Working on interior design is an essential step for any short-term rental host. Modern travelers becoming more and more discerning and spoiled with choice. Unappealing and impractical interior design can affect your occupancy rate and, consequently, the ROI.
On the other hand, a well-thought-out, attractive design can drive more bookings. Here we’ve compiled the best suggestions on how to style your vacation rental that will come in handy to create a stunning space that will attract more guests and deliver a memorable guest experience every time.
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How to Choose the Right Airbnb Interior Design?
1. Identify your target guest
When paying attention to your Airbnb interior design, it is key that you focus on your guests’ needs. To make this task more practical, you should choose a specific category of guests that you want to target.
This should be done before you start your hunt for furniture as the type of guest that you have selected will dictate the design as well as furniture choices. You can, for example, choose to market your rental to the following types of guests:
- Families with kids
- Travelers with pets
- Workationers
- Snowbirds
- Millennials
- Generation Z
In short, it should be designed for the comfort of the niche you have in mind. For instance, digital nomads will appreciate a comfortable working desk, while travelers with pets (or kids for that matter) will value a well-organized outdoor area more.
2. Keep the location of your property in mind
Your home design should reflect your property’s location. For instance, if you have a rustic mountain cabin, it would make no sense to offer beach towels. In short, you want to ensure that your style makes sense for where your rental is located.
3. Consider creating a themed short-term rental
If you want to turn your property into something extraordinary, you can opt for a themed design. This approach can also work well if you are located in a saturated market as it will help you to stand out. For example, if you have a coastal property, you can use a pirate or mermaid theme. Basically, try to select a theme that is relevant.
Even if your market is not that crowded, you might want to opt for this Airbnb house design approach as the demand for unique properties is increasing. According to Airbnb, unique stays are surpassing more traditional options in search results.
More and more guests are wish-listing barns, cabins, and cottages. While you might not boast such a type of property, it is clear that travelers crave out-of-the-ordinary accommodation.
4. Look for design inspiration
To pick the right style, you, fortunately, don’t have to look far or spend any money. You can look for inspiration online on websites like Pinterest and Instagram. Pinterest allows users to save pins and organize them on boards.
On Instagram, there are plenty of profiles that publish content about interior design and the latest design trends. Instagram also allows users to save posts and arrange them in separate folders. After picking your favorite design ideas, create a mood board to visualize your potential design in a more consistent way.
How Can You Elevate Your Interior Design as an Airbnb Host?
From floors to ceiling lights, there are many affordable ways that you can create beautiful interiors. Even properties that don’t offer the best location can still feel like first-class rentals simply by implementing these smart styling strategies.
1. Create an experience and tell a story with your interior design
While many hosts think that creating a generic design that is able to cater to each and every type of guest sounds like a good idea, this is actually not what guests want. Think about your target audience and add thoughtful touches to your Airbnb, like throw pillows.
Instead, properties with personal touches that tell a story about the host and location tend to be more popular among guests. You can achieve this effect by, for instance, adding a few quirky, fun items such as a small figurine or local ceramics that spark interest and intrigue.
DON’T place your personal items
Though, don’t think that this gives you permission to clutter your space with your personal items. If you have too many personal items like family photos, your guests might just feel uncomfortable. It could cause them to feel like they are not welcome and have invaded your personal space. Plus, from a security point of view, it is risky.
2. Opt for durable, high-quality furniture
Hosts often forget that what works just fine for them at home will not impress their guests. Moreover, as your rental will attract a lot more traffic, durable, high-quality furniture will work out more economically in the long run.
Not only will it look better over time but it will also help you save a fair amount of money that you would spend on replacing your worn-out furniture pieces.
DON’T buy furniture sets
If you want to create a listing that arouses interest, opt for a mixture of statement furniture pieces and unique second-hand pieces. A furniture set is not the best investment when your goal is to create an experience and a design that will tell an intriguing story.
So, if you ever need a reason to get lost in local vintage stores, you can use this as an opportunity to shop for interesting eclectic pieces.
3. Add bold accents
Adding bold accents can enhance your property’s look. From wallpaper to wall color, there are various ways to go bold(er).
You can, for example, paint your front door a bold blue or saturated red. It is a relatively inexpensive way to let your property stand out (plus, it makes it easier to find too). If you have a condo and may not paint the front door, you can simply opt to paint one interior wall in an accent color or, perhaps, paint an unexpected color around the window frames.
Other ways that you can incorporate bold accents include bulky art pieces or by installing a lighting feature. Whichever approach you take, using bold accents will help your listing to attract more views.
DON’T make it all white
If you would much rather just stick to neutral colors, just don’t make it all white. While all-white interiors and furniture may look attractive and stylish, they are not the best choice for a short-term rental. They easily get stained which can make your cleaning bill higher.
