I have this postcard picture that I’ve kept with me from room to room, house to house since college. It’s just a bed and a night stand—black and white–simple and soothing.

During the first half of my life I lived in more than a dozen places—lovely split levels, new construction in “planned cities”, gorgeous urban row houses, and apartments—some charming, some not so much.

I’ve spent the second half of my life in ONE classic, modest Portland bungalow built in 1927.

When it came time to re-renovate the attic space into a master bedroom, that postcard was my guiding light… a room of one’s own, simple and soothing. A bed, a night stand,  (and I added a clawfoot tub). A room of my own to both escape from the hubbub of family life and invite in a more peaceful element—soothing baths and snuggly cuddles without distraction.

It’s funny, I went to look for that postcard this morning and couldn’t find it…maybe having created it in real life I no longer need the picture.