Designing a Guest House for Rental Part 2

Last week I posted about how I remodeled my garage and converted it into a great, modern guest house that I have been renting out on Airbnb to bring in an extra source of income.

Turning your unused real estate into a source of income is a huge trend right now.  I’ve spoken to so many people that are having great success with it and are so happy that they decided to give it a try.

What’s the difference between a remodel and a refresh?  A remodel involves construction; usually the addition or changing of a kitchen and/or bathroom, or the addition or taking down of a wall.   A refresh is decorative and can involve new furnishings, flooring, lighting, accessories and window treatments.  It can also include de-cluttering the space.

When you design the space that you will be renting out, you might not select the same highest quality products that you would put in your main house or the rooms that you live in all the time, but you don’t want to go with low end products and builder grade either.  You need items that are functionally good quality and will withstand a lot of abuse if you are going to have multiple guests or tenants.  You also want to choose finishes and furnishings that are fresh and coordinated.

We’ve received comments from people that they liked the fact that our guest house was modern and new.  Some of the other rentals on the sites are traditional and outdated.  There’s nothing wrong with traditional if that’s your style (which I happen to love) and it’s done tastefully, but when most people are traveling or vacationing, they like to stay in a modern space.  Sure, there are some people that are looking for a cozy, cottage on the beach or a rustic, cabin in the mountains, but if you have a home in the city, or suburbs, and you want to rent out part of it to people who are in town for business, school, family events, or vacations, people want to stay in a place that has that hotel look without that hotel price.  They don’t necessarily want to stay in Grandma’s old room.

Depending on where you live, if your home has a particular style like perhaps Craftsman, Mid-Century Modern or Urban Industrial, you could play up on that and create a great space based on that genre.  But, you definitely want to put some thought into the aesthetics. You need to entice people to want to come and stay in your home.  It must look inviting.

The photos are also super important. Take good ones and many.  If you are not good at photography, get a friend to help, or hire someone to do it.  The photos represent your space and will make or break your success.

You should have indoor and outdoor pics.  Also, detail photos of a few interesting items.  You don’t want to have a lot of nick knacks laying around in a rental, (no clutter), but you do want to style it with a few attractive accessories and artwork.

Our home is Mediterranean style, but I designed the inside of the guest house to be very simple, clean and modern.  I did some new drought resistant landscaping around the pool and patio area outside the guest house too, including some pretty new potted plants.  I also spruced up the front of the house a bit with a new front porch.  Curb appeal is important too.  When your tenants arrive, you want them to have a good first impression. They don’t come through our house.  It’s a private entrance around the back, to the pool and guest house.  But, we greet them at the front door of the main house when they first arrive.

So, there it is. Until COVID19 hit our guest house was almost completely booked, since we first posted it on the Airbnb site. We are really pleased with the results. We have had many lovely guests, from all over the country and the world, come stay with us, and have had all 5 star reviews. We are now considering a long term rental for the next 6 months to a year until things settle down, before going back to short term rentals again. We have designed several other accessory dwelling units for our clients since this project. Let me know what you think and if you or anyone you know would like some design help with a similar project.