Selecting the Style of a Property

Choosing the style of your STR will be heavily dependent upon the area your STR is located in. Are you by the ocean or in the mountains? City versus rural? These will play a major role in deciding the style of the property. There are also certain niches that can be considered based on your location. Your target audience will also come into play. Families with small kids will expect a more casual style than single travelers. There are lots of tools available to help you along the way.

Guests will have certain expectations around the style of your STR based on its location. In beach towns, coastal style dominates. In mountain areas and rural farmland, rustic lodges are the norm. In cities, sleek and modern places are to be expected. You can make the decision of what style to use based on your location.

Given that most other places in your area will likely also use a style that is based on location, you can go against the grain to make your place stand out. Now, there is a reason that everyone else in your area goes with the same style. It is expected by guests and they are familiar with it. If you are to go against that, you should have a compelling reason to do so. Ex: Your area is highly competitive and flooded with thousands of similar looking listings, and this could make you stand out when there aren’t options for extra amenities to make you stand out. Also, if you are to go against the norm, you need to be able to pull off the style you do choose extremely well. I caution against standing out just to stand out, it could cost you bookings.

Speaking of standing out, there exist in certain locations very niche styles. What do I mean by niche? Harry Potter themed houses, Hobbit hole rooms, glamping, Hollywood themed places, etc. These types of places only work in very specific locations, i.e. Harry Potter in Orlando, and should really only be considered in those locations, if at all. By choosing a very niche market, you can potentially charge more per night than a generic STR in the same location, but it comes at the risk of alienating a large portion of the market. You must be certain that there is enough demand to support a STR styled in a niche style.

Another factor is your target audience. In general, downtown city STRs will likely be decorated in modern style. However, if your STR is downtown but marketed towards families with children, you won’t want to use an ultra-sleek and modern style. You’ll want to adjust the style to accommodate small children and potentially go more casual bo-ho. If you’re rural, but a majority of your guests are city dwellers who come to your town for a getaway, you may want to consider a style that is less rural with more modern amenities.

There is a lot of nuance that can go into selecting a style, but as long as you keep your location and target audience in mind, you can’t go wrong. If styling does not come naturally to you, there are many tools that can help you. The first tools I use when it comes to styling is Pinterest. On Pinterest, you can find already existing boards in all manner of styles. The pins are often linked to the site where the item is sold, doing most of the heavy lifting for you. If you’re like me and have a clear vision of what you want the space to look like, creating a board helps me to organize everything. It also gives me a visual representation of what I’m looking for if I’m relying on secondhand furnishings, so that I can stay on track.

If you don’t enjoy the shopping process like I do, you can outsource that work as well. You can hire designers on Fiverr, Havenly, Spacejoy, etc, to do the heavy lifting. All offer varying levels of service, and at the higher levels, they will design the space, provide 3D renderings, and include a shopping list. Certain services have contracts with popular brands and will offer discounts on their services if you purchase the furnishings through them. As with any service, you must determine if the cost of the service is worth the time it will save you. I personally enjoy the design and shopping aspects, so haven’t used these services. If you’ve have any personal experience with these, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Styling your STR can seem daunting, especially if you have no design experience. The location and target audience can help guide your decision of which style to choose. Rely on existing tools like Pinterest and Havenly if you are inexperienced or don’t enjoy design. This is, in my opinion, one of the most fun aspects of getting a STR up and running, so don’t forget to play and have a little fun with it.