Why (and How) to Paint the Interior of Your Airbnb

Do you wish you could charge more per night for your Airbnb rental? Do you want to make your Airbnb listing more competitive? Do you hope guests think of your property again when they come back to town, or recommend your property to their friends and family? The answer may be inside a can of paint.

Repainting the inside of your home is one way to increase the odds that renters choose your property over others. A fresh coat of paint and a pop of color can make your listing stand out when potential guests are browsing images of listings in your area. Check out this post from Airbnb for more tips on how to make your listing more competitive.

Regarding the price you set, Airbnb states that the price you charge for your listing is completely up to you. Location and amenities matter a great deal when setting the price, but you may be able to ask more if you put some effort into how your rental looks.

Repainting the inside of your home (even just the spare bedroom and common areas that renters might hang out in) doesn’t mean you can charge twice as much per night, but you may be able to increase the rate by $20 or $30 if would-be renters are “wowed” by images of the interior of your rental. Even just a few extra dollars per night will add up over time and more than pay for the cost to hire a professional interior painting company.

How much more can you hope to charge? That’s tough to say without knowing the Airbnb listings in your area, but for comparison, the average nightly price for an Airbnb in San Diego is $171. If you aren’t charging at least this much, simple home improvements like a fresh coat of paint can certainly help you get there.

The goal of painting a rental property is not only to make your listing stand out, but also to make your guests feel at home by providing them with a relaxing, inviting and altogether unforgettable environment. Choosing the right interior paint (and the right interior painting company to apply it) can help put your guests at ease and give them a destination to remember the next time they are in San Diego. Below are three tips on how to use color effectively in your Airbnb property.

Choose Colors That Reflect Your Surroundings

Consider your surroundings when selecting colors for your space. Guests may have an image in their minds of the landscape they’ll see on vacation, and pulling these colors into the home further enhances their sensory experience while staying with you. Before they even arrive, the right interior color palette can be influential in helping your listing get noticed and booked.

For example, if your home or apartment is located near San Diego State University, incorporating some of the official colors (a scarlet red, black and white) in your home may help attract friends and family of students who are visiting from out of town, or prospective students who are touring the campus. Or, if you want to create the ultimate San Diego Airbnb, you could incorporate the colors of the flag of San Diego (dark red, white and yellow).

Color research shows that blue is a favorite color in virtually any part of the world. Scott Design, Inc. collected survey data on favorite and least favorite colors for six years with more than 3,750 responses from 141 countries. Blue was far-and-away the most popular color, according to survey responses. Blue promotes physical and mental relaxation, reduces stress and may even slow metabolism. Besides being a universal crowd pleaser, blue might also help you see green if you ever decide to sell your home.  

In 2017, Zillow conducted a paint color analysis to see how certain paint colors impacted the sale price on average. After looking at more than 32,000 photos from sold homes around the country, Zillow found that blue (in many different shades and hues) is one of the best interior colors for selling a home. For example, Zillow’s 2017 Paint Color Analysis found that homes with light pale blue to soft periwinkle blue bathrooms sold for $5,440 more than expected. Homes with light cerulean to cadet blue bedroom walls also had a higher selling price ($1,856 more), as did homes with slate blue to pale gray blue dining rooms ($1,926 more). 

Stark white walls are problematic for many reasons, including the fact that they show everything. Tiny specks of dirt and scuff marks jump out on white walls. For Airbnb owners, this means more time cleaning and even repainting. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should paint your walls mud brown to camouflage dirt and smudges. There are certain types of paints, colors, sheens and techniques that can hide dirt and are easy to clean. For example, medium gloss paint makes blemishes less noticeable by reducing excessive light reflection. Ask your interior painter for suggestions on the best paint options to hide dirt and make cleanup a breeze.

If you’re thinking about making improvements to turn your home into one of the premier Airbnb listings in San Diego, The Painting Company San Diego can help! No matter how many walls, how many rooms or how many colors, our professional interior painters can help transform your home.

Contact us online or call (619) 937-2468 to request a FREE quote.