Airbnb Design for Maximum ROI

Airbnb Design for Maximum ROI

P R O V I D E D B Y E L I Z A B E T H M A O R A S I C K E L S

Designing for vacation rentals can be a challenge! You have to think in terms of the guest, as well as resale value down the road. We run property rehabs, doing the full design and furnishing of he properties for our clients for vacation rentals. We’ve found the following as extremely beneficial in maximizing ROI for both immediate, and long term needs. I never design on trend, but rather for the long haul, assessing current needs and anticipating future needs. Making a space inviting, by providing a unique experience, is the goal. Every one of our properties are themed, everything from Downtown Serenity, Viva Las Vegas, Elegance in City, to An Upscale Dog’s Life and Indy’s Grand Slam. Sometimes our properties are themed around a piece of artwork. I was in Chicago and found a gorgeous oil flower painting. The entire property was themed around this painting. All you need in some cases is one piece of inspiration to get you going!

Open concept, I believe it’s here to stay and design for this factor. We have a lot of business guests, having an open concept, allowing them to work and eat and collaborate together in a private setting has been invaluable. Knocking down walls will make your contractors happy as well! Having the kitchen, living and dining rooms all open enhances the space, makes it look bigger and more inviting. In the dining room area, we buy as big a table as we can. The reason is because everyone gathers around food. Our business guests have commented on how great this table is for meetings and to have plenty of room to put papers and other items they’re working on out and really collaborate and get work done.

Kitchens and bathrooms are where you want to absolutely maximize your budget if you rehabbing a property. Interesting fact, only about 10% of our guests ever actually use the kitchens. Most of the time they are just making coffee. However, everyone wants a gorgeous kitchen! We do granite counter-tops, soft close cabinets, and tiled back-splash. Dishwashers are absolutely a must. The only time we don’t require dishwashers are in the efficiency units, a 1bedroom/1 bath property. Even though we do everything we can to make that happen. High end appliances are not necessary but welcomed. The fingerprint proof appliances are great to have, just to keep that clean look.

You can have a lot of fun designing bathrooms now! I highly recommend the tiling, it’s classic and clean. Spending a little bit more money on shower heads and fun functionality will make for very happy guests. The bathrooms need to have as much light as possible, so we can see when putting on make-up and as many electrical outlets as well. We keep the décor simple in the bathrooms, typically some type of canvas or resin artwork and greenery.

We are incorporating more and more greenery all of the time. Both artificial and eal greenery. Guests are loving that we have real plants in our properties. It is healthier for the home cleaning the air, depending on what time of plant it is of course. In this fun bedroom, we incorporated the greenery. As well, this beautiful canopy bed. It’s very luxurious and inviting, the guests just love it. The candles that are on the dresser are battery operated. We do not use any real candles, as we do not supply matches in the properties. We try to be as cautious as we can and eliminate risk when and where possible.

For the entry ways, rugs, shoe holders and coat hangers are a must. As large as rug that will fit in the space and still look great is recommended. This is to be able to catch as much moisture and junk from shoes as possible when guests walk in. While we don’t require it, we do encourage guests to leave their shoes at the door. This helps keep the properties cleaner and makes it easier for the cleaning staff.

At least one signature lighting fixture is a must. In this house, because these three rooms are all open, I did three fun light fixtures all in the same line for each room. The theme of this house is “ Viva Las Vegas”, so the fixtures are glitzy and glamorous.

The living rooms are another key area. We have found that guests want a large couch. Most people do relax around the tv in the evening time, a vacation rental is no exception. We make the spaces really inviting with a lot of throw pillows, blankets and a large rug. A rug makes a house a home, as well they are so inexpensive now.

In Elegance in the City, this beautiful peacock oil painting just had to be used. The piece is just enormous, we paired in front of it these two gorgeous chairs that pick up the color in the painting and also have the muted brass that is very prestigious yet welcoming at the same time. We like to use couches that fold out into a bed as well, however, the space and budget dictate if that’s possible.

For bedrooms we only do white, lots and lots of white! White bed linens, white duvets, and white duvet covers. White is clean, guests know the linens have been laundered, there are no stains they are pristine. It might sound boring, but after we’ve finished decorating the room, you don’t even realize it! Using a lot of color from pillows, blankets and art work, really makes the bedrooms sing! There are always bed stands and lamps in the bedrooms. Research has shown that people always want additional lighting in bedrooms, both for their personal home and when traveling. We are huge supports of local, this is a great piece of resin artwork done by a local Indianapolis area artist. We display her artwork throughout this property and allow our guests to purchase them.

The most fun part of design is offering that unique property. Everyone has a home to go back to, make your guests feel really special by keeping their experience in mind when they stay in your property. It’s so rewarding when we get additional communication from guests that love the property even more when they check in and get to see, feel, and touch that love that wen tin to make it not just another vacation rental, but truly one of a kind.

About the Author: Elizabeth Maora Sickels is a new breed of entrepreneur. Spending 15 years in corporate America traveling the world. A farm girl originally from the east side of Indiana, a Boilermaker (Purdue engineering grad), and Sparty (Michigan State MBA grad) she considers herself a reformed corporate engineer! She has a passion for hosting and property management.

Elizabeth now resides in Indianapolis starting up and running several small businesses. Including an affordable housing 501c3 named “Exquisitely Engineered, Inc.” Currently serving on the Indiana State Real Estate Investor’s Association Board, two committees for the VRMA (Vacation Rental Management Association), and hosts a monthly subgroup through the Central Indiana Real Estate Investors Association. And she will be our guest speaker and trainer at MAREI in April