Sometimes, marriages just don't work out. Some of the couples that go through these doomed situations sometimes spend the last act of them walking around eggshells until the relationship finally breaks. Others decide to attempt to rekindle their marriages with talk therapy or better lines of communication. However, occasionally these couples just work through projects thinking it will bring back the love they once felt, only to realize too late that the gas has just run out.
One of these scenarios is the house renovation. There is so much time, tension and money spent on a home reno that oftentimes, it leads to a couple realizing that they don't want to even prolong the marriage to enjoy the work done!
This article from the New York Observer is a perfect example of how renovations can tear an already tenuous relationship apart. Sure the examples are million dollar homes in some of the fanciest neighborhoods in New York City. But substitute the cities with Pacoima and the multimillion-dollar figures for $20,000, you will get the same type of result.
"[A]ppraiser turned data guru Jonathan Miller told the Observer… that roughly half the residential appraisals that he does involve divorce. 'It just seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back.'" Another source in the story, Marley Oakes, a New York-based clinical psychologist took a different approach.
"Obviously, people take marriage vows," Oakes hastened to add. "But a renovation is a different level of commitment; it isn't just located in the words."
Read more: Until Decorating Do Us Part: When Renovations End in Divorce (New York Observer)