7 Ways to Elevate Your Airbnb Decor with Local, Travel-Inspired Art

Connecting people and places goes beyond relating to a place when you’re not there physically, or taking souvenirs from a place you enjoy visiting. It can also translate to how spaces are decorated and what this can teach visitors about their destination. In the case of short-term rentals such as Airbnb and Vrbo, locally sourced or local-inspired art is key to setting your accommodation apart from the competitors, but also to creating a unique, enjoyable destination for your guests.

By using illustrated story maps, locally-infused everyday objects, educational games, and special decorations, your listing can become a go-to stop for tourists looking to truly immerse themselves into their destination and to take something away, too.

Here’s why we think you should add some local flair to your listing and our list of seven ways to do just that. 

Why Add Local Touches to Your Airbnb?

Sprinkling some local inspiration around your short-term rental is a great way to make it cozier, more memorable, and eye-catching. First off, you’re showing your guests some of the local flavors and helping them immerse themselves in the community from the moment they step into your Airbnb. This creates a stronger sense of familiarity, connecting people and place. It also gives them ideas of what to do and where to shop or eat, which is a great contribution to your community’s economy, too. 

Secondly, making an effort to personalize your accommodation with local, themed items makes it more memorable than a generic rental. The result? Repeat business and a location that will be recommended to other guests. Your visitors will rave about what a unique, special place they stayed in to your friends, making your marketing easier. And they’ll likely come back again if they ever plan to visit the same place.

Finally, a lot of Airbnb and other vacation rentals tend to follow a pretty generic design. They focus on functionality and removing too much sentimental or local flavor. This is good for a business trip or chain hotel. But, if you want to stand out among the hundreds of other homes being viewed by a vacation planner, you need something extra. When people browse through listings, seeing your beautiful local decor and personalized rooms will make them hit “Book” right away.

7 Decorating Ideas for a Personalized, Unforgettable Airbnb

1. Create a Welcoming Focal Point

An illustrated map of the region or city you’re in catches the eye and gives your guests ideas of what to do, where to go, and the story behind the places. Adding it to an accent wall in the living room works well for making it the topic of conversation. You can also leave maps and informative guides for the area within easy reach. 

Bonus tip: Include a few personalized tips in your welcome message to your guests. You can leave a note or email them in advance. This ties in your decor to your location and also shows that you want them to experience the region to its full potential. 

 Use our beautiful notecards to leave a personalized welcome.

To further enhance the sense of place, pick a color scheme for the room that matches your focus map. For example, go with warm browns and greens in Colorado, or embrace the cool blues of Alaska.

Pillows, rugs, blankets, and curtains all work well to help define a color scheme or adhere to a theme. Additionally, tea towels or themed coasters complete the look and can even give your guests some ideas of souvenirs they can buy for themselves to keep the connection with the place they’ve visited. 

2. Spread the Theme Throughout 

Themed corners can tell stories and connect people further with the place they’re visiting. This can include small prints or wooden signs that focus on specific areas of your region. Add some brochures of your favorite destinations to complement the look. 

Another way to tie in the travel theme is to decorate with local crafted or natural souvenirs. For example, add some seashells to a coastal residence or feature local pottery or woodwork - you’ll give your guests some more ideas of where to go shopping!

3. Generous Hosts’ Goodie Bags

Why not go beyond simple decoration to give your guests a taste and feel of where they’re visiting? By offering a goodie bag at check-in, you can showcase some local vendors while also adding in a little souvenir to remember your accommodation by. Our suggestion: snacks, teas or coffees always go down well! You can also feature a little address notecard to direct your guests to where they can buy more of these goodies if they like them.

As for leaving them with something to remember you buy, check out Xplorer Maps Notecards that feature information about our National Parks and can be a great souvenir. You could also drop in a small vinyl sticker for those newly discovered fans of the area! 

4. Opt for Functional Decor with a Local Flavor

Instead of using regular bedsheets, throw a locally themed blanket on top of your beds to make your guests dream of where they might visit next. Or, in line with our previous advice of spreading the theme throughout your residence, you can include useful everyday items like coasters, mugs, and serving trays that depict local maps or wildlife. 

For example, we love the Handcrafted Birchwood Serving Tray Collection for a sustainable piece of art that is ever so useful in the kitchen. And it becomes a perfect conversation starter while planning the following day’s activities. 

5.  Games Set the Tone & Educate

Whether you want to set up an activity for a rainy day or prepare your Airbnb for a family with young kids, it’s always a good idea to include some games to help pass the time. This is also an opportunity to showcase more local views and flavors through unique items like wooden puzzles featuring an illustrated map of the area.

Other ideas include themed games like a local Monopoly spin-off, themed playing cards, or trivia packs. 

6. Create a Sense of Discovery in Every Room

One way to make your accommodation unique is to create themed rooms, especially if you have multiple bedrooms to work with. Each could be decorated in a different color scheme or you could showcase different themes, e.g. wildlife, plants, history, and architecture - all connected back to one location.

This makes it a fun adventure, exploring each part of your residence, but it also creates multiple opportunities for using local vendors and educating your guests about the area in an enjoyable, immersive way. Include fun facts or history snippets near an illustrat ed map in every room to start a conversation or suggest a visit idea. Or stock a bookcase with local history books, hidden gem guides, and walking maps, to help your guests continue the discovery journey they start from one of your pieces of decor. 

Shop hand-illustrated story maps for your themed rooms.

7. Keep It Seasonal

This may require a little more continuous involvement, but changing your decorations in line with the seasons or to mark certain big events can make your accommodation more attractive and bring in new types of visitors. 

Change your color scheme to match the seasons - from warm wooden accents for fall, to green hues and bright colors for spring. This also works for adding or removing items of decoration: put a few more soft fleece blankets around in winter, but remove those and scatter some themed cushions instead in the warmer months. 

However, a big focal point for your Airbnb can be an event or time of year that draws tourists to your location, like the Kentucky Derby or a local festival. This is a perfect time to jump on the theme and put up posters, leave information leaflets and guides in your living room, and even use some interior decorations and everyday items that highlight these events. How about a themed canvas tote bag for your guests to use when they head out visiting, for example?

Infusing your listing with a true sense of place makes it stand out from the rest and attract a certain kind of curious, engaged visitor. Additionally, featuring local vendors and artists helps support your community while also making your location unique and memorable. And you get to inspire, educate, and entertain at the same time. 

Browse more of our locally themed, illustrated items to level up your decorating, and happy hosting!