If you’re listing your vacation rental property online, it’s essential that you give potential guests a positive perception of your place right from the start. The photos that showcase the interiors and exterior of your property can have a considerable impact on the number of bookings you’re getting, in addition to the price you can charge. You might be surprised at how many people will avoid properties with poor interior design, even when they’re shopping on a tight budget. If you don’t want to manage your property’s interior designs and bookings, you can always rely on a vacation home rental agency to give your place the tune-up it needs to increase bookings and put more money in your pocket.

Whether you’re listing through Airbnb or you’re working with a full-service property management company, you’ll want a professional photographer to take pictures of your space. However, before you take these photos for your listing, you’ll need to make sure that the space’s interior design is appealing and inviting for a broad audience. Aren’t sure how to design your interiors so that they draw more guests? Here are a few interior design tips for vacation rental properties that can help you get started with improving your space.

Choose a Comfortable Yet Modern Design Style

To make your vacation home more inviting, you’ll need to update your interiors to follow a more modern design. However, you shouldn’t sacrifice comfort for modernity. While minimalist interiors might seem visually appealing, they are also often stark and empty in appearance. Minimalist designs can also give your space a generic appearance, which means it’s less likely that your potential guests will return to your listing after shopping around on a few sites.

Luckily, you can consistently achieve considerable characterization of your space with modern furnishings, decor, and design elements. The modern yet comfortable interior should essentially serve as your overall aesthetic and guide you through the smaller design choices. Rather than appealing to an individual or a group, you’re working towards a design that offers universal appeal.

Pick The Right Color Palette for Each Room

For your living room and central gathering spaces, you’ll want to stick with a warmer color palette, but avoid the trendier red and yellow designs in favor of timeless colors like white and light wood. These open areas of the home should feature plenty of natural light, making even the simplest colors come to life. For bedrooms and bathrooms, choose a cooler, more relaxing color palette instead. White still works well, but you’ll want to pair it with grey, blue, and natural green. If you aren’t sure about the color of a particular room, choose the most straightforward choice and avoid the more complex mixes.

Invest in Durable Furnishings

The furniture within your vacation rental space should hold up against the constant changes in visitors while offering everyone comfort after a long flight or drive. The best furnishings for vacation rental interiors work well for kids and are in no way a hazard for toddlers. Investing in high-quality furnishings will end up saving you considerable money because you’ll likely need to replace them less often. In addition, you’ll also want to avoid using the same brand or designer for every piece. While everyone likes Scandinavian Designs well enough, you’ll want to offer at least a little bit of design variance between rooms.

Keep the Space Clutter-Free

For the most part, you’ll want to minimize the impact of your smaller design elements or appliances to ensure that the space doesn’t look or feel cluttered. Remember, the guest will bring plenty of their own stuff with them, and for the time that they’re there, they will essentially populate your space with their items. Tables, countertops, and dressers shouldn’t have anything more than the essential amenities.

Avoid Cliche Artwork

Artwork and wall hangings are often the focal point of their respective rooms, which means it’s crucial to make selections and adjustments, so they’re appealing without being cliche. Many vacation property owners enjoy adding imagery or natural elements of the surroundings to their space’s interior design, though it’s important that you don’t overdo these elements as well. If you’re trying to list a home with beautiful beach views, it probably isn’t necessary to add a photo or drawing of a beach to your interior design. However, in such a situation, you may still want to add elements of coastal interior design. 

Make it Easy to Find Amenities

No matter what kind of interiors you’re working with, it’s essential to keep the property’s amenities fully functional and visible for your guests in person and on your listing’s online photos. Extra linens, pillows, and towels are usually a given and can stay in their cabinet drawer or the closet. However, amenities that aren’t always a given, such as a washer and dryer, a coffee pot, or a hairdryer, should be visible in photos and easy to access in person. If your guests know exactly what to expect when they arrive at your property, they are more likely to be satisfied with their purchase and leave the coveted five-star review.

Decorate With Houseplants

House plants can oxygenate your space and make your interiors feel lighter, airier, and more comfortable. However, if you’re planning to add real house plants to your space, you’ll need to be careful about maintaining them. Many vacation property owners opt for fake plants as an alternative simply because they are easier to manage and still boost the aesthetics of the space.

Bring in the Natural Light

Natural light in your property is essential for making the space look and feel more relaxing while on vacation. An abundance of natural light is always welcome for listing photographs and makes everything appear more spacious. Make sure living rooms and central gathering spaces feel bright and lightweight, but don’t forget to add blackout curtains to bedrooms so your guests can get a good night’s sleep.