America, You've Lost Your Freaking Mind Over Remodeling

There's something to be said for appreciating the home you have. In a way, I feel lucky to have lived in so many bad apartments in my 20s. It made all the fixer-uppers we looked at while house hunting--the only homes remotely near our price range--a little less off-putting. Is it structurally safe, with a working stove? Wow! There aren't any rats or strange midwinter mosquito infestations? Super! It also prepared us to enjoy a merely adequate living space without pining after the spreads in glos...