You recently became the owner of a vacation home? Congratulations! Or have you been a landlord for a while now and are you ready for a change? Decorating a house can be a lot of fun, but also tricky if you don’t know what to focus on. If you stay in the house yourself, you will quickly choose a design that you like. But is that the best choice and does it fit your house? Read on for tips on decorating your vacation home!
Look at the surroundings
Decorating your vacation home is great fun! But where do you get your inspiration from? And what style do you go for? You want to appeal to your target group. Go and explore the surroundings with your family in a rental van (in Dutch: personenbus huren) If you are aiming for hikers and families, don’t choose a bar or pool table, but a good sitting area and space to play for the children. You also want your vacation home to stand out when people look at the photos on your website, so the whole thing needs to look good. A tip: look at the location and surroundings of the cottage. For a house situated in the middle of the forest, guests expect a certain style, such as rural or classic. It’s different with a modern apartment in the city, where an industrial look is more appropriate. Choose the style that suits your environment and get inspired!
Take guests into account
People live differently in a vacation home than in a permanent home. Guests take a lot of things with them that they want to store or put somewhere temporarily. Imagine a family of 9 including grandparents come to visit in their rental van (Dutch: 9 persoonsbus huren) and they all have to store their luggage. This should be easy and convenient without giving the impression that the house is cluttered. So provide enough storage space, such as a spacious closet and enough table space. Closed drawers are less useful here, because then people run the risk of forgetting their things. Also useful: lots of shelves and hooks in the bathroom, so guests can store toiletries and towels. Oh, and large plants are of course very nice, especially in a cottage located in a quiet nature reserve, but consider whether there is often enough someone present to water them. A cactus and succulent may be the solution!
Material choice
A vacation home is used by many different people and, if you do it right, is often fully booked and in use throughout the year. Similar to a house, but with your own stuff you are always just that little bit more careful. So do not choose the cheapest or most fragile material. Consider how intensively the various rooms are used and adjust the choice accordingly. For example, in the living room you might choose a stone, unbreakable floor, or budget laminate that is easy to replace when needed. In the bedroom, it is easier to choose soft and warm carpeting, while in the kitchen and bathroom you want a water-resistant floor (e.g. laminate or tiles). Cupboards, tables and chairs also need to be able to withstand rough handling. But, don’t forget to find the balance between the material type and its appearance. A kitchenette filled with plastic tableware is not going to make anyone happy.
Start at the beginning
When you start decorating a vacation home, it can quickly get out of hand. You focus purely on the things you find important, such as a great sitting area with luxury TV, but forget about the kitchen. Don’t get tunnel vision, here is a list of things you must have:
Tidy and neat
Well, everything is in the cottage and you are ready to receive guests. Don’t forget the most important thing: make sure all your belongings are neatly arranged and have a neat appearance. No one likes a mess, so keep it clean. Put things where you expect them to be, so you don’t have to spend an hour looking for the shampoo or the remote control. Make sure there is good hygiene in the bathroom, kitchen and toilets. Also, clean everything well and don’t give dirt and grime a chance to build up. Then you will see that guests will feel at home in your vacation home in no time!
