THOUGHTFUL FURNISHINGS

Nobody wants to stay in a dorm room and Ikea is garbage. There - I said it :). Solid furnishings don't have to cost a ton. A little thought into the type and capability of furniture you buy goes a long way.

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Think of the smile on your face as your head hit an unexpectedly nice pillow in an Airbnb or hotel. Or the moments you realize you forgot your phone charger, and look on your nightstand to see your host has it covered? Putting a little thought into the “small” things, as well as the larger things that will improve a guest’s experience – translate to higher reviews and will likely allow your listing to command higher nightly rates and higher occupancy rates. The right balance can be tricky to determine exactly, but I found it best to error on the side of generous. Many of these items didn’t actually cost much, but will be hugely appreciated by guests.

As a start, mime the routine a guest will likely go through when they first enter your (unfamiliar) home through to when they check out. As I thought through this process, here are the basic items that proved to be useful and appreciated:

Luggage rack: Almost everyone wants to put their bag down and start to unpack. If there isn’t a luggage rack, they’ll likely end up using the desk or bed, possibly damaging them in the process. With a nice stained wood look and solid wood construction, I found this luggage rack to be classy and durable at a cost not far above the junky-looking metal racks.

Dresser: Though it can be tempting to opt for an inexpensive, poor quality dresser made of particle board, in the long run you’re better off going with furniture that will last. After all,  because guests are constantly loading and unloading the dresser, it will likely see heavier use than your personal dresser. One of the key factors to durability is the type of wood construction used. If it is particle board, it will likely fall apart quickly. Dressers that, at a minimum, use solid-wood construction for the (load bearing) sides will hold up to heavy use much better. I selected these. They still look nice after heavy use.

Nightstand with built-in phone charger: Everyone wants to plug their phone it at night, and I found phone chargers to be items people often forgot. For this reason, I bought night stands with built-in USB charging ports, and provided cables for both iPhone and Android devices. Though these cables didn’t go missing often, from time to time they would. Replacing the cables wasn’t a big deal compared to having to replace wall-plug chargers.

Bed-side lamp: A lamp with a handy and obvious on/off is a nice touch. In addition, if you can’t find a nightstand with a built-in charger, many lamps do come with them. These are the nightstand lamps I chose and I was pleased with them.

“Home office” setup (desk, chair, lamp): I was surprised how frequently business people would come stay with me. Their business was particularly good because it was often repeat, and they weren’t generally coming in at all hours of the night. Sometimes they were there merely for a week-long conference, and sometimes for a month or more as they were in the process of relocating or on long-term assignment. To attract these types of guests, it was important to provide an area where they could work productively in the evenings. So each room was equipped with a comfortable office chair, easy access to wall plugs for laptop power, and a notepad and pen.

A TV in each room seems like a no-brainer, right? Nope. One of the potential downsides of hosting multiple discrete parties in my home (in adjacent rooms), is that their schedules and evening routines may differ and lead to one guest having an unpleasant experience. One of the largest factors in this is noise. Because many people are in the habit of watching TV on loud enough volumes to disturb other people’s sleep, I opted to not have TVs in the rooms. If people did want to watch Netflix, they generally streamed on their phone or laptop anyway, or in some instances used the main TV in the living room. Of the 310 groups of people I hosted, not a single person commented on a lack of TV.

Mini-fridge: One of the potential challenges of giving guests access to the kitchen, is that they are very likely to forget food in the main fridge, and keeping on top of whom left what could be an onerous task. So, I found it useful to have mini-fridges in each of the rooms. Though it was a bit more expensive, I found opting for a fridge with a glass front reduced the amount of food that got left behind.

Iron and ironing board: Each room was equipped with this iron , an ironing board similar in quality to this one . Because they were so seldom used, and in my experience most of the “bells and whistles” on irons are gimmicks anyway, I selected the most budget friendly iron that looked nice, felt sturdy, had retractable cord, and had the “steam option”. These didn’t get used often, but I feel were expected by most guests when they did need them. Also, they were relatively inexpensive and durable. One ironing board did get completely mangled by a very proper older couple from England. Over the phone, they told me they had damaged it and would happily pay to replace it. I appreciated their honesty and told them not to worry about it. When I came home and saw it, I was blown away by how mangled it was…like unbelievably twisted. I really can’t even imagine how they generated enough force to twist it up so badly…aw…young love..

Trash bin: Opting for an inexpensive yet nice-looking metal trash bin over a plastic bin really dresses up a room. I found that the nicer a place looked, the better care of it guests took. So little touches like this paid for themselves in ways I’ll never know. Though I ended up finding trash bins at HomeGoods for a good value, I opted for a few stainless steel waste bins similar to this one.

Chalkboard on each door: One of the issues I didn’t anticipate, is how much difficulty people had finding they room. To my thinking, they had a picture of it in their Airbnb app, so how hard could it be? I found that fastening a small chalk board to the front of each door not only helped guests find their room quickly, it also felt like a nice personal touch that got things off on the right foot.

Solid bed frame and nice mattress: It may be tempting to opt for the standard $100 all-metal bed frame like the one you had in your dorm, but I found people appreciated having a bit nicer sleeping surface. These are the three models I ended up choosing. They are all the platform style, meaning I didn’t need to buy a box spring. This is the mattress I chose, and guests very often asked me what brand it was because it was one of the most comfortable ones they had slept on.

Pillow: This is an area I admit I goofed on. I cheaped out with $15 pillows, and though only two guests out of 310 ever complained about their quality, I know it was a dumb place to save a few bucks. Since furnishing the house, I stayed at an Airbnb that used these pillows, and they were so comfortable that I checked the tags. I have since purchased several of them and really enjoy them.

Duvet and duvet cover: I opted to go with duvets and duvet covers because the duvet cover is much quicker to wash (and dry) than a comforter, and less expensive/bulky to keep a “spare” of. Also, duvets come in a ton of fun styles. These are the one I happened to choose, and they’ve held up nicely to numerous wash cycles.

Coffee maker: Though I don’t think making breakfast for guests is necessary, coffee is a must. This is another area I goofed on. I continued using my (overly complicated coffee maker), and though it made very good coffee, it was complicated enough that many guests couldn’t figure out how to use it. More recently, I stayed at an Airbnb that used this one . It has a very simple one-button brew and the carafe is well enough insulated that it keeps coffee warm a long time. I even recommended my parents buy it, and a year in they still love it.

Automatic Espresso maker: Ok – this one pretty over the top, but if you’re running a higher-end business you really can’t go wrong with it. I’ve now personally purchased three of these (one for my house, and two as gifts for family), and they’ve been rock solid with no issues. I also spent a year in a grad school lab with this machine, and saw it crank out endless espressos the entire time with no issues.

Dining room setup: Though I wasn’t targeting large groups that were looking for a place to party, it was nice to have a welcoming dining room where people could unwind after a day out. I found this large dining room table to be worth the (fairly modest) expense. Numerous guests commented on what a nice table it was, as it appears much more expensive than it actually was.

Board games: Having a couple board games or other play items lying around let guests know they were welcome to hang out if they so desired. A couple of my favorites are Ticket to Ride and Jenga.