As the short-term rental industry becomes increasingly competitive, owners need to ensure that their property stands out from the crowd boils down to one key thing – the way it’s furnished. Decorating your rental property is not like decorating your home. While you can add your own creativity and style into your home, you need to consider your guests’ needs and tastes. With the right decorating, you’ll be able to attract more guests and gain more value from your investment.
Know your audience
Understanding who your target market is from the outset will make your furnishing decisions easier. Depending on the size and layout of your property, it may be a suitable place for families with young children, so it will need to be child-friendly. If it’s a smaller apartment or maison village, you may find yourself marketing it as a romantic retreat for couples. Either way, keep your guests in mind when you’re furnishing the property.
Decorate with neutral palettes and pops of colour
Go with a simple, classic style with classic appeal because it’s typically the most popular one. Rental properties with a light, neutral palette and modern furnishings are better perceived and more inviting than those with darker decor. Skip the heavy curtains and patterned linens.
Keep it fresh
Make sure you have good quality, firm mattresses on all beds and that upholstery isn’t lumpy or sagging. If your furniture seems old and worn-out, it simply won’t attract top-tier travellers. Even those who decide to rent your property may end up giving you poor ratings. You should invest in quality pieces that will bring your vacation rental long-lasting appeal and comfort. Then you can simply reupholster some pieces or add new cushions, soft furnishings or accent pieces from time to time.
Spa hotel feel
People want to relax in an indulgent ambiance while being on holiday. Create a calm, spa-like experience for your guests by adding a touch of luxury. This doesn’t mean that you have to spend a fortune. It can be achieved by adding white sheets and linens, thick white towels and bathroom amenities like shampoo and liquid soap. Additionally, candles and diffusers will enhance your guests’ relaxing vacation experience.
Design for comfort
You want your guest to feel as though the space has been thoughtfully designed with their needs in mind. Elements like a bathrobe, throw rug, or a variety of comfortable seating areas and styles – indoor and outdoor – are all details that can make a renter feel at home. Lighting can make all the difference to how inviting a space feels. Add floor lamps to dark corners to brighten them up, install downlights over the kitchen counters and provide your guest with bedside lamps.
Now we’re cooking
The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the house. Guests typically want properties with an equipped, functional kitchen, especially if they’re travelling with children. Make sure all your appliances are working properly. If they’re not, invest in new ones from a reputable brand. We’d highly recommend having a microwave. A coffee maker (Nespresso or Keurig) is also an extremely common amenity and your guests will expect you to have one. Many of our guests also like to have a toaster and blender. Parents will be incredibly grateful if you provide sippy cups, children’s dinnerware, and a high chair for their little ones. Provide a variety of serving dishes, crockery and cutlery – and don’t forget to have plenty of wine glasses suitable for serving the local rosé!
Be generous with storage
It may not strike you as a creative aspect of furnishing your home, but storage is an important consideration for any vacation rental. Guests travelling from far away are likely to stay for a week or longer, so be sure to provide ample closet, drawer or clothes rail space to enable them to unpack and feel completely at home.
Be Instagrammable
Make your space stand out. Incorporate unique items into your interior that gives the room an Insta-worthy focus point. Think outside the box and create fun ideas like a mosaic wall or mural, or an outside hanging chair overlooking the view. However, avoid using too eccentric details because they can be a bit off-putting. And use decor themes that tie in with the location and surroundings. Go down to the weekly vide grenier or brocante to find up-cycled or antique items that are authentic, situationally relevant and will be interesting to guests. And you’ll have lots of fun finding these items too!
Room to breathe
Recent tendencies of minimalism exist for a reason – they make the space feel clean and can even have a calming effect on people. Let your guests truly enjoy your vacation home by keeping worktops as clear as possible and spacing out decorations such as mirrors, paintings and plants. Try to avoid cluttering your space. Having any personal or religious items can make a guest feel uncomfortable.