Why Less is More When Designing a Vacation Rental

Why Less Is More When Designing a Vacation Rental

When you’re designing a vacation rental, it’s so easy to get stuck in endless Pinterest scrolls, color palettes, deciding on themes, and, dare I mention, the daily walks through HomeGoods to see if there’s anything new?

It’s easy to keep adding. Maybe another plant over there or a decorative bowl on the console. A few more accessories in the room. Before you know it, every wall has something on it and every surface is styled.

This was us when we first started. But after setting up and managing more than 100 rentals, we’ve learned that one of the best things you can do is simply know when to stop.

Unlike your own home, décor isn’t just something you have to buy. It’s another thing your cleaners have to move, dust, clean around, maintain, and eventually replace.

Sometimes, less really is more.

Vacation Rental Design Is Different From Designing Your Home

When we’re designing our own homes, we tend to surround ourselves with things we love. Family photos, artwork we’ve collected, books, and souvenirs. Items that make it feel like, well…home.

A vacation rental has a different job.

You still want personality, and we strongly believe vacation rentals should feel memorable and thoughtfully designed. But there’s a difference between personality and clutter.

You want guests to have room to breathe. A place to put their suitcase. A clear bathroom counter for toiletries. A coaster, lamp, and sound machine on a nightstand. That’s plenty.

You want guests to walk in and immediately feel like they can relax. Like they can simply settle in and enjoy their stay.

Every Item Has an Operational Cost

It’s way too easy to get caught up in the design process and forget about the operations that come after the house is set up and functioning as a vacation rental. Believe us, we’ve done it numerous times.

Imagine a bed styled with eight decorative pillows or a console filled with bowls, decorative beads, and vases. It looks great in photos!

But during every turnover, cleaners are removing those pillows, inspecting them, arranging them, and eventually replacing them when they’re worn. Multiply that by every bed in the house.

All those décor items on the console? Cleaners are spending time dusting, wiping, and putting them back in place.

One or two objects don’t make a huge difference. Fifty objects do.

The more items you add, the more things there are to clean, break, lose, move, or replace. When you’re paying for professional cleaning between every guest, efficiency matters.

More clutter means more time and more money.

Clutter Can Make a Beautiful Property Photograph Poorly

There’s another reason we’re thoughtful about décor. Many guests are searching for rentals on their phones, so your vacation rental needs to look good on a small screen.

Before a guest experiences your home in person, they’re comparing it with dozens of other listings on Airbnb or VRBO.

Too many accessories or pieces of furniture can make a room feel visually busy. Instead, we like to create moments that give a room personality while still giving it a chance to breathe.

A unique headboard.

A colorful piece of artwork.

An interesting light fixture.

A colorful sofa.

Statement wallpaper.

Not everything needs to compete for attention. Give your strongest design elements room to stand out.

Personal Items Are Usually Better Left at Home

This can be a difficult conversation with owners, especially if the property was previously a second home or the owner has leftover furniture or décor they’d like us to incorporate. In those situations, we do our best to work with what we have.

But keeping everything simply because it’s already there isn’t always the best decision and can sometimes cost more in the long run.

Mismatched towels, family photographs, older artwork, leftover furniture, and collections of personal items can quickly make a property feel less cohesive.

There’s also an emotional difference.

Guests want to feel comfortable in your property. They don’t necessarily want to feel like they’re staying in someone else’s personal space.

Removing personal items helps the home become their space for the weekend, rather than a home they’re borrowing from someone else.

Less Doesn’t Mean Generic

Less doesn’t mean boring or generic styling.

We’re not advocating for sad beige. Who’s ready to move on from that era? We certainly are.

Most of our rentals are designed with color. They’re bold and full of personality. Maybe it’s a colorful door or a bright piece of wall art.

The goal isn’t minimalism. It’s intention.

You might choose a bright blue sofa. That’s great, but it doesn’t always need six patterned pillows, a busy rug, and a heavily styled coffee table competing with it.

Good design gives the eye somewhere to go.

Spend Where It Matters

Less clutter also means putting more of your design budget toward things that actually matter to the guest experience.

A better mattress. Maybe a foosball table. Quality linens. Blackout curtains. A well-equipped kitchen. Durable outdoor furniture.

These aren’t always the most exciting purchases on a design board, but they make the property function better.

This is why we don’t look at vacation rental furnishing as simply shopping for furniture. It’s about allocating a budget wisely.

The question we ask isn’t:

“How much stuff can we get for this budget?”

It’s:

“Where will this budget have the greatest impact?”

What We’ve Learned

After years of setting up and operating vacation rentals, we’ve learned that most guests appreciate having more usable space rather than a ton of clutter.

Especially here in Jacksonville Beach. I mean, how many more shells do we need to add?

The simplest rooms are often the easiest to maintain and the easiest for guests to enjoy.

That’s good design working together with good operations.

Interested in understanding how much it costs to furnish a vacation rental? Check out our other post here.

The Bottom Line

A great vacation rental shouldn’t feel empty.

But it also shouldn’t feel like you’re staying in someone else’s house.

The sweet spot is somewhere in between: enough personality to make the property memorable, with enough restraint to make it comfortable, functional, and easy to maintain.

Before adding another piece to a room, ask yourself:

Does this item have a purpose?

Maybe that purpose is functional.

Maybe it makes the room more comfortable.

Maybe it creates the memorable design moment that makes someone stop scrolling.

All of those are good reasons.

But if the answer is simply, “The shelf looked empty,” you might not need it.

Sometimes the best design decision you can make is deciding you’re done.