How to Stage a Vacation Rental

If you are not aware, you will be after reading this article on how to stage a vacation rental: Looks matter

To add onto that statement, professional photos matter just as much. In a new age, where potential guests can flip through hundreds of photos of properties in minutes, the ones with the most appealing, well staged, professional photography, will garner more bookings, views, likes, and repeat guests.

It sounds simple, but there is a lot of hard work which goes into planning, designing and executing a style for your vacation rental. Knowing how to stage a property is equally important.

Our team members have prepared hundreds of vacation rental homes for staging, including helping lead remodels, redesigns and upgrades. We have compiled all our knowledge into this article to help boost your revenues, and make your Airbnb or VRBO eye-catching to any potential guests!

Tips to Professionally Stage a Vacation Rental

1. Conceptualize a Theme

Choosing a theme will help in the short-term and the long-term. Think of it as writing an outline before a paper or presentation. The more structure, the easier it is to envision and build upon.

Also, your vacation rental theme does not need to be location specific, although it does feed into potential guest’s expectations. We have had success with modern themes such as chic and minimalistic, or earth tones for warmth and homeliness. But we have also had success with quirky designs such as futuristic, luscious plant base, and even simply child friendly. The key is not to overdo it.

Another great way to come up with a theme is to envision your ideal guests. If you want to attract digital nomads, make sure the Airbnb rental features plenty of desk space, comfortable lounge chairs, smart outlets and insulated quiet rooms for working. If you plan to appeal to families, make sure the kitchen is fully stocked with all utensils, there are guard rails on stairs, high chairs and Pack ‘N Plays.

2. Formulate a Design

Going hand-in-hand with your theme, designing your vacation home is crucial. Always keep a document handy which contains what and where you purchased a vital component. This will also help with your inventory lists for each room.

If you are planning a luxury vacation home, make sure you have high quality tables, chairs, comfortable blankets, sleek cabinets, a fresh paint job, and most of all, items which are easily replaceable. 

This does not necessarily mean cheap, but avoid the European shower kit, the coffee maker built into the counter, or the electronic lift storing the TV inside the ceiling when not in use. 

Sure, those are high-quality amenities, but design also needs to be practical. How easily are any of those items replaced when broken? How quickly will replacement parts be out of production?

Additionally, a quality design allows for replacements, redecoration, and ease of use. If you or your family use the property often, do not leave anything there you cannot live without or replace. All artwork and accents should be able to be swapped out for seasonality or upgrades. Meanwhile, the integrated whole-house surround system is great for a hi-tech rental, but make sure to have a guide on hand, or someone who can troubleshoot at a moment’s notice. 

3. Create a Focal Point

Theme is the base, design is the structure, but you need to elevate the vacation rental by providing focal point(s).

Does the property have a pool? Make the outdoor patio a focal point with a fun lounge area, outdoor grill/kitchen, or a fire pit. 

Located in the mountains? Provide a game room with a foosball table and video games, a projector screen on an accent wall, comfortable lounge chairs and blankets around the fireplace.

A focal point helps sell your property, just like it were a restaurant with a famous dish, or your favorite local hangout. It also helps build memories, which not only lead to satisfied guests, but repeat guests.

4. Lighting

This sounds obvious, but the point is two fold.

First, if possible, provide as much natural lighting as possible. Easier said than done, based on the architecture of the property, but natural lighting is not only vital for professional photography, it creates a favorable impression. First impressions are key, as we will discuss in the next section.

Second, quality interior and exterior lighting is also important. Old, dungy-looking can lights are out. Newer, flush, LED lights are in. Even if your budget does not allocate swapping out all your ceiling lights, make sure there actually is enough light in each room. No dark corners.

Third, think of creative ways to add more brightness to show off your theme, design and elevated focal points. A string of patio lights around a tree, or running on top of a patio from the property to create an event lighting feature. End tables with lamps, floor lights in corners, even backlit wall décor.

Every bit of lighting helps, from photography to guest enjoyment.

5. Cleaning

Cleaning might sound silly at first, and obvious, but bear with us for a minute. 

Remember what we said about first impressions? Your photos should look just like the property when your guests arrive. So keep your property clean! 

Additionally, it is important to make sure your property is not only professionally cleaned, or meticulously cleaned by yourself, because you treat the property like your home, but a quarterly deep cleaning is also performed. This is particularly true if you have a property manager handling your vacation rental, or you do not visit the home frequently.

Again, the purpose of staging a vacation rental is for the property to look nearly identical to the photos when guests arrive. One of the worst reviews you can receive is from an angry guest who mentions your property, “DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THE PHOTOS!”

Furthermore, a clean vacation rental also helps stem any other issues the guests might encounter.

For example, if there is an issue with the plumbing, and the guests do not have access to one of the bathrooms for hours, or days, the first thing someone will do is look for more issues. Once those issues begin to pile up, a request for reimbursement is coming, and so is a negative review.

We have learned over the years that a clean home helps resolve any further issues the guests might run into. You can not control all maintenance, but you can control the cleanliness of your vacation rental.

Preparing Your Vacation Rental for the Photoshoot

Now that your vacation rental has a theme, design, a focal point, proper lighting, and is professionally cleaned; we can now discuss how to stage a vacation rental for a photoshoot.

The Do’s