Experts share tips for creating a standout vacation rental

Renting out a vacation home — or even a spare room — is easier than ever, thanks to sites like Airbnb and HomeAway. But making your rental stand out in a crowd of online listings is another thing.

And even if you manage to attract guests, how do you decorate a space so that it withstands the damage that even the best behaved among them will do? We asked interior designers with rental homes of their own for advice.

Use materials that wear well

Avoid furnishings and “perfect lacquered finishes” that are impossible to maintain, advised Steven Gambrel, a wellknown Manhattan designer who recently built a high-end rental in Sag Harbor, N.Y., that resembles a 19th-century Federalstyle house. Instead, he suggested “creating a palette of materials that get better with age and develop a patina.”

At his rental — a three-bedroom, three-bathroom house that rents for $175,000 a summer — everything from the plaster walls to the linen bedsheets was chosen for its durability and tendency to improve with age. Salvaged antique pine floors were bleached and finished with matte polyurethane. The kitchen was outfitted with stone counters treated with a suede finish “to create age and warmth” and a “patina from the beginning,” he said. “It has a nice weathered edge so that instead of being upset about a new chip, you’re actually just enhancing the spirit of the house.”

Keep it simple

“When designing vacation rentals, simplicity in furnishings is the key,” said Kerri Rosenthal, founder of KR Interiors, in Westport, Conn. “Keep the furniture highly edited and the accessorizing down to a minimum.”

Use neutrals as your foundation, she said, and then build on that with accent colors. When Rosenthal designed a home in Southport, Conn., for a client who planned to rent it out, she used modern furniture in white, leather and wood, and accessorized with “big, happy art,” throw pillows and colorful vases and bowls.

Pretend you’re the renter

Check out the competition, suggested Joe Nahem, of the design firm Fox-Nahem Associates, who counts celebrities like Robert Downey Jr. among his clients. “It makes sense to me, in whatever price category you’re in,” he said. “Look at what else is out there — compare: What can I do to make mine a little better?”

More than 20 years ago, Nahem and his partner, Jeff Fields, bought a modest 1960s oceanfront house in East Hampton, N.Y., and then renovated it and prepped it for summer rental. After studying the competition, Nahem decided to plow the rental proceeds back into the property.

In fact, he plowed the whole house. The overhaul included tearing down the original structure and building a two-story home with expansive ocean views, a gym, a hot tub and a pool. Since then, renters have been willing to pay as much as $10,000 a night for the privilege of staying there (for a minimum of two weeks) — among them, the King and Queen of Jordan, Downey and his family, and celebrity chef Giada de Laurentiis. A few years ago, Nahem bought the house next door, which he rents out for about $6,000 a night.

“The entire property was renovated and improved,” he said. “I knew that having all bedrooms with en suite bathrooms was an important feature, that having soaking tubs, steam showers and two equal master bedrooms with accessible outdoor space was an upgraded feature. Upgraded mattresses and rugs in every room also help for a more homey feel.”

Mix and match

To elevate a rental’s décor if you’re on a budget, Nahem recommended mixing inexpensive furniture with high-end or vintage pieces.

When he outfitted the second house, he used a combination of vintage items he owned and bargains he found online. In the dining room, a Saarinen table from Knoll is surrounded by chairs bought from Wayfair for about $150 each. For the bathroom, he found porcelain tile that resembled marble for less than $10 a square foot at Stone Source and inexpensive shower hardware on Overstock.com. He upholstered two barrel chairs in the living room with durable outdoor fabric. And to add a touch of whimsy in the kitchen, he used handmade driftwood cabinet pulls he found on Etsy for about $10 apiece. “Those are the things that add personality,” he said.

Decorate with purpose

“Rooms should always be functional for your guests,” said Cortney Novogratz, an interior designer known for making eyecatching spaces (and reality shows like HGTV’s Home by Novogratz) with her husband, Robert, and their seven children in tow. Among those spaces: a five-bedroom house with a pool, hot tub and trampoline that the family owns in Great Barrington, Mass., and rents out for $750 a night on Airbnb.

Each bedroom is outfitted with bedside lamps, solar shades with blackout drapes and an ottoman, chair or bench, so guests “have an easy place to throw their bag or suitcase,” Novogratz said.

Beds are dressed with crisp, white linens (as they would be in a hotel) and decorative pillows that brighten the space. “To add character, I like to pull from my collection of vintage quilts and have one at the foot of each bed,” she said, noting you could also “add some fun books on the side table, with fresh flowers for an inviting touch.”

Create intimate spaces

Guests should have places to congregate, but they also need private spots where they can find solitude. “Our side porch has beautiful natural light,” said Novogratz, who furnished it with a vintage daybed. “It’s the perfect place to cozy up and read a book.”

In the family room of a farmhouse in North Branch, N.Y., owned by designer Elizabeth Bolognino and her husband, Justin Bolognino, who owns an immersive-experience production company, twin Eames chairs with ottomans frame a wood-burning fireplace. That spot is “really good for conversation,” she said. “In the wintertime, we constantly have that wood stove going.”

Add thoughtful touches

Bolognino’s house, which she rents on Airbnb, is part of a 20-acre retreat called Silent G Farms, and it tends to attract visitors in need of rest, she said. To make them feel pampered, she focuses on details that a host might overlook, providing things like soaps, towels and burlap place mats monogrammed with her farm’s “G” logo, all of which she buys on Etsy.

At Gambrel’s Hamptons rental, you’ll find not only leather upholstery and high-end bedding, but also extra-thick, custom-cut sisal carpets. “There’s a certain level of warmth it provides,” he said of the sisal, noting that while it has to be replaced every few years, it adds character and elevates the overall design.

The idea is that if guests have a better experience with the house, “hopefully they take better care of it,” he said. “The more you finish a house — the more you complete the story — the more respect people have for it.”

If you’re the renter …

Don’t rely on your host to furnish all the niceties.

San Francisco designer Grant Gibson doesn’t own a vacation rental but has rented a cottage in Castine, Maine, for the past three summers. He brings or ships to the house his own vases, candles, sheets, pillows, tablecloths, plates, silverware, lanterns and other accessories to make it feel more like home. As soon as he arrives, he takes down the owner’s curtains, rearranges the furniture and hides any ugly rental décor in the spare bedroom.

“This year, I was the happiest about the paper lantern that I hung over the table on the screened-in porch,” he said. “I loved sitting outside, but even with candles, it was too dark. I noticed that there was a plug outside, so I ordered the lantern and light kit on Amazon, and had it up and running in less than five minutes.”

To elevate a rental’s décor if you’re on a budget, one designer suggests mixing inexpensive furniture with high-end or vintage pieces.