3. Don't get married

Too late? Now you're in for it.

Here's something everybody rehabbing a house needs to realize. You may work staggering hours, get filthy, deal patiently with psycho tradesmen, go nuts trying to get every detail just right. Chances are by halfway through the project your spouse will still think you're a selfish jerk.

And you know what? You probably are.

Fact is, typically one partner in the relationship wants to fix up the house, while the other partner wants to have a life – not an unreasonable expectation. Sure, after a day of eating dirt it's aggravating to be chewed out because you left the soap dish grimy.

Just remember, fixing up the house was mostly your idea. Buy some flowers and clean out the dish.