September 9, 2026 • 6 mins
Welcome to Worst Case Scenario, a bite-sized episode from Home Beautiful’s The Edit podcast, where we ask our guests about their biggest ‘oh-no’moment in the home.
Today, Victoria Devine takes us back to her first home renovation with her husband. It started with a bathroom and ended up costing double what they'd planned. Plus, quite the discovery under the kitchen floor...
Haven't caught Victoria’s episode of The Edit yet? Listen/watch the full episode with Victoria here.
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Credits:
Host: Elle Lovelock
Guest: Victoria Devine
Edited by: Leah Porges
Head of Vodcasting: Rachel Fountain
With thanks to our wonderful Home Beautiful team.
The Edit is a production of Home Beautiful and Are Media.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The previous owners who we purchased the house from before
had it set up as a feng shui garden. And
when they left, they took all the sand. So when
we moved in, it was a pile of dirt.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I've never heard this before in my life. Welcome to
Worst Case Scenario on the edit by Home Beautiful. It's
where I ask our guests about their oh no moment
at home. It could be a design decision that went
wildly wrong. a guest moment they still think about or
something their family will never let them forget. Let's get
(00:36):
into it.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So we decided to renovate our first home. We knew
when we purchased it that we would have to renovate.
We did a building and pest inspection before we even
purchased and we identified that there was moisture in the
walls in the bathrooms. And so that was, you know,
that was actually part of the negotiation where we knew
that coming into this house, we probably, according to the
(01:02):
building and the guy who was like, you could probably
use it for six to 12 months, but you're going
to have to do something about this. We also, when
we moved in, had this horrendous kitchen. It was white
and very high gloss. And then they did a bright
red entire wall splash back that was glass. And then
(01:24):
the part of the floor, like I kid you not,
part of the floor in the kitchen off to the
side had been cut out so that when you looked over,
you could see the dirt underneath the house.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Really?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And the reason you could see the dirt was the
previous owners who we purchased the house from before had
it set up as a feng shui garden. And when
they left, they took all the sand. So when we
moved in, it was a pile of dirt.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I've never heard this before in my life.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
No, neither had I. You learn something new every day.
And you can imagine what happened when we moved in there.
It was not the first priority to fix, but it
quickly became the biggest priority to fix when my two
cats thought, wow, an indoor litter box? Crazy. So that
was a one out of ten decision and it definitely
(02:17):
turbocharged how quickly we needed to renovate. everything I mean
based on aesthetics yes but also that kitchen had seen
better days it was what's that is it plywood where
if it gets wet it puffs up yeah so it
was like the type of wood where it no and
(02:38):
so that had happened throughout the entire kitchen like they
clearly had it was a DIY job they clearly hadn't
waterproofed everything was a bit ick but that was fun
we were happy with the house we decided to renovate
we got a quote the quote was was quite extensive.
We needed to do two bathrooms at the time and
a kitchen, and it was about $ 200, 000. And we were like, yep,
(03:01):
that's fantastic. We're going to do that. And then as
time goes on, the project manager slash designer was like, well,
what if you, you know, if you're already doing the
bathroom down the hall and then the bathroom, you know,
in the main living area and the kitchen, why don't
we just redo the hallway? And I was thinking of this.
And so things just got added. And then in our
(03:22):
front lounge room, it was an old 1940s art deco
style duplex. So at the very front, we had an
old fireplace. And this old fireplace, they had covered it
up with, you know, those $ 1 brick or those $ 1
(03:42):
like square, perfectly square, very shiny tiles. They had tiled
the entire outside of the fireplace and we didn't actually
know what was under there. And when we started prying
them off, we realized there was a very gorgeous, like
art deco style, uh, fireplace made out of Bendigo bricks. Um,
and it was gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
So we were like, oh, we probably should invest some
money in bringing that back to life as well. Instead
of like the gas fireplace, we thought it, it, it,
one thing led to another. Then we ended up redoing
the entire flooring in the house so all new floorboards
carpets everything um new entryway uh just anyway it it
(04:28):
expanded from $ 200, 000 to $ 400, 000 and as a renovation and
as something that we were planning on doing one bathroom
living there then one like the other bathroom and then
the kitchen it went to us then leasing a place
down the road and moving out And having the reno done.
And obviously that then went over time as well. So
(04:50):
was I good at that?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
No.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Did I tell my husband we would never renovate again?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Have I changed my mind on that now that there's
been some time? Yes. But you can't stop me, you know.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Do you know what? You make us feel human.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Look, the plumber always has a leaky tap. And I'm
very grateful that throughout that journey, we were able to
stretch and pull and go, okay, cool. Like thankfully the
equity in that property had increased enough that we could
pull some cash out of that to fund it. I mean,
we could have definitely stopped dead in our tracks and
be like, absolutely not. Like these are all just adding
(05:26):
up and up and up. Um, and whilst there were
some nasty surprises, it wasn't $ 200, 000 worth of nasty surprise.
Like we agreed to that, but. Originally, when my husband
and I sat down and said, let's create a budget
for this big renovation, we both agreed that $ 200, 000 was
an astronomical amount. And probably, you know, that's pretty good.
Like that will give us a good return on our investment.
(05:48):
And when it turned into $ 400, 000, like I think we
both stopped counting and like, let's just not let's just
finish this.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
And never speak of it again.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah. And so even now, if it gets brought up,
both of us kind of look at each other and go, no, no, no.
