Interior design tips for your Airbnb property

Have you put aside a budget to revamp your home, but you’re not sure where to start? I am doing exactly the same thing as we speak — and I thought I’d share some of my favourite tips for staging your Airbnb property in one place.

Tidying Up

Declutter your space

Create space in a room to make your features stand out.

This is the easiest, cheapest and most efficient way to make your property stand out. Let’s be clear — we’re not talking about cleaning — I am talking about a few simple principles that, when stuck to, will make your house feel just right.

• Anyone that attended the Airbnb Open in Paris will recognise Marie Kondo’s name — her book, ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’, is definitely worth reading.
• This blog by Katia sums up the basic principles, and shows some great real-world examples.

Reimagining your home

The Bedroom

Consider adding a desk so that guests can get some work done.

The Basics

• The mattress plays one of the most important roles of your guests’ stay — no two guests are the same, and there is a lot to consider if you’re buying a new one. Katia from BnbStaging has a great guide on purchasing a new mattress for guests.
• I’m definitely going to add a desk or seating area — guests often appreciate a place to read or get some work done (they used my kitchen table before), but this will mean they have the privacy of their own space.
• Here is my Pinterest board — I love the ‘mid-century modern’ feel, and am seeking to echo that throughout my home.

Extra touches

• Add a little personality — consider one of these creative bedside table ideas

The Kitchen / Dining Area

• Give it a good clean — the kitchen is prone to stains, crumbs and unwanted odours. I found this blog about cleaning had some great tips for making your kitchen feel welcoming. This blog from Lauren Conrad has some great tips if, like me, you struggle to keep it under control.
• Read these tips for staging your kitchen as if you are selling it — it’s not always practical, but getting to the point where you have a clear picture of what your kitchen can look like really helped me when it came to motivation for cleaning it.

Shared Spaces

The Lounge

• Here is my Pinterest board — you’ll notice a running theme; bold colours, geometric shapes and mid-century modern furniture.

The Bathroom

I had never really considered the decor of my bathroom until now, and I know there is a lot of room for improvement.

• My favourite idea is to change the bathroom lighting — at the moment I have a single, central bulb that creates a harsh light. While it’s not easy or cheap to change the lighting in the room, switching to multiple, softer light sources makes it feel more like a spa.

My favourite blogs & resources

Whenever I am looking for inspiration, these are the first places I go:

• http://en.blog.bnbstaging.com/
• Here are my Pinterest boards — Office, Kitchen & Lounge.

Get in touch

This article was put together for an email that I used to run for Pearlshare. I have since joined YourWelcome to help build smart tablet devices for your holiday-let guests.

• Visit the YourWelcome website
• Drop me an email: john@yourwelcome.com