What is your favourite piece of furniture in your listing?

[Jenny]

Hello everyone!

I know how much time and effort you all put into your listings, carefully choosing and maintaining the furniture and decor that you hope will delight your guests.

It must be so exciting to create a space to be enjoyed by other people! 

I’d love to know what your favourite piece of furniture from your listing is!

Do you have a favourite sofa, discovered in a vintage store, or have you perhaps recycled a lamp you saved from a house clearance?  Maybe you’ve invested in something brand new, just for the guest experience?

Please let us know in the comments about your most coveted piece of furniture used in your listing!

[Robin4]

@Jenny 

Jenny, technically my favourite bit of furniture is my guest bed! It has 4 electric motors in it for lift and massage and guests can't wait to try it out when I push a button or two and show them just what it does.

But in a practical and emotional sense, I know this doesn't actually answer your question but, every guest expects a comfortable lounge to sit on, a nice bed to sleep in, a shower with plenty of hot/cold water, a decent TV with Netflix, Binge and a bit of heating and cooling. 

What they don't expect is that cheese plate in the fridge........

  

They all oooh and aaah when I open the fridge door and there it is.....there is no fee attached to it, it's just there for their enjoyment, and my God Jenny, they just love it! I love to be creative with it and throw in a few nuts, maybe the odd  paté and a bit of fruit....anything to make it look a bit over the top!

It costs me less to turn that on than any piece of furniture you can think of, but wow it sure gets the nod from the guests!

Cheers........Rob 

[Jenny]

I LOVE this, @Robin4!. The bed AND the cheese board.  

I would be over the moon if I had just arrived at my accommodation after a long day of travelling, and there was something yummy waiting in the fridge for me.  No wonder your guests love it!

[Robin4]

@Jenny 

Jenny, this is the concept of Airbnb.....'you are home' remember!

They get all this plus, eggs and bacon, fruit juice, even a beer in the fridge, sparkling or still water cereal, toast, jam and spreads and a block of chocolate, and you know what......some of them still give me a 3-4 star for value .

But Jenny, I love turning it on, I love to think they want for absolutely nothing when they walk into that cottage.....sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail.....but there you go, that's human nature!

Cheers........Rob 

[Jenny]

It makes me sad to think that some people would still give you a 3 or 4 star rating after receiving a lovely gesture like that!  I'm curious to know what they would expect in order to give a 5 star rating!

[Gillian166]

@Jenny  guests are comparing us to 5* hotels, because the system doesn't explain the review process properly. 

[Ann72]

My favorite is this French industrial table @Jenny.  I found it when the house was in the planning stages, and I knew exactly where it would go.  It was the first piece of furniture I bought for the place.  The wood top is all scarred and cut up, with several colors of worn paint showing and a strong smell of 100 years of machine oil.  I had a thick glass top cut to fit.  You can no longer smell the oil and it's a great table for working.  It has such great presence - I love it.

[Jenny]

I love it, @Ann72!  It's absolutely gorgeous!  Furniture with a bit of history behind it is always really cool.

[Gillian166]

We have a small 2 room guest cottage that is late 1800s and I have done a dramatic renovation with dark walls and a mix of vintage and modern furniture. For the longest while I wanted a 4-poster bed and was trying to find an old one but couldn't get one in King size (well, they rarely came in king size!) and this year I resigned myself to buying something new, but then baulked at the 3K pricetag. I got lucky, on FB marketplace someone was selling their 1 year bed due to moving, and we got a bargain (we did have to drive an hour for it). 
I love this because I didn't have to do a single thing to it, the very dark timber suits the space, phew! And, this bed has been described by one guest as 'the comfiest bed in Australia'.

my other fave piece is this hutch  we converted into a kitchenette. Again, me being frugal, we pulled out the original ugly kitchenette years ago and then never got round to putting in a new one, because the quotes were 5-7K, and all the designs were so bland. So I got the idea to convert an old kitchen hutch, I found one on marketplace for $150, and as I was interstate my daughter did all the work (also my fave part, haha), fetched it, sanded it back, painted, removed some doors, replaced knobs, and I chose the sink and tap, and the most expensive part was probably the plumber. all up we made this cute kitchenette for $1200, and it suits the style of the cottage perfectly. This pic was taken before we finished the drawer (had to cut it into a U-shape but it's still usable for small things), we still have a kettle, toaster and microwave in the lower section (that hardly anyone uses), and the important things: wine glasses, coffee machine and cheese boards, on display. I've actually bought new coffee cups and jars since this pic was taken.

What we didn't account for was the darkness of the space and the hutch just swallows light, so i'm going to change the main room light for a much brighter chandelier, eventually..... 

[Jenny]

I love your style, @Gillian166!

I really like the fabric draping the 4-poster bed.  Did it come that way or did you do that yourself?

[Gillian166]

@Jenny  no the netting came with the bed. It took us a while to figure out the best way to drape it, and so far no one has damaged it. 🤞🏼 I also have copper wire fairy lights on the bed too. 

[Sybe]

@Gillian166 I honestly love how dark it is, this is gorgeous!!

[Gillian166]

@Sybe  thank you. We are originally from the tropical part of Australia, where white, white, white + white is all you do, so this was really brave for us. We did it first in the main house kitchen and loved it so much that we decided to repeat it for the guest cottage. The dark colour does make it feel cosy, yet it's still very spacious with tall ceilings and large rooms. 

I did have one guest describe it as "gloomy" haha, but she was also from Queensland, and perhaps only appreciates the white aesthetic.  

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

The bedroom is stunning. I really like the dark walls, which look chic, but also cosy. There are plenty of white elements in the room and a nice large window to stop it appearing gloomy. 

There is something about a four poster bed that people associate with luxury and indulgence, so I think it's a really great choice for a guest room. I used to have a dark wood one in one of my rooms, but it wasn't as nice as yours as it was from a high street chain and didn't have any detail. Still, I believe that most people really liked it and it worked well with the pitched ceiling in the room. I have since given it to my mum because I found an antique bed that works perfectly for that room, although it requires some repairs before I can use it so there is another, vintage bed, that I bought for only £50 in the room instead. Looking at your photo makes me wonder whether it was a mistake to get rid of the four poster!

I also really like the idea of using freestanding vintage furniture instead of a fitted kitchen and have seen this done to great effect. I would never have thought to put the sink in a hutch though, but it works so well.

[Gillian166]

@Huma0 your rooms are gorgeous, but I understand that feeling. We are going to get rid of our old vintage wardrobe, no one uses it, and put in an open piece (i'm still searching for the right piece), and i'm sure i'll regret getting rid of it.

having a room that is unique is going to be more and more important, in my area it feels like every week there's a new accomm opened up, and a 4-poster bed has that wow factor. This listing does not have a bath or a "real" kitchen so I had to do something extra.