The Only Airbnb Furniture Checklist You Need to Set Up Your Short Term Rental

Get ready for the only comprehensive Airbnb furniture checklist you need to set up your short-term rental!  This is the full furnishing checklist you’ll need to complete every space in your Airbnb. 

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Alright so you’ve landed your new vacation or short-term rental, and now is the fun part–furnishing your place! Furnishing an entire property in a short period of time is an undertaking to say the least, so you’ll want to start with a complete Airbnb furniture checklist to guide you along the way.

As a short-term rental investor, I’ve designed and listed enough properties at this point that I’ve got a complete system down for furnishing and setting up an Airbnb. 

So in this post I’m sharing my comprehensive room-by-room Airbnb furniture checklist so you don’t miss a thing when shopping for your  short-term rental.

This post is all about the best Airbnb furniture checklist.

Best Furniture for Airbnb

When it comes to selecting furniture pieces for your Airbnb, theres so much to consider. Overall, you want quality furnishings that are going to stand up to wear and tear. But the furnishings you select are entirely up to you and what fits best for your unique place. Here are my tips for determining the best type of furnishing for your rental:

1. What is your market and what scale do you want to provide? Is your place an economy, mid-scale, or more high end stay? Think about the purpose of your rental and whether or not you plan to use it as well. If you’ve got a high-end vacation home, you might provide more sophisticated furnishings. If your place is lower-end, say a small city apartment that you plan to rent to travel nurses looking for low-cost stays, it wouldn’t make sense to spend an arm and a leg on high end furniture
2. What is your budget? If you’re looking to furnish your place at a low cost, make sure you prioritize spending a little extra on the main essentials: a comfortable and durable bed, a sturdy dining table, and comfortable seating. These items will make the most significant impact on your guests’ experience, so it’s worth investing in quality versions. For the rest, budget options will do just fine.
3. Consider your overall design goals. You’ll want to make sure you’re selecting pieces that fit you’re overall design style and that everything is cohesive. If you’re not working with a designer, spend time finding lots of inspiration and deciding on a design style before you start your shopping.

Related: How to Design an Airbnb: A Step-by-Step Process to an Instaworthy STR

Top 5 Essential Furnishings to Invest In

These are the top five furnishings, in my opinion, that you should prioritize in your budget to purchase high quality. You might spend a little more on these items to have great products that will stand the test of time.

Durable & Comfortable Bed

I’m not sure where I read or heard this, but your guest likely will spend most of their time at your place in the bed! So that sets the standard high when selecting a bed frame, mattress, and bedding. Make sure you select the highest quality and comfort you can when selecting your bed.

This bed by Zinus is not only super stylish but it is SOLID. I’ve used this bed at several of my properties and am so impressed with the quality and durability. It would go great with so many different decor styles, particularly if you’ve got a mid-century vibe or are going for a cottagecore look.

Washable Area Rug

Area rugs are quite possibly my favorite element in any room. They just add so much coziness and style to a space and you can really have fun with so many different styles! For a short-term rental, a great option is to go with a washable rug. Even if you don’t plan on machine washing it regularly, they are just so easy to spot clean and keep them looking fantastic.

A Great Couch

You’ll want to prioritize a well made couch for your vacation rental. Something both inviting and cozy as well as sturdy and strong. Material like microfiber, leather, or faux leather are great options because they’re easy to clean and maintain.

Shopping for a couch online can be a super tough thing, but if you know what to look for, you can really find some great products out there. You’d probably be shocked to know that even Amazon has some fantastic couches that have great reviews. This gorgeous brown leather couch is absolutely beautiful and would be a fantastic option in terms of durability and maintenance over time.

Sturdy Dining Table

The dining table is truly the heart of a home. Whether sharing meals, working on your laptop, playing games, doing crafts with the kids– it all happens around the table. And so it should be at your vacation rental.You’ll want to spend some time looking for the right one that really fits your place. Prioritize a really durable product that you know will last.

This gorgeous black dining table is both sleek and sturdy and I can picture it leaning modern, MCM, or farmhouse if you pair the right chairs with it.

Mattress & Pillows

OK, these aren’t technically furnishings, but since we’ve already determined the bed to be of utmost importance in terms of guest comfortability, you’ll want to get this one right! Of course, every guest’s preference will be different, so my suggestion is to go middle of the road for firmness on the mattress. For pillows, provide two firm and two soft.

I’ve used the nectar mattress in medium firm, and its the perfect marrying of that sinking-into-a-cloud feeling but firm enough that you don’t get lost it it. Our guests have complimented these mattresses time and again.

PRO TIP: If you’re tight on budget, ask around in Facebook groups about anyone in your area who sells refurbished brand name mattresses in like-new condition. You can get a great deal on a high quality mattress this way.

The Complete Airbnb Furnishing Checklist

Printable Airbnb Furniture Checklist pdf

BONUS: Airbnb Essentials List

Once you’ve got your furniture selected and purchased, you’re going to be ready to stock your property with all the essentials a guest will need when stay at your place. This includes all your kitchen cookware, dining ware, linens, and all the little finishing touches your place needs in addition to furnishings.

I’ve written a whole post on stocking your Airbnb with all the essentials, including recommendations to some of my top ten things that many hosts forget. The post includes a complete printable checklist for everything you’ll need to stock your place. You can check that out here:

The Airbnb Essentials List Every Host Needs: A Complete Printable Checklist

Conclusion

And there you have it! Everything you need to know about furnishing your short-term rental. Hope you found the printable Airbnb furniture checklist to be helpful as you start you start to think about furnishing and stocking your place!

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll find these helpful as well:

How to Make a Stunning House Manual + FREE House Manual Template!

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New Airbnb Hosts: Click here to setup your host account for the first time!

This post was all about the best Airbnb furniture checklist.