Bryant House // Master Bedroom Airbnb Makeover

THE BRYANT HOUSE This is part 3 of our Bryant House Airbnb makeover. See more of this series here: part 1 (why we turned a traditional rental into an Airbnb), part 2 (living room), part 3 (master bedroom), part 4 (kitchen and dining nook) and part 5 (bathroom and office)

Today, I'm going to show you the master bedroom of the Bryant House. This space is long and narrow, and the window placement has always made the space a little tricky to arrange. Large east facing windows bring in good morning light, which makes the bedroom light and bright and a pleasure to wake up in.

Over 3 days at the end of August, we transformed this space (and the rest of the house) into an Airbnb/month-to-month rental. Here's what the space looked like when the previous tenants moved out:

We didn't have too much to do in this space besides clean and furnish it. I did chose to swap out the overhead lights because the previous ones bugged me so much, but otherwise we kept everything, even the IKEA drapes we've had in here (with a good washing, of course). In case you're curious about any of the sources, they are all listed at the bottom of this post.

Without further ado, here's what the space looks like after 3 days of elbow grease.

I'm not usually one to put a bed in front of a window, but due to the long-and-narrow shape of this room, it made the most sense. I ordered this bed frame after seeing it in Chris Loves Julia's guest room because it is the right size for the space and has a vintage vibe. This is actually the first non-antique bed frame I've purchased in years, but I didn't have time to look for one this time around. Good thing this bed frame is a great alternative! We also splurged on a new mattress from Costco, that is so comfortable I wanted to take it home with me.

Airbnb Host Tip // Give guests a good night sleep with a nice mattress. It's one of the first things guests notice and comment about.

This room is so narrow that it made traditional nightstands impossible. I hunted for the perfect narrow nightstand, looking especially for something antique since they tend to be smaller, but I didn't have any luck until we happened upon plant stands. In order to free up the limited tabletop space, we mounted swing arm lights above the nightstands and covered the cords with cord covers. By the way, I love the look of cord covers! It's a must for all wall-hung lights in my book--it makes inexpensive lights (these were only $50!) look much more expensive.

I dressed the side tables up with simple botanical art that was a DIY project the boys and I did back at the Farmhouse. I love the pop of green.

This bedroom originally had two closets, but four years ago we removed the larger of the two closets to increase the size of the bathroom, which lays directly behind the built-in closet wall. It was a tough decision to remove storage in an old house (which in my experience is always lacking), but the additional square footage was a game changer for the tiny bathroom. The second original closet is a small side closet, which Garrett used when we lived here, and it now houses a luggage rack.

For the decor, I stuck with a relaxing, natural, and comfortable look. Bedrooms are ultimately for unwinding and sleeping, so I tried to focus on creating a calm space, keeping a neutral palette and simple decor. I also brought in a bit of nature with the botanical art, plants, wood frog, sheep skin and cowhide rug.

Airbnb Host Tip // patterned sheets make linen storage easier. Buy different size patterns for different size beds, and you will always know which sheets go where.

One thing that has made Airbnb turns easier for us, is buying patterned sheets. I used to always stick with white, but we found it really difficult to figure out which set of sheets fit on which bed. Sometimes I'd be in a hurry to make 3 beds and have to unfold 4 or 5 sets of sheets in order to find the right size (and re-folding sheets is...ugh!). So now we buy different patterns for different bed sizes, and it's made my life much easier!