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[00:00:00] Sarah:  Hello, listeners. Welcome back for another great week. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

[00:00:03] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we’re–

[00:00:05] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:00:06] Sarah: And this is the–

[00:00:06] Both Annette & Sarah: Hosting Hotline.

[00:00:08] Sarah: If you would like to submit your question to Hosting Hotline, head on over to hostinghotline.com. Submit your question. We’ll answer it here in the podcast, and you’ll help thousands of hosts with an answer, or suggestions, or advice that we can provide. And hey, if we don’t have the answer, we leverage our amazing network. Today we have a question from Daisy.

[00:00:26] Questions: Hey, Sarah and Annette. So I’m looking to refresh my property, and I want to stay on a budget, but I also want to add some personality and interest to my rental. So I’m thinking an accent wall, maybe a mural or wallpaper. Where can I source items for my rental that isn’t just the typical stuff that you see at Target? How do I add some unique decor with some personality that can feel that it’s special to my place rather than just what you see everywhere? Thank you.

[00:00:56] Sarah: There was a time, I think the year was 2020, 2021, where everyone had– and it’s okay because I have it too– that one steed picture from Target, and you would see it

[00:01:10] Annette: In a lot of pictures.

[00:01:11] Sarah: In a lot of rentals. And I also know that we have listeners out there who are dedicated to finding unique things to put in their rentals. The most obvious answer for me to share with everyone in case you haven’t thought of this, but in my most favorite places, is Etsy to go and finding uniquely crafted items, even custom wallpapers, whether they are actual wallpaper or it’s the peel and stick kind. You can get different images. You can design your own. That’s very cool. That’s my quick thought.

[00:01:43] Annette: My quick thought is focus– first of all, let’s focus on one room because I think the budget can get really out of control, and it can get–

[00:01:53] Sarah: It’s happening right now with a client of mine.

[00:01:55] Annette: Exactly. So Daisy, I want to say, let’s focus on what room you think will be most impactful, especially when someone is going to, let’s say, Airbnb. And what are they going to see? What’s going to draw them in? What do you think is going to be your most bang for the buck?

[00:02:11] I think locally shopping at some antique places, finding some one of a kind unique places, whether that– places, yes, places– antique shops or on Facebook marketplace. But I think if you could find just one thing and make that the focus of the whole room, something unique, but I think know what your budget is ahead of time because it can get really out of control.

[00:02:36] A hot tip that I love, it’s from an episode that we had a long time ago, Episode 100, and it was with the amazing Chip Conley. If you don’t know Chip Conley, please check him out. Actually, he likes to call himself the elder intern at Airbnb, but he has had an amazing hospitality career. And something that we learned from his, he said he loves for people to treat their home like a magazine.

[00:03:01] So obviously a magazine has multiple parts, but there’s a theme. So let’s say you decide you’re Rolling Stone, or you are the O Magazine, or you’re Vogue, or you’re GQ. There’s going to be–

[00:03:14] Sarah: A vibe.

[00:03:15] Annette: A vibe. So I think understanding what that vibe is, have it throughout the home. But I love the magazine analogy that he gave. So Daisy, I’d think of that magazine. What feelings do you want to evoke? Who do you think your guest is? Don’t make this about you. Make this about your guest. But I think a unique piece can be found locally.

[00:03:38] Sarah: Let’s get specific on what unique pieces are, listeners. And I know that if you have an idea for us that we’re not hitting on, would you let us know? If you write into hi@thanksforvisiting.com, let us know, and we’ll share it on Instagram. But here’s some things that we’ve done in the past that have worked really well. We once hired a graphic or graphic– a spray paint artist.

[00:03:58] Annette: Mm. Graffiti.

[00:03:58] Sarah: Graffiti. I was like, what’s the word I’m looking for? A graffiti artist. And he did a whole installation on one, like Annette said, wall. And you better believe we leveraged that wall in the photos online to stand out from the other listings. You can do wall paneling.

[00:04:13] Annette: You did that. We did that. Well, you did that.

[00:04:16] Sarah: Yes. I’ve done that several times. And there is some wall paneling that the designs or the patterns have been overused. So get creative with that. And all you really need is a nail gun and a blank wall and some paint. And you could do, again, get something that’s really unique.

[00:04:33] Annette: Peel and stick wallpaper.

[00:04:35] Sarah: Even just paint color. Right now we’re working with a client who really wants to do a moody small, cozy space. And so just being very careful and thoughtful about darker moodier colors and how that can walk the guests through the different rooms of the home. And that is just with paint.

[00:04:55] And the same exact client is very excited to make– it’s her first short-term rental. She really wants to go all out for her guests, and she also knows that it’s also a business. So what we’re doing is, like Annette said, looking at the budget, because we can get really carried away with wallpaper in this room and wood paneling in this room.

[00:05:14] And here we’re going to do a frame TV, and in this room we’re going to do X, Y, Z. And then you start piling in all the different quotes because sometimes it takes specialty labor or time from you. And so to remember that these things do add up as well, that suggestion of focusing on one Instagramable moment in your home, unless your property and your average daily rate can support a bigger investment, I know we had– I don’t know the episode she was on, but Brittany, one of those episodes last year.

[00:05:44] Annette: Bridgette.

[00:05:44] Sarah: Bridgette. Is It Bridgette?

[00:05:46] Annette: Bridgette.

[00:05:46] Sarah: Oh yeah, Bridgette.

[00:05:47] Annette: It’s Bridgette. You’re thinking Brittany Spears because her Instagram is similar to– yeah.

[00:05:51] Sarah: You’re right. We would say in the podcast, but then we’d have to be explicit, and we won’t.

[00:05:55] Annette: We’ll put her link– the show there.

[00:05:57] Sarah: She does talk about she’ll do disco balls, these really cool finds from Facebook marketplace, and she’ll spray paint them. But she admits it’s a lot of work and not every short-term rental can support the upfront investment of her craft.

[00:06:10] Annette: We also did that living plant wall once, remember?

[00:06:14] Sarah: That was incredible. We worked with a local living plant– Think mosses and things of that nature, and then they put them on different structures that you can hang on the wall. So we got a mirror, those big round mirrors, and she built the living wall structure around the mirror, and then did other little installations around it. And again, that cost us, what, 1200 bucks, 1400 bucks for one wall? But no one else has that photo on any short-term rental place.

[00:06:44] Annette: For that experience, that is very cool.

[00:06:44] Sarah: Yes. So again, where to get unique pieces, yes, start with Etsy, then look to your own community for creators in your community that you can hire and commission to be a part of your build out. But we cannot wait to see the unique things that you have in your short-term rental. If you want to show them off to us, again, email us, DM us at @thanksforvisiting_. We’ll share you on our Instagram. And remember to call in, hostinghotline.com. We’ll answer your questions. We’ll share them here on the podcast. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

[00:07:13] Annette: I am Annette Grant. And together we are–

[00:07:14] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:07:15] Sarah: Talk to you next time.