How my sponge cake efforts led to a major home reno

Funny how the desire to bake cakes ends with the roof off my home and wind whistling through the rooms in midwinter.

Let’s start at the beginning...

I have never been much of a domestic goddess but recently I discovered the joys of home baking. Victoria sponges in particular.

My oven and I have not been close acquaintances over the years so the desire to perfect my sponge skills led to (you guessed it) a new oven.

Replacing the oven meant I might as well update my kitchen.

Updating my kitchen meant I needed new flooring and windows.

New flooring and windows meant taking the roof off – so re-roofing was the next step.

Re-roofing led to fixing the cladding on the house exterior.

…and since I was fixing the cladding and almost everything else, I might as well install a new bathroom at the same time.

So there I was, camping out at home in the coldest month of the year, with heaters blazing but the room temperature struggling to get over 15 degrees. I kept a smile on my face by holding fast to the mantra: This too will pass!

So now I have a lovely new kitchen plus a renovated home. However, for the cost of it all, I could have had sponge cakes delivered every week for the rest of my life, and still have money left over!

Dollars and sense

The whole exercise was a crash course in project management. If you’ve gone through a similar experience, you’ll know exactly what I mean. 

Read the mortgage news in this issue for more observations on home renovation costs and pitfalls.