We'll both get a little bit heated about different parts
of it.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That was Worst Case Scenario. You can dive into this
guest's full episode wherever you're listening to this one. We'll
chuck a link in the show notes or just scroll
up in your podcast or YouTube feed. We'll see you
over there. you
The previous owners who we purchased the house from before
had it set up as a feng shui garden. And
when they left, they took all the sand. So when
we moved in, it was a pile of dirt.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I've never heard this before in my life. Welcome to
Worst Case Scenario on the edit by Home Beautiful. It's
where I ask our guests about their oh no moment
at home. It could be a design decision that went
wildly wrong. a guest moment they still think about or
something their family will never let them forget. Let's get
(00:36):
into it.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
So we decided to renovate our first home. We knew
when we purchased it that we would have to renovate.
We did a building and pest inspection before we even
purchased and we identified that there was moisture in the
walls in the bathrooms. And so that was, you know,
that was actually part of the negotiation where we knew
that coming into this house, we probably, according to the
(01:02):
building and the guy who was like, you could probably
use it for six to 12 months, but you're going
to have to do something about this. We also, when
we moved in, had this horrendous kitchen. It was white
and very high gloss. And then they did a bright
red entire wall splash back that was glass. And then
(01:24):
the part of the floor, like I kid you not,
part of the floor in the kitchen off to the
side had been cut out so that when you looked over,
you could see the dirt underneath the house.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Really?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And the reason you could see the dirt was the
previous owners who we purchased the house from before had
it set up as a feng shui garden. And when
they left, they took all the sand. So when we
moved in, it was a pile of dirt.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I've never heard this before in my life.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
No, neither had I. You learn something new every day.
And you can imagine what happened when we moved in there.
It was not the first priority to fix, but it
quickly became the biggest priority to fix when my two
cats thought, wow, an indoor litter box? Crazy. So that
was a one out of ten decision and it definitely
(02:17):
turbocharged how quickly we needed to renovate. everything I mean
based on aesthetics yes but also that kitchen had seen
better days it was what's that is it plywood where
if it gets wet it puffs up yeah so it
was like the type of wood where it no and
(02:38):
so that had happened throughout the entire kitchen like they
clearly had it was a DIY job they clearly hadn't
waterproofed everything was a bit ick but that was fun
we were happy with the house we decided to renovate
we got a quote the quote was was quite extensive.
We needed to do two bathrooms at the time and
a kitchen, and it was about $ 200, 000. And we were like, yep,
(03:01):
that's fantastic. We're going to do that. And then as
time goes on, the project manager slash designer was like, well,
what if you, you know, if you're already doing the
bathroom down the hall and then the bathroom, you know,
in the main living area and the kitchen, why don't
we just redo the hallway? And I was thinking of this.
And so things just got added. And then in our
(03:22):
front lounge room, it was an old 1940s art deco
style duplex. So at the very front, we had an
old fireplace. And this old fireplace, they had covered it
up with, you know, those $ 1 brick or those $ 1
(03:42):
like square, perfectly square, very shiny tiles. They had tiled
the entire outside of the fireplace and we didn't actually
know what was under there. And when we started prying
them off, we realized there was a very gorgeous, like
art deco style, uh, fireplace made out of Bendigo bricks. Um,
and it was gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Right.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
So we were like, oh, we probably should invest some
money in bringing that back to life as well. Instead
of like the gas fireplace, we thought it, it, it,
one thing led to another. Then we ended up redoing
the entire flooring in the house so all new floorboards
carpets everything um new entryway uh just anyway it it
(04:28):
expanded from $ 200, 000 to $ 400, 000 and as a renovation and
as something that we were planning on doing one bathroom
living there then one like the other bathroom and then
the kitchen it went to us then leasing a place
down the road and moving out And having the reno done.
And obviously that then went over time as well. So
(04:50):
was I good at that?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
No.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Did I tell my husband we would never renovate again?
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Have I changed my mind on that now that there's
been some time? Yes. But you can't stop me, you know.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Do you know what? You make us feel human.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Look, the plumber always has a leaky tap. And I'm
very grateful that throughout that journey, we were able to
stretch and pull and go, okay, cool. Like thankfully the
equity in that property had increased enough that we could
pull some cash out of that to fund it. I mean,
we could have definitely stopped dead in our tracks and
be like, absolutely not. Like these are all just adding
(05:26):
up and up and up. Um, and whilst there were
some nasty surprises, it wasn't $ 200, 000 worth of nasty surprise.
Like we agreed to that, but. Originally, when my husband
and I sat down and said, let's create a budget
for this big renovation, we both agreed that $ 200, 000 was
an astronomical amount. And probably, you know, that's pretty good.
Like that will give us a good return on our investment.
(05:48):
And when it turned into $ 400, 000, like I think we
both stopped counting and like, let's just not let's just
finish this.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
And never speak of it again.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Yeah. And so even now, if it gets brought up,
both of us kind of look at each other and go, no, no, no.
We'll both get a little bit heated about different parts
of it.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That was Worst Case Scenario. You can dive into this
guest's full episode wherever you're listening to this one. We'll
chuck a link in the show notes or just scroll
up in your podcast or YouTube feed. We'll see you
over there. you
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