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A woman was taken aback when, after employing a craftsman to fit five fresh shelves in her larder, she arrived back home to find something strikingly different – along with a hefty invoice to match. Basic, minor home improvements can significantly boost our houses’ practicality.
Confined, awkward areas can be refreshed and changed, while a more balanced design can greatly enhance how at ease we feel in our own homes. Jennifer Payne desired to better the arrangement of her pantry, adding new “micro” racks to let her keep and display her seasonings, along with five “plain” shelves along the rear wall for additional storage.
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Instead of getting what she had requested, Jennifer returned home to find a space she called “a hallway with ambitions” because the altered design now resembles a lengthy, slender corridor absent of the racking she had asked for – and the carpenter is requesting $17,000 (£12,554.92) for the completed task.
Jennifer was astounded and used Facebook to display pictures of the larder whilst seeking guidance on how to manage the immense – and unforeseen – bill.
Along with a set of pictures of the area, she penned: “So seemingly, I no longer possess a pantry. What I do possess is… a hallway with ambitions.
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“A very costly hallway. A hallway that believes it is fashionable. A hallway that desires me to throw afternoon tea gatherings in the corner like we’re in Alice in Wonderland.”
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Jennifer disclosed she had asked for her microwave and coffee maker to be on the left of the area, and had wanted “sweet little micro spice racks on the right” and “five straightforward shelves across the back” adding.
However, what she obtained were “some strange fairground corner racks that shriek, ‘Welcome to your hallway tea service, madam'”, and a clear lack of spice shelves.
She continued: “And the clincher? A demand for $17,000 (£12,554.92) extra because apparently, I’m financing someone’s boat.”
She clarified: “Let me be precise: I did not commission ‘Abstract Pantry Hallway: The Museum Installation.’ I commissioned five shelves. The precise same ones I had previously. For zero extra dollars.”
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She pondered whether she should “tell them to dismantle it and try again”, or “accept the reality” she now owns “the world’s most extravagant hallway”.
She even joked about the situation by recommending she might begin “serving finger sandwiches to strangers for $25 a head to pay off this ‘pantry ransom'”.
Jennifer concluded: “At this moment, the only thing being kept here is my fury and Costco-sized toilet roll.”
In the comments section, hundreds of individuals shared their thoughts. One individual questioned: “Where are the blueprints? Were they sanctioned? If not…they’ve put the wrong pantry in”.
Another commented: “It’s a stunning area but if it’s not what was decided upon from mockups or drawings, I wouldn’t let it go.”
One cynical individual shared: “I constructed my own house and I was there to approve everything. If I noticed something not right, I challenged it – I visited my cabinet maker weekly to view everything, gave him images from magazines of what I desired, so I don’t grasp how this was completed and you didn’t see it wasn’t right”.
Another questioned: “Did you not monitor what they were doing and at any point inform them that it’s nothing like what you asked for”.
One individual was more understanding and said: “I adore the pantry, but 17,000 extra for what you didn’t request is crazy!”
Yet another added: “Looks like a pleasant pantry”.
In reply to the flood of queries about the pantry’s unforeseen alteration, Jennifer confirmed: “We have had numerous conversations and drawings – nothing like what was fitted, and this occurred in one day. I can’t even believe it.”