We designed Firefly Haus with family vacations in mind. It was sized for four families so we wanted to make sure each of the four bedrooms had the same amenities. So that meant each would have a king bed, tv, closet, super nice bathroom and access to a balcony. But since most of the bedrooms had similar amenities, how could we make them unique? That's when we thought of decorating each with its own theme.
At first we thought each bedroom should represent an animal found in the Smokies (you know: bears, deer, turkeys, foxes, etc.) But then Laura wanted something to remember her mother by, and we knew she loved hemlock trees. From there we decided we could open up the themes to things besides animals.
Eventually we landed on these:
- Bears - the black bear in the Smokies is iconic. They're all over the place! Plus we liked the idea that mama bear would be downstairs close to the kids' bunks.
- Mountains - representing the great view of Mount LeConte from the haus.
- Trees - the top bedroom is the highest and calling it the treehouse just seemed to fit.
- Squirrels - we rescued a baby squirrel during the construction of the haus and thought this would be a great way to remember her.
Over the past year we've found it handy to refer to the bedrooms by their theme. Even our guests will refer to the bedrooms that way, which cuts out the confusion in our communications.
The squirrel bedroom
Replica trail sign at the peak of Mt. LeConte for the mountain bedroom
The treehouse