Transforming My Home: The Journey of a Remodel

If you’ve wondered why my posts don’t have much about the SCA, these two pictures below pretty much explain it.

Before:

And now:

Notice I didn’t say after. I’m not there yet.

As of now, the old carpet is gone, and the new flooring is down. My living/dining room already feels like an entirely different space. The round table and rug are in place, and some of my old furniture and antiques are beginning to come back—but there are still boxes, displaced belongings, and quite a few decisions waiting to be made.

This remodel has turned into more than replacing flooring. I’m rethinking how I want to live with the things I’ve accumulated over the years. I’m sorting antiques, books, furniture, and memories, deciding what belongs in this next version of my home and what can go on to someone else.

Eventually, I’m aiming for a room with a Victorian feeling and plenty of Chinese accents. Right now, however, I think the decorating style is best described as Early American Cardboard Box.

Those boxes aren’t just construction clutter, either. They’re part of my sorting system: keep, thrift shop, antique dealer, family, or trash. Apparently replacing a floor is an excellent way to make yourself deal with everything that used to sit on top of it.

And that is why An Itinerant Scribe has been a little quiet.

History, the SCA, Li Zhenyan, research, and various half-formed blog posts are still rattling around in my head. I haven’t abandoned any of them. At the moment, they’re simply competing with boxes, furniture, and the question, “Now where am I going to put this?”

I’ll be better about posting when things settle down.

In the meantime, consider this photographic evidence that I have a very good excuse.