All
Members
Companies
Blog
Forums
Podcast
Webinars
    User Log in  /  Sign up
  • Forums
    Newest Posts Trending Discussions Followed Forums Real Estate News & Current Events General Landlording & Rental Properties Buying & Selling Real Estate Deal Analysis See All
  • Education

    Read

    BiggerPockets Blog BPInsights: Expert Analysis Guides Glossary Reviews Member Blogs

    Watch

    Webinars Video Library Financial Independence Blueprint Intro to Real Estate: Rentals

    Listen

    BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast BiggerPockets Money Podcast BiggerPockets Business Podcast Real Estate Rookie Podcast Daily Podcast (Audio Blog)

    Topics

    Business Operations Finance Finding Deals Property Management Property Types Strategy
  • Network

    Recommended Vendors

    Real Estate Agents Mortgage Lenders Companies Hard Money Lenders Contractors Investment Companies

    Search

    Members Events Jobs
  • Tools

    Calculators

    Rental Property Fix and Flip BRRRR Rehab Estimator
    Wholesaling Mortgage Payment 70% Rule Airbnb

    Services

    BPInsights: Property Insights Tenant Screening Property Management Lease Agreement Packages

    New Feature

    BPInsights (beta)

    Quickly analyze a property address or ZIP Code to compare your rent in your neighborhood.

    Analyze a property
  • Find Deals
    Real Estate Listings Find Foreclosures External Link Ads, Jobs, and Other
  • Bookstore

    Real Estate Books

    Profit Like The Pros Bidding to Buy See all books

    Featured Book

    BiggerPockets Wealth Magazine book cover
    BiggerPockets Wealth Magazine

    Written by financial journalists and data scientists, get 60+ pages of newsworthy content, expert-driven advice, and data-backed research written in a clear way to help you navigate your tough investment decisions in an ever-changing financial climate! Subscribe today and get the Oct/Nov issue delivered to your door!

    Get the Magazine
  • Pricing
Log In Sign up
User
Quick search links
Podcast Hard Money Lenders Books Washington
BlogArrowLandlording & Rental PropertiesArrow5 Tips for Decorating Your Vacation Rental Without Breaking the Bank
Landlording & Rental Properties

5 Tips for Decorating Your Vacation Rental Without Breaking the Bank

Trey Duling
Expertise: Landlording & Rental Properties
61 Articles Written
vacation_rental_decorating_tips

Many new vacation homeowners — and even some owners who have owned their vacation home for quite some time — often ask me for advice when they are looking to refurnish or redecorate their vacation home.

Want more articles like this?

Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inbox

Sign up for free

The main thing you have to consider is what the primary use of the vacation home is:

  1. Do you mainly use it as a second home for your family and friends and only rent it out when you are not using it or
  2. Is the primary use as a rental property?

If the vacation home is used primarily for you and your family, then my recommendations is to decorate it for your needs and wants. Here are 5 tips for redecorating your vacation home if you use it primarily used as a vacation home rental.

5 Cost Effective Tips for Decorating Your Vacation Rental

1. Replace Carpet With More Durable Materials

In the main traffic areas of your vacation rental, replace all the carpet with tile or hardwood floors. With the technology advancements in tile, ceramic and vinyl flooring, the cost to replace the carpet with more durable materials is minimal.

We recently had a homeowner replace his carpet with tile, and the cost was only 22% more. The owner figures he will recoup his money with the upgrade in less than 18 months, as he will not have to have the tile cleaned twice a year like he did with the carpet, and the tile should last much, much longer. We still suggest homeowners keep carpet in the bedrooms, as most guests do not like to get out of bed in the morning and put their feet on cold flooring.

2. Upgrade Your Bedding for Cheap

We suggest homeowners buy a nice quality mattress and box spring, but do not go over the top. We recently found that you can save yourself quite a bit of money and buy a lesser quality mattress and then add a 6 inch or 4 inch foam pillow mattress pad on top.

In some of our homes where the owners did not want to replace their current mattresses, we bought these mattress pads and guests raved about how comfortable the beds were over the Christmas holiday rush. We found these mattress pads online for around $70 for a king sized bed.

3. Paint Your House

If you want an instant upgrade in your vacation home, all you have to do is paint it. We suggest using an eggshell or satin finish on the walls and a semi-gloss finish on the trim. The semi-gloss finish on the trim is key; this finish gives it more of a pop.

Money saving tip on finding painters: If you can try and find a painter who paints homes from one of the national home builders such as Miranda Homes, Pulte or Centex, you can potentially save yourself a lot of money. When these painters paint a house for these national companies, they usually get more than enough paint to complete their job, and then whatever is left over, they get to keep.

Oftentimes we can get these painters to paint our vacation homes for much less since they already have the paint lying around, and we schedule them to paint our houses during low season. They usually come in and paint the houses at night. You can find the painters by simply driving up to a home site that they are working on or by going by a local Glidden Paint store in your area and asking them for painters who paint for these national companies.

4. Don’t Go With Top of the Line Furniture

This might shock you, but you need to ask yourself this question: “Would I like to have a new sofa for $3,000 and it be top of the line, or would I like to buy a $1,200 sofa from IKEA, knowing in 36 months I might have to replace it with a new one anyway?”

