Before you even consider developing a vacation rental website or obtaining professional photography of your house, there is one critical obstacle to overcome: equipping your vacation rental.
Many people are unaware of how to choose the appropriate furnishings for their vacation rental home. While some homeowners fantasize about the blank slate of an empty house, others shudder at the prospect of the potentially gargantuan effort of shopping for acceptable vacation home furnishings.
As the short-term rental market expands and becomes more competitive, differentiating your home from the competition on online platforms comes down to one critical component — its interior design.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to begin, have no fear — we’re here to assist you. This guide will coach you through the critical processes involved in outfitting your rental property to make it stand out and generate reservations!
Developing a budget for vacation rental furnishings
After you’ve taken into account all of the unique aspects of your house, it’s time to start crunching statistics. Appropriate budgeting for your property is critical since if you are not meticulous, the bottom line may deplete your earnings. Maintain candor about your spending expectations to prevent the costly error of going over budget.
There are several methods to structure your budget based on your furniture requirements. If you’re replacing or adding a few items, it may be beneficial to arrange your budget by room, noting the spending range for each item or grouping furniture in each area.
If you’re beginning from scratch, you may wish to prioritize your money. Distinguishing the necessary from the desired will also assist you in staying within your budget. Additionally, be liberal with your budget range. Working with so many variables implies that your total expenditures may be unpredictable. Implement a low and a high end of your budget realistically. Budget optimization will be a true determining factor of your vacation rental properties success. Ensuring you budget appropriately for your furniture is by far one of the most important aspects when just starting out, alongside leveraging effective vacation rental software and smart business decisions.
How to choose furnishings for short-term rental
Although it is not as frightening as selecting the vacation house itself, outfitting your rental might be overwhelming, to begin with. Fortunately, having a map of where to begin, proceed, and conclude helps in organizing and simplifying the process.
While selecting the appropriate furniture is important, it is never permanent. Make every effort to furnish sensibly, but bear in mind that any poor seating arrangements or table selections may simply be changed when the time comes to remodel (but let’s not get ahead of ourselves).
1. Create a checklist for “furnishing a rental home.”
As a first step, you should make a list of all the furniture you currently possess – unless, of course, you’re beginning completely from scratch! As previously said, though, you will almost always have some pre-owned items.
With this perspective in hand, you may build a simple checklist for outfitting a rental home. To begin, make a list of the vacation home furnishings that you really must acquire to fully equip your accommodation for future visitors.
The second section of the checklist follows. After you’ve covered the essentials, here is where you may make a note of any vacation home furnishings or decorative items that you’d want to purchase as a bonus. You might think of it as a running wish list for furnishing items that you can retain for the long term and cross off as you go.
2. Become acquainted with your intended visitors
Establishing your target market from the start can simplify your furnishing options. It may be a perfect location for families with small children, depending on the size and style of your house. In such a situation, it would be prudent to pick child-friendly short-term rental furnishings.
If your home is smaller and cozier, you may find yourself selling it as a romantic getaway for honeymooners and other couples.
Whichever set of visitors you designate as your ideal, you’ll want to keep them in mind throughout the process of outfitting your house, as it will influence your choice of some pieces of furniture over others.
3. Look online for ideas.
Simultaneously with financial planning, you may begin brainstorming ideas for the overall appearance and style you intend to accomplish at your holiday rental.
The internet is brimming with interior design inspiration that will make you drool — particularly on social media platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest. On social media, follow all the home retailers, interior design periodicals, and design studios you can think of. Then you can begin bookmarking, pinning, and favoriting all of the photographs that serve as inspiration for your vacation home furnishings.
You may also check out how your rivals’ homes seem on these channels and work to improve the appearance of your rental!
4. Define your style
The personality of your vacation rental is determined by your preferences, the property’s location, and the money you have available. While establishing a unifying theme (or themes) is a smart start, keep in mind that you want your resort to appeal to a broad spectrum of people.
That includes avoiding headache-inducing color palettes and keeping decorations and baubles to a minimum.
Numerous vacation rental owners choose to incorporate parts of their area into their property’s décor. For instance, blue colors and seaside-inspired décor are appropriate for coastal residences, while rustic, wooden accents along with thick, knitted blankets are appropriate for mountain lodges or cabins.
Simply take a walk around your neighborhood to get inspiration for the topic of your vacation house furnishings and brainstorm unique ways to design the inside.
5. Invest in high-quality, long-lasting furnishings.
In general, furniture in a vacation rental will wear out faster than furniture in a typical house, owing to the constant influx of guests. Certain pieces of furniture, for example, beds, are simpler and less expensive to preserve than others.
However, for larger items that are more susceptible to unintentional damage (such as dining tables and couches), investing in practical, durable furniture is a prudent choice that will save you money in the long term.
Bonus tip: It is customary to charge a damage deposit for vacation rentals since this instills a feeling of responsibility in visitors about the property they are staying in.
6. Be liberal with your storage space.
While storage may not strike you as the most creative aspect of designing your house, it is a critical item to consider when renting a holiday home.
If visitors are expected to stay for a week or more, ensure that there is sufficient closet, drawer, or clothes rack space for them to unpack and feel entirely at home. Even the most modest rentals are not immune — there are plenty of elegant solutions that double as decor elements.
For instance, in the Netflix series Stay Here, presenter and designer Genevieve Gorder constructs a “dressing room” inside the master bedroom using ancient doors, a hanging rack, and an antique dresser – as seen above.
Summary
“The most enjoyable element of furnishing a vacation property is decorating”, explained vacation rental property experts Lodgable. You may express your creativity by locating objects that enhance your visitors’ stay. It may be wonderful to watch your hard work pay off in terms of increasing the attractiveness of your property to all of your guests.
