Listing critique- retro home and new to hosting!

[Julianna34]

Hello, airbnb friends! After working to clean out a very retro property I have finally listed it on Airbnb. My goal is to present it as a time-capsule house that people can appreciate while providing all the comforts of a modern home. Would love any thoughts you all have viewing the photos attached to the listing link below! 

My hope is that it looks fun, unique, a place you would book BECAUSE of its old-school features.

My fear is that people will instead find it clunky, old, dated. 

Please let me know what your thoughts are, and any advice you may have for addressing any issues you would anticipate!

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/54231853?preview_for_ml=true&guests=1&adults=1

[Sarah977]

@Julianna34  Looks fine, but a few comments- you have far too much clutter and knicknacks. Many are fragile and will get broken, it will take hours to dust and clean all that stuff, and guests are not partial to a bunch of useless decorative items all over every surface. 

So I would get rid of a lot of that stuff.

Your description is quite scanty. You should start out with an intro, i.e. the 80's Sunset magazine theme, then use "The Space" section to actually describe the layout of the house and the rooms.

Remove the wording about air mattresses and sleeper couches! - that is an invitation for guests to sneak in more people, throw parties aand trash the house. 

With 2 bedrooms and 2 beds, your guest count should be 4. Cramming more people in, just because you can, leads to problems. 

[Julianna34]

So helpful! Thank you for that feedback. 

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

---

@Sarah977 wrote:

you have far too much clutter and knicknacks. Many are fragile and will get broken, it will take hours to dust and clean all that stuff, and guests are not partial to a bunch of useless decorative items all over every surface. 

So I would get rid of a lot of that stuff.

---

Oh dear. You really shouldn't come round to mine then! 

I think it depends on the listing though. Yes, in an entire listing especially, you do not want too many breakables and too much dusting. BUT, if you are going for a theme/a certain look, then the decorative items can be key to that. Most of my guests seem to like it and book for what they think is a very 'English' period feel. I guess it is about finding a balance. I try not to have too many breakables in the guest bedrooms, but I can't imagine my place stripped back to the basics. It just wouldn't have the same appeal. 

[Julianna34]

@Huma0, thank you for that point! I have purposefully kept the bedrooms knick-knack free, but I do want the common living areas to feel lived in with the appropriate additions. I agree that the dining room shelves are rather overwhelming...I will have to work on paring it down a bit in there to better highlight the really fun stuff.

[Huma0]

@Julianna34 

I would suggest you add some more detail shots of some of the really fun stuff to better get the theme across. 

I think that could help in attracting people that appreciate the retro vibe rather than those who think it is old fashioned/outdated.

[Julianna34]

That's a great idea. I'll have to shoot some more on the next sunny day!

[Sarah977]

@Huma0  "I think that could help in attracting people that appreciate the retro vibe rather than those who think it is old fashioned/outdated."

Good point. I was already in my 30s in the 80s, so it doesn't bring back any comfy childhood memories- it was a decor period I never liked to start with, never subscribed to, and that is best forgotten, like the orange shag rugs of the 70s, as far as I'm concerned, and does just look outdated to me. 

But I can imagine it seeming nostalgic to those who were kids in the 80s and grew up with that decor, and retro and cool those who weren't even born yet.

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

I was a kid in the 80s and it doesn't bring back nostalgia for me! In fact, just yesterday my mother and I were talking about the decor of her house when my parents bought it in the mdi-eighties and not with fondness!! 

For sure, it's probably more retro cool to younger generations. It always amuses me how trendy the '90s have become (my 12-year-old niece and her friends dress almost top-to-toe in '90s inspired fashions these days) when to me it seems like just yesterday...

[Sarah977]

@Huma0  It's different when it's your own house where you live and you rent private rooms. It's going to be filled with things of yours which you enjoy. I'm not big on knicknacks and purely decorative items, but there are certainly some keepsakes, art pieces, etc. that are in my kitchen/living/ terrace area that my guests share with me. 

The guest room is pretty bare bones, though- it is the architecture and paint and decorative tiling that provide the decor.

But in an entire place listing, where one is going to have to pay cleaners (or clean oneself) to dust and clean everything at every turnover, it seems like creating unnecessary work and expense to have shelves full of purely decorative items which most guests likely won't be particularly impressed with or even notice.

Your place is a little different in that your house itself is actually Victorian, so having things around that enhance that seems natural. You haven't just chosen and created a theme and gone out to purchase things to fill the place. I imagine it was an ever-evolving process of things coming your way that "fit". 

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

Yes, it's very much an ever-evolving process. I'm the first to admit that I can go a bit overboard with the decorative touches/knick knacks in the communal areas. I do try to buy things (other than art work, picture frames etc) that are not just purely decorative but serves me sort of purpose and also not to go overboard in guest bedrooms.

If they were just rooms for my friends/family to use as guest rooms when they visit, I would probably go all out, but it's really important to leave enough space for the guests' things and that includes lots of surface space and not to have too many fragile items.

In a entire listing that has a 'theme' and needs a bit of decor to achieve that, it's more of a balance and a fine line. What is too much? What is too little?

[Julianna34]

Thank you for the heads up about the description! I had written a very full one but I must have not saved it before it published and just hadn't noticed! I have updated "the space" and "guest access" sections to more fully describe the experience. 

[Mark116]

@Julianna34  I like it, but then I'm a maximalist.  You might try going into the space and pretending you are a guest whose got phone/luggage/laptop and picture yourself putting all that down, rolling luggage around the space and see if that gives you some ideas on items to take out.  I don't really think the bookshelf matters, guests aren't going to want to put their own stuff there, but the bedroom furniture/side tables and floor areas should be relatively clutter free.

I can't tell if those are real or fake plants?  I have a personal hatred for fake plants, but that's just me:)

[Julianna34]

That's a great idea! I have felt the need for a luggage rack myself while staying there. I'll have to look around for one...

The plants are indeed fake! There are some real ones mixed in, but most of them are silk. They've been there since the 80s and I actually threw so many of them away because they were just impossible to clean or would fall apart if I tried. It was a veritable silk jungle!

I do prefer real plants myself, but I opted for a few low-water, low-maintenance choices (like the dracaena lisa in the master bathroom), and kept the rest as "corner fillers"  in keeping with the house's original decor. 

[Patti-And-Marty0]

Brings me back to my childhood days! Warm fuzzy feelings from a world book encyclopaedia set... who would have thought?? I agree that the cleaning could become burdonsome though but you will work that out as time goes on and just keep the essential mood pieces. 

The photos would be better with a lot more light. It has to look clean and bright. My other suggestion is both beds could be presented better, especially 2, the gray pillows look old and not inviting to me.

Best of luck, great idea!!