Gut renovations -- aptly named to describe the stripping down of a space to its bare bones and starting fresh, the visceral fortitude forged with each decision leading up to the finish line -- are exhausting.  But the payoff is the drama of the before and after.  Particularly when the "before" describes a dilapidated warren of rooms that are  nearly impossible to recognize as a home, the "after" feels like a hard-won victory.