Here's a mistake I see property owners make: they finish furnishing their short-term rental, take some pictures, put it on Airbnb, and assume that's the design for the next ten years.
That might be convenient. It doesn't mean it's competitive.
I learned this firsthand with my duplex. I'd owned the property for decades as a long-term rental before converting it into two separate short-term rentals: The Urban Jungle and The Industrial Cottage. Both ultimately earned Airbnb Top 5% recognition. But I didn't just finish the original designs and walk away.
The duplex got a second act.
About a year or two into operating those Airbnbs, I went back through the spaces and seriously elevated their style. I didn't rip everything out. I kept most of the existing furnishings. What changed was the overall experience—the layering, the visual impact, the feeling you got walking into a room.
I pushed the interiors much further in an immersive direction. Not just a furnished place to sleep, but somewhere with a personality. Somewhere guests would remember, photograph, talk about, and want to show someone else.
That's a very different approach from automatically ordering a new sofa, a new bed, and a matching set of beige everything whenever the calendar starts looking tired.
Good STR design has to keep moving.
Styles change. Guest expectations change. New listings open nearby, and their photography may look sharper or more interesting than yours. A property that stood out when you launched can start blending into a sea of other listings—even when it's perfectly clean and well maintained.
And whether we like the word or not, Instagrammable matters. People are drawn to spaces that make them stop scrolling. They notice the unexpected mural, the fabulous outdoor bath, the dramatic lighting, the richly layered bedroom, or the little corner that feels like its own world.
That doesn't mean every Airbnb needs a neon sign or a swing hanging from the ceiling. It means a place should have something distinctive enough to earn attention—and then deliver a good stay once guests arrive.
A refresh doesn't have to mean a renovation.
In the duplex, my first move wasn't to replace all the furniture. It was to look critically at what I already had and ask what would make the space feel more intentional.
Sometimes that's moving pieces between rooms, reworking an arrangement, making a focal wall more dramatic, changing lighting, layering textiles, finding better art, or doing something imaginative with an outdoor area. Sometimes it's simply removing the things that dilute the design.
The trick is to edit and intensify, not just spend. A coherent room full of character usually beats a collection of unrelated new purchases.
Look at your listing the way a stranger does.
Before you spend a dime, put yourself back in the customer's position. Open your listing beside its competitors. Don't look at it as the owner who knows how much work went into the place. Look at it as someone making a decision in a few seconds.
- Does the first photo stop you? If the most distinctive part of the property is buried at photo number 23, move it up.
- Is there a reason to choose your place? “Clean, comfortable, and conveniently located” describes thousands of rentals. What's the experience here?
- Has the design grown stale? What felt fresh when you launched may now look ordinary next to newer listings.
- Do the pictures show today's property? If you've restyled a room, the listing should reflect that. Photos need to be honest, but they also need to sell the experience.
- Are you keeping up with the actual guests? Pay attention to what they photograph, mention in reviews, ask about, and appreciate. Don't chase trends that make the property less comfortable or harder to maintain.
Don't confuse refreshing the design with fixing every business problem.
A new look isn't a magic revenue button. If your occupancy changes, you also need to examine pricing, competition, seasonality, your minimum stays, listing visibility, and the overall guest experience. A design refresh works best when it solves an actual positioning problem, not when it's used as an excuse to ignore the numbers.
But the visual side is part of the business. Your property competes first through a screen. If the photographs are dated or the experience looks forgettable, a guest may never get far enough to discover how nice the mattress is.
Don't wait ten years to take another look.
I'm not saying everyone should redecorate every twelve months. There's no universal timetable. I'm saying regularly review the experience, and be willing to change things when the market—or your own eye—tells you the property can be better.
That's what I did at the duplex: kept what worked, pushed the design further, and refused to treat the original styling as sacred. Those two units went on to earn Top 5% recognition, although I wouldn't pretend a design refresh alone explains a ranking or a financial result.
For me, this business has never been about filling a room with furniture. It's about creating a place people want to book, want to experience, and want to remember.
Stay on your game. The competition certainly will.