Shampoo & Booze 12: We Are Not Normal Airbnb Business People

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We've come to this realization: We aren't normal business people. We kind of knew that, but the last year has really showed us that we are very much into "Slow Business". We're not saying we want business and sales and rentals to be slow and not make money. We're saying that it pays off in the long run to build your business slowly, sustainably and creatively. Of course not having a bundle of cash up front to do a quick renovation really helps this philosophy as well!

Here are some of the ductless HVAC systems you can buy on Amazon for a lot less than $10,000. You'll have to pay for installation, but hopefully it will equal about half the quote we got.

Check out some photoshopping Ryanne did to test some color schemes for the new rental--

The color the house is now, brown, brown brown.
My first instinct was to go lighter. but this beige is just too Blah!
Next I thought I'd add some color. But the green kind of clashes with the forest around it, and makes it feel to woodsy to me.


I think the blue is a great Mid Century color choice. I don't want it too be too bright, but more like a slate blue with some grey in it. Also the current orange-red beams will be a richer burgundy.

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14 comments:

  1. Hit up Pinterest for some really great examples of modern colors for this type of house. A rich navy would look amazing and go a long way towards neutralizing the orangey red beams, without painting them. A nice charcoal gray or even black would also look great! Basically, you don't want to go light at all, you want those windows to pop out at you visually.

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    1. thanks for the tips, i've got a good pinterest board going for ideas, so i'll have to add the dark blues to it.

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  2. http://m.lonny.com/Decorating/articles/1y0gtegAX43/Trend+We+Love+The+Sexy+Cabin Here's an inspiration article. Lonny is great, as is Design Sponge!

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  3. My suggestion would be to add the cleaning fee onto your vrbo listing. It is standard practice to have a cleaning fee on vrbo. For a place of your size $50 would be a bargain. I think $60-$75 would be very reasonable.

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    1. thanks anna, i just added a fee to VRBO. we'll see how it goes. thanks for the encouragement!

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    2. The green ...I painted a lot of houses green or blue in New Orleans.. Green always looked best.. It works with the environment ..

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    3. i think i decided against the green because our house is that exact color. so i thought i'd switch it up a bit.
      http://www.scavengerlife.com/2014/04/how-we-built-our-dream-home-using-ebay.html

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  5. I do the same exact thing with Photoshop!! Lol! I love the blue. Can't wait to see what else you are brainstorming about.

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  6. I like the idea of blue or green, but I'd try out a few different greens (darker) and a smokier blue before you decide. Then what will you do about roof color?

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    1. The roof will be a slate grey. Kind of a medium grey, not too light or too dark.

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  7. Our beach house is a similar blue to your Photoshopped version. We always get compliments on the color. I think that it gets people in the right cheerful yet peaceful mood, and is a significant change from standard white or brown or brick.

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    1. i would love to know the brand paint and color chip name/code if you have it.

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  8. I like the Idea of no cleaning fee . If you want more money just raise the price kinda of what you do if you offer free shipping.
    I agree if you charge a fee people will leave it dirty so they get their moneys worth for the fee. Good luck . Mark

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