@Sarah977 @Huma0 @Branka-and-Silvia0
Sarah, a great post, and you are absolutely right! A friend once said to me when I said I was going to use a hosting platform...."Don't put anything out there you are not prepared to loose"!
My feeling is however, it is lovely to come into a listing that is homely, welcoming.
But you do need to furnish in a way that says 'this feels like home'....'but l don't want to take it home'!
We have a few hundred books in the cottage library, they are all good titles, but not irreplaceable! Some of them do date back 150 years though.
I have had guests take books at odd times but they have invariably returned them, one way or another.
I have a picture of my mum out there in the cottage, Sounds stupid but most guests comment on it and say what a nice touch it is when they find out it's significance.
My Mum thought she was ugly and she systematically destroyed every adult photo she could find of herself. This one I have, to my knowledge, is one of only two adult pictures that remain of her.....
So why would I want to hang something like that which is not replaceable, in an original sense, in an accommodation facility,
Because it makes people feel like they belong...... like I have opened my soul and they have entered a part of my life....and because of that they tend to respect what I offer more than they would if it was just Ikea and carried no personal attachment!
....and besides....who is going to steal a picture of my mum???
Cheers.....Rob