Related: Sound Advice for Buying a Vacation Home You Won’t Regret

The logic here is simple; your goals in life change all the time, and things come up. In addition, unfortunately guests do not treat your furniture like they would their own. We find that it is better to buy lesser quality furniture for less money — unless the rental income warrants splurging for more quality furniture.

5. Add Color

You can go to stores like the Kirkland’s or HomeGoods and buy vases, pitchers, coffee table books, dining room center pieces, lamps, etc. that will add color to your vacation home and make it a more fun and inviting vacation home for your guest. Most of the time you can add color to a vacation home for only a couple hundred dollars.

Related: 4 Questions to Ask Yourself BEFORE Buying a Vacation Home

The main thing to consider when you are redecorating a vacation home that is being used as a rental is that owning this home is a business. With all businesses, expenses need to be kept in line with income. It is easy to go overboard redecorating a house only to find that the rental income did not or will not support the upgrades. Oftentimes it is worth the extra money to pay a professional decorator who specializes in vacation homes to assist you.

For those of you who own vacation homes: What would you add to my list? How have you decorated your properties, and have the efforts paid off?

Leave a comment, and let’s discuss!

By Trey Duling
Trey Duling is the President/CEO of OrlandoVacation.com, a large travel company specializing in Florida getaways. He has over 27 years of experience in the area, owning multiple companies that market to guests looking for an Orlando vacation. His main focus is marketing hotels and short-term vacation rentals near Disney World, with ample expertise as the largest authorized ticket seller for the large attractions in Orlando.
Read more
4 Replies
    Frankie Woods Investor from Arlington, Virginia
    Replied about 6 years ago
    Excellent article. Especially liked the ‘finding painters’ that work for national companies tip!

    Report Abuse

    Why are you reporting this?

    Additional Comments (optional)

    Cancel
    Jeffrey Cervi Investor from Naples, Florida
    Replied about 6 years ago
    Keep the electronics as simple as possible while meeting the minimum expectations of your target market.

    Report Abuse

    Why are you reporting this?

    Additional Comments (optional)

    Cancel
    Tracy Huckabee
    Replied almost 3 years ago
    This is a niche that I’ve been focusing on. I’ve loved decorating my own vacation rentals with affordable, used pieces that I’ve begun offering my services to decorate vacation rentals. Please contact me if you would like to chat further.

    Report Abuse

    Why are you reporting this?

    Additional Comments (optional)

    Cancel
    Tracy Huckabee
    Replied almost 3 years ago
    This is a niche that I’ve been focusing on. I’ve loved decorating my own vacation rentals with affordable, used pieces that I’ve begun offering my services to decorate vacation rentals. Please contact me if you would like to chat further.

    Report Abuse

    Why are you reporting this?

    Additional Comments (optional)

    Cancel
Rotate Log in or sign up to comment

Related Blog Posts

Landlording & Rental Properties Feb 19, 2021

5 Questions to Ask Yourself If You’re Considering DIY Property Maintenance

By Remen Okoruwa

How do you know if you can save money and fix your maintenance problems on your own? Ask yourself these five questions.

Read more →

Landlording & Rental Properties Feb 11, 2021

The Ultimate Guide to Lease Renewals

By Remen Okoruwa

As a rental property manager, optimizing the lease renewal process is incredibly beneficial for both you and your tenants. Learn how here.

Read more →

Landlording & Rental Properties Jan 29, 2021

Landlords Should Require Renters Insurance—Here’s Why

By BiggerPockets

Renters insurance can be an added expense for tenants—and yes, landlords can require you carry a policy. Learn more about the benefits of renters insurance.

Read more →

Landlording & Rental Properties Jan 19, 2021

Have Top-Notch Tenants? Here’s How to Keep Them

By Andrew Syrios

After placing the right people in your properties, the most important thing for landlords to do is ensure the best tenants renew their lease.

Read more →
Log in Sign up

Log in

Forgot password?

If you signed up for BiggerPockets via Facebook, you can log in with just one click!

Log in with Facebook

Or
btn_google_dark_normal_ios Created with Sketch. Continue with Google

Let's get started

We just need a few details to get you set up and ready to go!

Use your real name

Use at least 8 characters. Using a phrase of random words (like: paper Dog team blue) is secure and easy to remember.

By signing up, you indicate that you agree to the BiggerPockets Terms & Conditions.

Or
btn_google_dark_normal_ios Created with Sketch. Continue with Google

Why create an account?

Receive a free digital download of The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing.

Connect with 1,000,000+ real estate investors!

Find local real estate meetups and events in your area.

Start analyzing real estate properties, we do the math for you.

It's free!

Explore

  • Membership
  • Community
  • Education
  • Marketplace
  • Tools
  • FilePlace
  • REI Resources
  • Perks
  • Glossary
  • Reviews
  • iOS App
  • Android App

Company

  • About Us
  • Press
  • Advertising
  • Careers
  • Stats
  • Contact Us

Important

  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Terms of Use
  • Rules
  • Privacy
  • FAQ

Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
© 2004-2021 BiggerPockets, LLC. All Rights Reserved.