Planner5D Advises Home-Away-From-Home Design Plan

By Mallory Bulman

As Airbnb transforms the way people travel across the globe, short-term rental properties and hotels everywhere can take a note from Airbnb’s business model of unique residences to make travelers feel at home. The homes on Airbnb that get the most requests for booking have a few traits in common: stylish seating areas, color accent walls, unique details and optionally, a balcony. 

“Instagram, home remodeling shows on TV, and social media in general has changed how people view an apartment. Everyone’s more demanding now, and people look for stylish homes when they book through rental sites,” said Alexey Sheremetyev, co-founder of Planner 5D, an interior design app. “In fact, we see an increase in users before the summer, and we assume that many people are preparing their homes for Airbnb rentals.”

Planner 5D offers a virtual reality tool to property managers, ownership or brokers to create a custom floor plan of vacant or occupied units. Prospective renters can fill the floor plan with pieces from the full IKEA catalogue; so they can visualize the general placement of their existing furniture or buy new. 

Planner 5D found that the properties that are booked more often online have:

• A stylish seating area: Seating areas are the main focus of most smaller units, and become the social centerpiece of the unit. If a unit is furnished or staged, the couch must be the most compelling element of the sitting area in terms of texture, color and decorative accents.
• Wall color: A bold accent wall in an unexpected color can add an easy and eye-catching design element. Prospective residents are likely to remember the unit that has a bright red entryway.
• Large mirrors: Most know that mirrors make a room seem larger optically, and they also reflect light in otherwise dark and/or narrow spaces. This adds instant appeal for prospective renters when browsing online. 
• Unique style: Whether furnishing a short-term rental or a hotel room, items like memorable accents, art pieces, pillows or lamps set the design of the space apart.

“The users can play around with the app, change wall colors, remove or add furniture, switch it around and so on, until the desired result is reached,” said Alexey Sheremetyev. “This is probably the most affordable way to redesign one’s apartment—and homeowners who choose to redecorate will most likely see a significant increase in bookings.”