How ro prepare childrens rooms for adult guests

[Tania294]

I have rented my entire house out, 3 of the bedrooms are my children's when it's not rented. How best to prepare them to be more neutral, other than changing the entire room every time I do a rental. How bad is it if there are hints that it is actually a child's room

[TracieandJason0]

@Tania294 I think you should take a look at similar listings in your area and price and model your home accordingly to them because those are essentially your competitors. As for the child's room decor, I would just make sure everything looks clean, free of mess and a bit more streamlined. Guests will feel a bit unsettled in their accomadations if it looks too lived in. There's a difference betweena room looking fun and kid friendly vs a kid just playing in there a few minutes ago. Consider putting things away behind cabinets, drawers and closets wherever you can. I rent out my personal bedroom pretty often and I keep even my nightstands empty and all other personal belongings and clothes locked away in my closet. 

[Helga0]

@Tania294, you have a gorgeous house! I would not mind sleeping in a kid’s room for the rest of the house and the pool  😉 

actually, I often did it, staying with family and friends. There are some perks: when would a childless person get to read  children’s books 😉

more seriously, and after a look at the rooms, I would say, you could do a few things to make it more comfortable for the adult guests. 

The boy’s room is more neutral, the girl’s room is awfully pink. And the chairs won’t support an adult man. I would change the pink carpet, get some foldable chairs and a table for the room. Remove all but one (or all) tissue animals from the bed. Maybe get a box or lowbench supporting an adult sitting on it, to put all the others in it. Your kids won’t want them used by guests or chewed by a pet. Put all the books on the lowest shelf, leave the higher shelf and the top of the small bookshelf cupboard empty for their stuff. If you can provide an electric socket there, it’s a good place for a laptop. 

You have nothing on the walls - if you want to change decoration often between family use and guests, you could get a system like in a gallery, a bar under the ceiling and thin chains hanging down for paintings or a whiteboard to draw on etc. If you put some (framed) posters or maps on the walls, that’s easily done and can change the whole feeling of a room. Maybe not go all out between Mickey Mouse and nudes, that would be disturbing for the family 😉 

I would leave the stickers on the cupboard, it’s the kid’s room first. But I would counteract the effect with a carpet, probably with a strict geometric pattern, something associated with Japanese design. Or decorative objects in that sense, but as you do not have much free space for the guests’ clutter, a carpet or bed spread would be more practical.

[Helga0]

Second look:

in the boy’s room, you have a lot of cupboards. Probably you plan to lock some of them and empty a few for the guests. If you lock those with the stickers, you can hang a mirror over them.

you have no text? You should describe the place as your home, describe how you live there, enjoying the pool, reading in that chair, having long family discussions all sitting on the comfy couch etc. Then describe the bedrooms. You could make it personal, 

Emily invites you to enjoy her room. She choose the most comfortable bed herself, for all the sleepovers of her friends. 

Tony will allow you to read his books, when you enjoy his room...

(i would not use their real first names)

there are 2 possibilities: make the space totally neutral every time, to satisfy the coldest guest, who hates kids. It’s a lot of work, so you do it less and less, meaning you don’t bring all your live back every time. You loose a bit of your soul the more you keep it neutral. 

The other way is: keep it personal and sell that personal touch. I do that and get more bookings than I should take (my listing is offline for a break). 

[Tania294]

@Helga0Thank you for taking the time to answer. I think for now I will be going to neutralizing route and see how it goes.... stickers have all come off today to the dismay of my  children. ..(have had to promise new ones) 😊

[Clara116]

@Tania294 good idea.........!!! Put stickers inside  a new trunk or where they store their things- you can make the outside adult like and since it is locked!! totally kid inside - just an idea - Clara

[Clara116]

@Tania294 Hello what a fabulous place you are offering.....and since you are charging a great price and have such luxury in the entire place you might think about Getting a trunk for each room and put ALL the kids stuff in them - load it up/ lock it and put a nice throw over it.  I would have all kids toys/books/stuff put in the trunk.  You can do that easily with putting away the pink furniture - buying some lovely quilt/coverlets for the bedding and buy a few large adult like/ scene like wall art - you can usually find such at thrift stores for really cheap. and put a few adult like lamp/throws and pillows and  a chair in the corner - it will easily transform both rooms -  

Unless the people are bringing children and you know the rooms will be for kids I would go for it and get the kids to help you - and get them alittle bank and every night their room is used they get a nickel or something in their bank. You can use this as an opportunity for learning and teaching them about money if you wish.  So they get something out of having their room transformed and their stuff put away. Just a thought. Keep us posted. Your place is totally fabulous and I love the kitchen/ lamps and colors......lucky you. Happy hosting, Clara

[Tania294]

Good idea! Thank You! 

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[Clara116]

@Tania294 when you are responding to a host - we use @ and then find their name and click it will send a message to the host so they see your message or response.

I looked again at your listing - you have 4 bedrooms listed - and also 3 listed. Also, you will see loads of great examples of others listing details so you can complete your information. Make sure you caption under each photo also - and I would change the title some - it is Luxury - I would use that word for certain. 

Also you don't charge a cleaning fee? Is your price enough that you don't need to? if so, all the better but surprising.............and make sure you have a very good sized security deposit for your place - I'd suggest $500 - they don't take that or hold it - it is just so that if there is something like damage  and the guests OK"S and approves to pay for such it is easy for Airbnb to just charge their card. When people rent luxury they expect to pay and we expect respect - so I would have that if it were my place.

keep us posted. Clara

[Lisa723]

http://organizingmadefun.blogspot.com/2012/07/kids-room-to-guest-room-in-30-minutes.html

[Sandra126]

As a child, I don't think I would have forgiven my parents if they decided my room was common property... Maybe if they paid me? Then again, I doubt anyone would have wanted to sleep in my room as it was rather strangely done up with various making works and inventions in progress, odd arrangement of furniture etc. Be glad that your children can be bought off as cheaply as the cost of a few stickers!