Where To Begin When Designing An Airbnb

“Creativity is an endless renewable resource” - Tina Seeling

It is launch week for my design course, Je Ne Sais Quoi, and I am experiencing all of the feels! This course is for the ambitious investor who is looking for a rinse and repeat design process they can use on all of their properties. 

If this is you then I cannot wait to get this program into your hands. If you have dreams of having a 5-star property that is booked solid for months… are ready to create a property that has as much lux as a hotel…that has that je ne sais quoi… this is for you! 

Where to begin when designing your Airbnb…

Inspiration.  

Inspiration is what is needed to start any good design. 

The word inspire can mean to “breathe in.”  Which means to be inspired it has to come from somewhere other than yourself. 

When I am looking for inspiration for a design I will search photos of other rooms or color palettes. I look for interesting textiles, furniture pieces or artwork. I know I have found my inspiration when I feel like I can breathe it in and it then brings life to my imagination and I am flooded with vision for the design.  

I call this my “launching off piece.”  This is where you should begin every design you create. This picture or textile or furniture piece or artwork then becomes the inspiration for all of the design to flow from. 

When designing for an Airbnb this is where the “story” of your property begins. 

Imagine you are creating a person that guests will be interacting with. 

Is this person calm and soothing, are they fun, lighthearted and adventurous? 

Or is this person deep and wise? 

The design elements such as lighting, furniture and the artwork you choose will draw people into knowing this “person” more. Consider the natural landscape around your property, the architecture of the property or local attractions.

In the below property I designed I used this artwork The Lake by T.S. Harris as my launching off piece. 

The property was a mid-century ranch style house so I knew I needed artwork and a color palette that would compliment the architecture. 

I amazingly found this color palette on Etsy.com by LMDDesign Shop that perfectly captured all of the colors in my painting.  Then I built the whole design around the style and color palette in the painting. 

Once you have a design inspiration or a launching off piece, start a Pinterest board. This is a great resource for inspiration, design direction and even sourcing pieces that you love. 

Let your inspiration piece and your Pinterest board be what you come back to when shopping.  

Remember every great design starts with inspiration. So I encourage you, put yourself in a place to be inspired, you never know what creativity will flow from that. 

P.S. If you are looking for more design support I would love to work with you to accomplish your design goals! You can take a look at my design services over at laurenlowry.com/services.