Getting your property ready for Airbnb guests may take a little time and effort, but it will be worth it when all the fantastic reviews come in – making your property the place to stay! What special treatment does the living room need to make it into the stylish and welcoming haven that guests are looking for?
Your home is already the epitome of style with reclaimed wood furniture in the living room and beyond. Marrying perfectly with all interior design styles from the modern to farmhouse chic, modern rustic and the industrial style, there are few changes you need to make. But there are some tips that stand you in good stead for creating a living room that will make your home is more attractive to guests.
- Declutter
Guests don’t mind small or infrequent personal possessions around the place, but if you leave a whole wall of family photos and personal items in drawers and on display units, they can become uncomfortable. Clearly, this is your home, but when you agree to rent it via Airbnb to guests, there is still an expectation that it will be ‘fit’ for guests. And so declutter the lounge of personal possessions.
- Add touches with your guests in mind
With your personal items carefully put away, you need to think as your guests would do. If you were visiting a rental property, what would you expect to see?
- Guides – local guides on where to eat and what to do lined up on the slim bookcase in the living room is a great start.
- Leaflets and flyers – tourist boards as well as local businesses produce flyers, some of which contain discounts for visitors to use, and these are great for guests. Keep them tidy by either putting them in a folder or keeping them neatly in the drawer of your reclaimed wood coffee table.
- Your own welcome letter – as well as local information, welcome your guests with a letter introducing yourselves, as well as where they will find all the essential items in your home (as well as instruction on how to work the TV!)
Style is still important
You want to create a living room that is appealing to the eye, as well as practical for your guests. In some ways, how you build your living room style doesn’t change. From the comfortable two seater sofa to the wingback armchair, you may have the furniture sorted, but what about the positioning?
- Frame it – group furniture in pockets of threes but always start with living room rugs as the platform for creating a living room landscape that ‘makes stylistic sense’.
- Focal point – don’t make the TV the focal point of the room. Instead, choose another feature, preferably an architectural feature such as the fireplace.
- Nooks and pockets – if you don’t have an immediate focal point, the room can lack direction. Thus creating ‘nooks and pockets’ create order. Thus, pull together the living room two-seater sofa with the wingback chairs by using a rug, as well as other items of furniture that contribute to this pocket, such as a side table.
- Zones – by creating what is an obvious seating and lounging area, guests will understand how to use the room. Using reclaimed wood furniture to zone room also helps with the order of things. For example, instead of a small sideboard sitting with its back to the wall, why not move it, so that is it at the back of the sofa, great if you have the floor space around it. It just adds a sense of yet more style and design to already stylish living room.
- Lighting is very important
From a statement hanging pendant to atmospheric lighting with lamps on side tables, adding different layers of lighting will add different levels of ambience to the living room.
Perfect for when you want you guests to be wowed by your home…