The woman wanted to install new shelves in her pantry, but when she got home after the job was done, she was stunned by the result of the carpenter's work. Share this article Share this article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy link Link copied Bookmark Comments
A woman was left baffled when she hired a carpenter to install five new shelves in her pantry, only to return home to find something completely different — and a huge repair bill. Simple, small improvements can greatly improve the functionality of our homes.
Cramped, awkward spaces can be updated and reimagined, and a more harmonious aesthetic can significantly improve the comfort level of a home. Jennifer Payne decided to improve the layout of her pantry by adding new “micro” shelves for storing and displaying spices, as well as five “simple” shelves along the back wall for additional storage.
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Instead of getting what she asked for, Jennifer came home to find a space she described as a “hallway with aspirations” as the updated layout now resembles a long narrow hallway without the shelves she ordered, and the carpenter is demanding $17,000 (£12,554.92) for the work.
Jennifer was shocked and posted photos of the pantry on Facebook, while also asking for advice on how to deal with the huge – and unexpected – bill.
Under a series of photos of the space, she wrote: “It looks like I don't have a storage room anymore. I just have… a hallway of aspirations.”
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“A very expensive hallway. A hallway that thinks it's posh. A hallway that wants me to have tea parties in the corner, like in Alice in Wonderland.”
Jennifer said she asked for the microwave and coffee maker to be on the left, adding that she wanted “cute little spice racks on the right” and “five simple shelves in the back.”
However, she did get “some weird corner shelves that literally scream, 'Welcome to your hallway tea service, madam!'” and a noticeable lack of spice racks.
She continued: “And what's the catch? The asking price is $17,000 (£12,554.92) more because apparently I'm funding someone's yacht.”
She explained, “Let me be clear: I did not order 'Abstract Pantry Corridor: Museum Installation.' I ordered five shelves. The exact same ones I had before. For $0 extra.”
She wondered whether she should “tell them to rip it out and try again” or “accept the fact” that she now owned “the most expensive corridor in the world.”
She even took the situation lightly, suggesting that she could start “serving cucumber sandwiches to strangers for $25 a head to pay off this 'pantry ransom.'”
Jennifer summed it up: “Right now, the only thing stored in here is my rage and Costco-sized toilet paper.”
Hundreds of people weighed in with their opinions in the comments. One asked: “Where are the plans? Were they approved? If not…they installed the wrong closet.”
Another commented: 'It's a beautiful space but if it doesn't match what was agreed based on the mock-ups or drawings I wouldn't give it up.'
One skeptic shared, “I built my own house and was there to check everything. If I saw something was wrong, I questioned it – I went to my cabinet maker every week to look at everything, gave him pictures from magazines of what I wanted, so I don't understand how it was done, and you didn't see that it was wrong.”
Another asked, “Didn't you check what they were doing and tell them at some point that it wasn't what you asked for?”
One person was more sympathetic and said, “I like the pantry, but 17,000 for something you didn't ask for is crazy!”
Another added: “Looks like a good storage unit.”
In response to a barrage of questions about the unexpected pantry transformation, Jennifer confirmed, “We talked and drew a lot – nothing like what was installed, and it happened in one day. I can't even believe it.”
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