Some Tips on How to Optimize Airbnb with a Small Space
Airbnb rental business has some high entry barriers, so there is no surprise most aspiring entrepreneurs start small. Investing in an apartment is more reasonable than starting from a spacious house both in financial and management terms. However, there are many ways to maximize the visual space of your Airbnb property and optimize space usage. Today, we will share lots of professional tips on the topic, so stay tuned!
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Design Ideas to Visually Increase the Space of Your Airbnb
Even though one might think functionality is the most essential parameter of any rental property, it is not that simple with Airbnb. On this platform, the photographs posted in your listing determine the first impression of your guests. Most guests choose with their eyes, so we will deal with the visual part first. In this section, you will find tips to make your small Airbnb look more spacious.
Let the Light Travel
The first and perhaps the most efficient way to visually increase the space of your vacation rental property is to work with light. Dark rooms seem smaller to the human eye, so you should add as much light to the room as possible. The first step in doing so is painting the walls white, as this color reflects light the best. Adding some reflecting surfaces will help the light fill the room, and choosing doors with glass inserts will provide more light to rooms without windows.
Working with Colors
Working with contrasting colors is another visual trick to make a room seem larger than it is. You could add some bright-colored items that would stand out in different areas of your property, as well as group objects by color in other areas. When a person’s peripheral vision catches multiple areas with different colors, the brain makes the place seem spacious.
The Ceiling Line
Even if your room does not have high ceilings, it may be solved with another useful hack. Leaving some space between the ceilings and the furniture will make them seem higher than they are in reality. To create this ceiling line, make sure to select the furniture of the proper height and place shelves at some distance from the top.
A Big Hello
As always, the first impression means a lot with vacation rentals. A smart way of setting up the guest’s positive emotions would be to create a spacious entryway. In case it is more spacious than the rest of the property, the guests will still have the spaciousness box subconsciously checked out.
A Few Mirrors
Continuing our list of visual tricks, mirrors are one of the most effective tools to achieve the goal of the day. It once again deals with peripheral vision, as while you’re unfocused on them, reflected images of your room look like there is more space there. What is even better, mirrors reflect the natural light perfectly. Even though this trick is often used at restaurants, you can benefit from it with your Airbnb vacation rental as well.
How to Optimize Your Space Usage?
Of course, all the visual hacks that we’ve mentioned are nothing compared with a well-optimized space. In a perfectly organized room, there will simply be more space and less need to apply the tricks. Reaching a decent level of space efficiency requires you to put in lots of effort, but the joy of your guests will surely be worth it.
Hidden Places First
Ironically, our first tip in space usage optimization is not to use space. By that, we mean it’s necessary to leave the guests some space for their everyday activities. Therefore, it is important to start utilizing all the hidden corners and avoiding bulking up stuff on the most visible spots. Make sure to create as many storages that are out of sight as possible. Use the space under ladders, in the corners, under beds, and many other places that could be used as storage.
Smart Furniture and Appliances
Furniture is perhaps the most essential component of a well-organized room, and there are many tricks to make your furniture efficient. Foldable sleeping items are the most obvious solutions as beds tend to take away a lot of space. In case you’re choosing wardrobes or dressers, make sure they are thin yet have enough capacity. With most appliances, it is logically better to choose smaller models.
Beds are not the only pieces of furniture that may be foldable. In fact, there are tables, chairs, drawers, and many other items that may be folded in and out in a matter of seconds. Another option is to purchase some multi-use furniture, such as tables that can be transformed into chairs. There is even some modern furniture that adjusts its size depending on the size of its contents. Last but not least, almost any furniture item may have additional storage if you choose the model properly. A good example of that is tables with lifting panels and storage under them.
Splitting the Room
Room dividing furniture may turn out to be a great solution for increasing a room’s efficiency. The most common way of using room dividers is creating a workspace in the bedroom. It will create enough space for performing different activities in the same room and have a positive effect on people’s focus. Some of the room dividers have many shelves on them, allowing you to store items even more efficiently. As always, it is important not to overperform here, as you don’t want your room to be split into ten tiny parts.
Essentials Only
Many Airbnb hosts are trying to stand out from the crowd and offer their guests something that is not available with most other listings, but in most cases, it hurts the spaciousness of your rooms. It is important not to overperform in providing your guests with appliances and features, especially when it comes to small properties. Make sure to have everything essential available, but do your best to minimize everything else that would take much space.
Know Your Target Audience
As with any other aspect of managing an Airbnb business, it is crucial to know and understand your target audience. In case you are focusing on business travelers, you will surely need to set up a workspace for a laptop. However, for tourists, this space will become useless, therefore decreasing the efficiency of your room management. Understanding who your guests are and applying this knowledge to your room’s design will surely improve your performance.
Make It Intuitive
With all the previous tips we have mentioned, it becomes easy to forget the guests have never been to your apartment before. This especially relates to effective storage, as some hosts hide the essentials too well. And what’s the use of effective space utilization, if the guests spend dozens of minutes looking for bottle openers or additional blankets?
While pursuing an optimized space, it is necessary to remember to design it in an intuitive way. Even though most guests won’t mention it in their reviews and take it for granted, avoiding the negative emotions that could have appeared otherwise is still worth it. The main tip for intuitive storage is to keep items and supplies as close to the place they are going to be used as possible.
