Originally I had named the rooms after their original occupants — my grandparents, my mom, and one of my uncles — but on second thought, realized that it could be perceived as kind of morbid. I am working on creating a photo collage panel about the history of the house and its builders to hang in the hallway.
I’m a believer in the KISS principle from my IT days — Keep It Simple, Stupid, so all bedding is the same for all 3 rooms. It’s the art that sort of themes the rooms. I have been collecting Alaska themed posters for quite a while.
I had some Chinese ink paintings that worked beautifully together with a classic Ansel Adams Denali poster in the smallest room.
I had a whale poster and a sea otter poster for another room, and am still looking for a large painting for a large empty wall.
The third room is the bird room. My bird photos and Tlingit Raven and Eagle art.
I don’t refer to them by theme, because that could change, and because I have a shared bath I’m targeted at value travelers. In fact, I numbered the rooms 1,2, and 3 because attractive metal numbers were easy to install on the doors, and for self check-in, it stopped the occasional confusion.
When I travel I could care less about a “theme”. My first concerns are price, location, and cleanliness. I appreciate nice simple design, and since I’m often renting small rooms, I don’t want a lot of tchotchkes cluttering the space. I won’t get into the throw pillow debate again since they aren’t allowed under COVID guidelines.