We have a transient rental in Key West, and I would be interested to see how other owners remodel for great looks & durability. Count me in!

Hi Mary Jo - We have a long term rental in Venice. FL that needs a face lift so I'm looking for some interesting (and yes, 'durable') remodel ideas also.

I'm interested in following this thread. The home I live in now could go either way; we could remodel/renovate to suit our needs while keeping in mind that we could also one day use it for a rental, should we decide to ever "move up"!

Very interested in this! We are constantly remodeling studio space for short term rentals. Want more ideas for the large 1 room loft space.

would like to see this as we have two rentals in new mexico.

I'm interested.

Very interested. Planning to do my above-ground basement with side entrance into a vacation rental. Looking forward to ideas.

I'm not sure I understand the question but here goes just in case. I have owned rental properties for many years and my experience is to not do any expensive remodeling for tenants. Clean and functional at minimum expense unless it's something that should hold up without abuse, for example; quality faucets that don't need constant replacement yet never use designer products. We're in the process of buying a property that I intend to rent out for one year while I prepare my remodel plan. Also, I would not recommend trying to rent out anything but a median priced home. Expensive homes have a smaller market of customers and a vacant home is costly and risky.

Think about who your ideal renter is going to be. Cool, neutral colors are actually more welcoming for temporary situations. Attached is a photo of a room I did for renting to young graduate students-female preferred. Accessories and furniture were all Ikea and Cost Plus, it was easy to rent, and I never worried about damages.

Just finishing one up now... will send photos soon!

@mimi5x - Totally agree with you re: neutral and functional. Our rental condo unit belongs to my aging parents, built in the 1970's. Although the place is neutral and IMMACULATE - while showing it, many folks would walk in to the bathrooms and say: 'oh...uhh...wallpaper...hmmm...uh...ok' and their faces would fall - proving once again MY lifelong observation that 'NOTHING is worse than OTHER PEOPLES' WALLPAPER'. My mother loves the paper and sees nothing wrong with it (it is very pretty) but after two years of my browbeating (slight exaggeration) she's finally coming to the conclusion that it needs to GO in favor of a nice, neutral, more modern paint job. (YEA!!) (Along w/new vanities - as in $$ Home Depot $$$ or some such - cause current ones are dated too.) Also - the unit is two blocks from the beach in a nice area and the building exterior has recently had some nice upgrades (pavers, new landscaping, etc.) and I think folks (tenants) expect the interior to be a little more in line with the exterior in that respect.

I love this idea. I often vacation at the beach or in the mountains. I would like for the exterior and area to be reflected inside. I have boxes of beach & mountain décor. When I rent a space that doesn't live up to my preconceived ideas, I "fluff" the space. It's amazing what a few rugs, pillows and accessories will do for a space.

We get more rent for our Studio by using higher end products. We are upgrading as we go including recently Kohler faucets in the kitchen and bath. We recently replaced all of the light fixtures and when we asked the broker what the incoming tenant liked, we were told the light fixtures, RH, Hudson Valley or custom painted. We rented in 3 days.

once again, think of whom your ideal renter is, as your making your decisions

We have a short term vacation rental close to Disney and just finished remodeling some of the bedrooms, added new LED TVs everywhere and the furniture for the family room just came in (no pictures yet).

In general we like to keep things minimalist with touches of color and items that add pop. That makes a statement and minimizes the amount of things that can break. :)

One of the places that we find have great decorating items for vacation rentals is Home Goods.

But remodeling for rentals is definitely a different skill set from remodeling your own home so you have a great idea for an idea book. Feel free to ask us questions if you want feedback. :)

http://villabythecastle.com/villa-pictures/

Hi Mary Jo,

We have a vacation rental in the Poconos PA and remodeled it about a year ago. It's a Swiss chalet close to a lake with TONS of character. When we remodeled the idea was get rid of all the clutter (the house was sold with all the old existing furniture which we replaced little by little) and open up the spaces where we could.

Since the house had sooo much character we tried to let the house be the focal point without over decorating. Since it's in the woods by the lake in the mountains there was no shortage of lake house, mountain house, country house decorating pieces to choose from.

The house is very masculine so we stuck with more serious décor (no wooden bear holding up the toilet paper) and I think it came out perfect.

We agree with the idea of putting top quality furnishings, it helps get renters and it holds up to the wear and tear better. One tip we have if you plan on changing out a lot of furniture is to become members of directbuy. We did it and found that we saved a bundle.

Definitely interested in keeping up with your idea book to see what others have done and I agree, feel free to bounce questions off of us!

http://feels-like-heaven.com/pocono-pines-vacation-rental-house-pictures/

Here's a little beach home I just completed. We did everything quite reasonably with subway tile, paint grade cabinets, wood laminate floor and wood looking tile in bathrooms and laundry room that match the laminate. It turned out great and the homeowner was thrilled with the outcome. She easily more than doubled her rent as well.

Here's the living room as well... not quite finished with furnishings but you'll get the picture :)

Nice updates!