With a growing number of people using the Airbnb platform, how can hosts appeal to their target market and stand out amongst the ever-increasing competition? From selecting the perfect flooring to designing with comfort in mind, if you’re a real estate investor keen to get your Airbnb rental property noticed, you’ll need some creative decorating essentials to help you do just that.
Here, we’re offering 5 decorating ideas to help you ensure your Airbnb rental property oozes personality and not only grabs the attention of would-be guests but has them coming back for more.
1. Show Your Walls and Floors Some TLC
If you’re serious about attracting guests, you’ll want to start by sprucing up the static elements in your apartment or house – namely the walls and floors. These are the immovable parts of your short-term rental property and as such, provide the foundations from which you can build upon.
For your flooring, you’ll need to search for ways you can ensure practicality while also adding aesthetic appeal. If your Airbnb property proves to be successful, you can expect a vast number of visitors in any given year, so you’ll want to think of ways to appeal to as many people as possible. Whether you’re investing in neutral large format floor tiles to create a blank canvas or choosing characterful rugs to add a pop of color, start with your flooring and then tie in the rest of the room.
While some property investors still opt for wallpaper, paint is favored by most. This is the easiest way to update your walls if they become tired and faded, and also means you can completely change the color of a room with ease. Reds, oranges, and deep purples are known to inject warmth into a space, so these should be key influencers when choosing your color palette for decorating your Airbnb rental. Add some beautiful beautiful metal wall art and job done!
2. Channel Home Comfort
To appeal to the masses, you really need to sell an experience – and creating a home away from home is the perfect way to do this. You can provide Airbnb guests with all of the things they love about their own home but in a completely new setting.
Start off by thinking about the home comforts people love the most: a favorite mug, a cozy throw, a good book, and a well-stocked fridge. With these things in mind, you can start introducing them into your Airbnb rental property – avoiding a generic, hotel-like vibe.
These are the sorts of things that will allow you to really add personality to your investment property – meaning that guests will hopefully not only be interested enough to book with you the first time but will keep coming back time and again.
3. Make the Most of All Spaces
If you’re the owner of a cramped apartment and worrying about how you’ll market a small property, the key will be finding ways to make the most of every inch of space – without it becoming overwhelming.
You’ll need to be thinking practically first and foremost. What is it your guests actually need to have access to or need space for during their stay? This will allow you to take care of the essentials, and then you can get creative.
Now you can consider using a pull-out trolley to turn that tiny gap between the fridge and dishwasher into a space to store fresh groceries, or adding an overhead shelf in the bathroom to house guests’ toiletries. With the fundamentals in place, you can start thinking about making the windowsill into a reading nook and creating hanging space for utensils in the kitchen.
4. Breathe In Life With Greenery
Selling a space to a potential guest is all about making a great first impression, and plants are a great way to boost appeal – not least because they can tie a space together and bring a touch of the outdoors in.
If you’re reading this and wondering how you’d find the time to keep plants alive in each of your rental property investments, fear not – they don’t need to be real. In fact, fake plants can look just as good as the real thing and can be moved around with ease if you feel like a change. The added bonus here, of course, is that, by opting for faux plants, guests won’t be met with a wilting bonsai and they won’t have to keep them alive during their stay.
Whether you opt for potted spider plants or hanging bird’s nest ferns, a touch of greenery will really breathe life into your property. You can even switch up the types of plants you opt for according to each room – and this is all before you even think about the added health benefits of real plants!
Related: How to Create a Great Vacation Rental Property
5. Add Character With Accessories
With everything else in place, you can then start thinking about ways to add the finishing touches. Don’t miss this step – as this is how you’ll be able to differentiate your Airbnb rental property from all others who are competing for guests in your area.
Small trinkets, photographs of landscapes or quotes and quirky fridge magnets are the sorts of things that will bring your space to life and really give it a character of its own. So, whether you’re scattering some funky cushions on the couch, displaying some art reminiscent of the local area or going bold with your choice of light shade, don’t be afraid to stand out from the norm – this is what will get your Airbnb noticed.
As a final pointer, make the most of natural light where possible, as this will help you accentuate key areas of the room ready for those all-important photographs.
With these creative decorating ideas, we hope you can overhaul your Airbnb and see bookings soar.
This article has been contributed by Suhayl Laher.