4. Embrace small spaces
Bigger is not always better. With the right furniture, a small space can be transformed into a cozy, intimate area that guests can’t wait to enjoy. If you have a small space that you do not have much use for, you can, for instance, turn it into a reading corner.
DON’T overdo it with graphics
Too many patterns and graphics can make a space seem smaller. While you want to embrace small spaces, your goal is to create a space that is cozy and snug as opposed to overly busy and cramped. Instead of opting for graphics or patterns, you can use rich color schemes that add an element of luxury.
5. Create a comfortable workspace
If you are specifically targeting staycationers and workationers, a comfortable workspace is a must. Ideally, it should be a quiet, secluded area (but not too secluded that they lose Internet access).
DON’T think temporary
Although some of the items that Ikea stock are durable, their plastic and temporary furniture won’t last long as furniture in short-term rentals that are usually prone to extra wear and tear. If you target staycationers, you should seriously think about more durable choices.
6. Create good lighting
Good lighting serves a dual purpose. It creates the right mood but also helps to prevent accidents. One way to bring in more natural light is to place a big mirror next to a window. For a more unique look, try to incorporate hanging lighting. Depending on the type of guest that you want to attract, a glass pendant can create a more special feel. Another way to enhance the ambiance is by considering the integration ofprogress lighting, known for their diversity of designs that can suit varying preferences.
DON’T install one source of light
Whatever you do, don’t install just one source of light. Instead, get creative with incorporating several sources of light. Mix your lighting options by placing overhead, task, and accent lights. Not only will it help to achieve a more stylish and less boring look, but it will also ensure that all the areas are adequately lit.
7. Bring greenery in
Indoor plants and flowers can add a lot of life to your property. You can, for example, place a bouquet of flowers on the kitchen counter and add a few low-maintenance plants in strategic places like next to a window or on a coffee table.
If you would like to create a more trendy look, you can opt for a flower hanging. Indoor hanging plants are currently extremely popular. In addition to adding greenery, they can also help to add a different dimension.
DON’T buy house plants without doing your research
While plants can add to the atmosphere and improve air quality, some plants can trigger allergies or skin rashes. In fact, some might even be highly toxic to animals as well as humans.
If you welcome kids and pets at your property, it is even more important that you do thorough research because accidentally ingesting it can cause anything from mild irritation to more severe symptoms like difficulty breathing or death.
8. Spruce up your outdoor area
Your outdoor area can reveal a lot about your property and how well you maintain it. If you weren’t born with green fingers, work with a landscaper to create an inviting garden. In addition to planting water-wise, low-maintenance greenery, you should also invest in an outdoor seating area.
It’s even possible to master landscape design with top-notch software, so consider this as an option if you are keen to put your own stamp on outdoor areas of your Airbnb property.
DON’T install non-water resistant furniture and appliances
If you want to take it one step further and add furniture and appliances outside, just make sure that they are water-resistant. By opting for water-resistant items, you don’t have to replace them as often and it could even prevent a nasty accident. The last thing you want is for a chair or table that has been weakened by rust to collapse.
Should You Hire a Professional Interior Designer?
While hiring a professional interior designer is an extra expense, they are more experienced at furnishing a vacation rental home for a specific type of traveler. They can also save you time and help your property to stand out and offer a better guest experience and level of comfort. This will help you to increase your nightly rate and occupancy rate.
According to online sources, the going rate for an Airbnb interior designer varies from $75 to $125 per hour. Though, if possible, you can also negotiate to pay your interior decorator per project instead of an hourly rate. In fact, this is the approach that experienced hosts and property managers would recommend.
At the end of the day, the decision to hire a professional Airbnb interior designer is ultimately your choice. Let your own decorating skills, budget, and time available guide you.
Take Your Short-term Rental Business to a New Level With iGMS
Now that you have spent so much time, money, and effort on your Airbnb interior design, you should not allow other aspects such as unresponded guest messages or cleanliness to lower the experience. Interior design is just one of the steps to creating a memorable stay for your guests.
Vacation rental software, such as iGMS, can help you create a flawless guest experience while saving you time on daily tasks like cleaning, messaging, or writing reviews. iGMS can also help you with many of your other routine tasks. These include:
- Managing multiple accounts and listings on the top OTAs from a single interface
- Synchronizing reservations across multiple platforms to eliminate the risk of double bookings
- Organizing messages into a single feed with a unified inbox
- Improving communication with automated templates and triggered messaging
- Creating and coordinating cleaning tasks with live tracking to completion
- Creating your own direct booking website
- Managing direct bookings using a direct booking management toolkit
- Processing payments securely via integration with Stripe.
- Creating essential reports on your business results within minutes
- Adjusting your pricing in a smart way through integrations with PriceLabs, DPGO, and Wheelhouse
- Automating the process of guest reviews
