped out all of our doorknobs for new ones. I’ll cover this home project in more detail in a future post, but just like how Instagram is not always reality, home projects are not always as easy as they appear. Because of my real estate background, I frequently get asked about whether I love house-flipping shows. The answer is that I don’t often watch them, and the reason is that I think they can make flipping or renovating a house look too easy.

These reality stars get houses for a steal, make major renovations with seemingly few major issues, obtain permits no problem, stay below budget, and manage to get the work done in no time at all with an all-star contractor crew. While there are exceptions, that usually isn’t real life. In reality, items arrive damaged, projects end up costing way more than expected, contractors arrive late or not at all, you don’t buy or sell for the price that you wanted, wrong parts are ordered, and timelines get pushed back continuously.

I’m not writing this post to pop your home-improvement-show bubble, I’m writing it for the same reason that people compare photos taken with different lighting or angles. It’s to show that things are not always what or as easy as they seem. As I write more posts featuring home “before” and “after” photos, I thought that it was important to…