Over the last couple of weeks, we discussed the best location for a vacation rental, found here. Then specific things to look for in the home itself, found here. This week, let’s discuss how to furnish a home for a vacation rental.
- Bed size- kings or twins. Guests love king beds, so whenever possible we try to put a king bed in the main bedrooms. In the secondary bedrooms, the ones that might be for kids, choose multiple twin beds over a full or a queen if possible. I have host friends that recently swapped out all their fulls for multiple twins after guest feedback. This gives so much more flexibility for families traveling together. Or groups of young adults as well.
- Good quality couches. We have run into this issue multiple times in multiple homes and different brands of furniture. The couches are built using cheap particle board and the feet are tiny and attached to this weak wood with just one screw. So….. plop on the couch sideways and the leg caves in. Not really the fault of the guest, it’s a horrible design.
- Used furniture- this follows up on the point above. New furniture is usually very poorly made. Older furniture’s quality is much better. And much more affordable. If you have patience you can find amazing furniture for sale on places like Craigslist and Facebook marketplace. We’ve also bought things at consignment shops and Salvation Army.
- Design in a theme- if it makes sense for your property, designing in a theme can be really fun and help you stand out. Our Schoolhouse for example, is decorated with old Americana, one room schoolhouse and Tiverton memorabilia. We found things in consignment shops, on EBay and have had things donated to us multiple times.
- Fully stock the kitchen- I mentioned this last week but it’s important enough to mention again. All sizes pots & pans, good knives, silverware and plates for more than the house can sleep, water and wine glasses, and common kitchen gadgets. By now, I can go into Target and pretty much purchase everything we need in one shot. Two carts, lots of funny looks, but I think I only forgot one or two things the last time. One of our homeowners made a list of everything she purchased. If you want this inclusive list, send me an email and I can share it with you.
So that’s what we think of when decorating and outfitting a vacation rental home. If you have any questions, or suggestions of your own, please send me an email or leave a comment.
If you are thinking of purchasing a vacation rental home in either RI or Massachusetts I would love to help!