Airbnb Living Room Essentials – The Unlimited Guide

What are Airbnb living room essentials? When a guest stays with you, the majority of their waking downtime will be in the living room. Whether it’s watching t.v, reading, or anything else you want each guest to feel at home. This will result in an improved stay and a higher Airbnb review.

Your Airbnb living room size and layout will affect what you can include but the very basics are a couch, coffee or end table, lamp, t.v, and some sort of decorations.

Your Airbnb living room will likely be the first space your guests see when entering your listing. Because first impressions are extremely crucial you have to make sure everything counts. Let’s look into more detail on how you can improve your living room.

In this blog post, we will discuss our favorite tips to save space and items that you should place in your Airbnb living room. Enjoy and happy hosting!

What Are Your Airbnb Living Room Essentials?

A Place To Sit. Couch, Armchair, Or More

Have you ever not been able to sit down in a living room? We’d guess not. For us, when someone says put your feet up and relax, we think of sitting on a couch and watching t.v or reading a book.

Giving your Airbnb guests a comfortable place to sit and relax will help them feel at home and take away the day’s stresses.

For us, before we go ahead and buy a new couch, we sit on it as a guest would. We recommend going to a store and testing some couches then purchasing it off Craigslist or Facebook marketplace to save costs.

Taking that extra moment to test all the cushions, armrests, material, etc. Make sure you approve before letting your guests stay in your Airbnb listing.

If your Airbnb living room has limited space, then get creative with couches that turn into beds and chairs that take up less room. Our favorite couch is the Milliard tri-fold couch and sofa bed which easily turns into an extra comfortable mattress for that last-minute surprise guest.

Other ideas are saucer chairs, L-shaped couches, single couches, hanging chairs, etc.

Waterproof Slipcover For Damage Control

Since a guest won’t always treat your Airbnb listing as their own, we recommend placing a slipcover over all your couches to protect them. Each slipcover will protect your couch from stain damage which lengthens the lifespan and save you money in the end.

Fast Wifi For The Working Traveler

Generally, wifi is much faster than cellular data and perfect for data-intensive activities (Skype, Netflix, Youtube, Work). Many of your Airbnb guests will be coming from a different country and signing up for most cell phone plans will need a permanent residence.

With no permanent residence or quality cell phone plan your guests will rack up extras charges on their phone bill. Because of this many travelers prefer Airbnb listings with high-speed internet.

On average, a 3 Mbps connection is good for one standard-quality stream and 5 Mbps for a high-definition stream. This is according to Netflix.

In one of our Airbnb listings, we had a 10-year-old router that worked fine. We decided to upgrade with a newer model since technology improves. We chose the TP-Link AC1750 Smart WiFi Router. Let us tell you, we now have strong wifi throughout our listing and it even reaches across the street. The best part is we put the details in our Airbnb description and has increased bookings from business travelers.

Coffee Table or End Table For Spill Prevention

The fact is having a spot for your Airbnb guests to put down their drinks will prevent most spills. We place a coffee table in front of our couches and add coasters for hot surfaces such as coffee mugs. The coffee table can be big or small depending on the room you have. The point is to have a place for your guests to set drinks down. The coasters also eliminate condensation rings that add to your cleaning routine.

Furthermore, if you have the room, add end tables on either side of your couch. This brings additional storage options underneath and the whole room together.

Blinds, Curtains, Shutters That Block Out The Sun

You can choose blinds, curtains, shutters or any other available option. The most important part is having a set that blocks out the sun. Furthermore, some of your Airbnb guests will travel late, work late, or just enjoy sleeping in. Provide a blackout option for any late sleepers which will also give them complete privacy.

Lamp For Reading, Writing And More

Regular lighting isn’t adequate, especially at night. By positioning several lamps around your Airbnb living room you give your guests flexibility for any activities at hand. How many lamps?

A general rule of thumb to calculate how much lighting you need in a room: Room length X Room width x 1.5 = Amount of wattage to light a room

For our Airbnb living room, we normally place a floor lamp in the living room corner, a smaller end table lamp beside our couch, and a reading lamp if we have a stand-alone sofa.

Check Out These Other Articles On Airbnbuniverse.com

Airbnb Living Room Decorations

You want people to feel at home and having decorations is a good way to do that. Whether you desire paintings on the wall, plants in your Airbnb living room, or any other form of decorations, it’s guaranteed to bring character to the room.

When it comes to decorating any living space there are many options. At minimum in all our Airbnb listings, we place some sort of painting on the wall and small personal touch items on shelves.

The paintings are visually appealing compared to a bare wall and personal touches can be found at thrift stores for a low cost. Obviously, there are more options to decorate any Airbnb listing. For that, we wrote a full blog post on The Best Airbnb Decoration Ideas. Link to post attached.

What Are Additional Options For Airbnb Living Room Essentials?

Area Rug For Your Airbnb Living Room

We add an area rug to all our Airbnb living rooms. The main reason is that area rugs take most spill damage from guests, it is much cheaper to throw a rug out then get carpet and hardwood replaced.

Whether you have hardwood flooring or carpets, an area rug will make your listing inviting, add a focal point, and makes your Airbnb living room look bigger. Most importantly your guests will love a thick shaggy area rug under their feet while watching t.v.

We recommend staying away from white rugs since spills are more noticeable. Most importantly your guests will love a darker colored shaggy area rug under their feet while relaxing.

Wall Mounted Smart T.V.

Most Airbnb guests can access their Netflix account either through a smart t.v or from their laptops. Almost every Airbnb we have stayed in doesn’t include cable anymore. You can find hours of t.v. shows from any streaming sites which a smart t.v. includes. Remember, most hosts at the beginning forget to supply an HDMI cord for guests.

For us, we love to save our extra floor space by mounting our smart t.v. on a wall bracket with plenty of pivot points. This will create a modern feel and most wall brackets will be universal and adjust to all t.v. sizes. This way you can use the dead wall space higher up and are left with more storage below.

Extra Blankets To Keep You Warm

Whether it’s a movie night, having an early morning coffee, or just because you are cold, an extra blanket in your Airbnb will be appreciated. Hang your blankets over the back of the couch so your guests will notice them and the blanket will add a nice touch to the living room.

For Christmas, I bought this Bedsure Sherpa Fleece Blanket for my wife because of a friend’s recommendation and ended up buying a second one for myself. We now have one in all our Airbnb listings which our guests love. Even mentioned them in our reviews.

Throw Pillow To Brighten Up Any Airbnb Living Room

Having a few extra throw pillows on any piece of your furniture will immediately brighten up the room and make any seating area feel finished. The key is to pick an anchor color, which will highlight and bring value to your Airbnb living room. Place the throw pillows on either side of your couch and one in the middle.

Every Airbnb Living Room Needs Board Games

Not all your guests will use the board games you leave out. Everyone has their own preference but giving them the option of classics such as Monopoly, Risk, Scrabble, Operation, Sorry, and even Mouse Trap will be unique and original.

You can buy most of these board games from your local thrift stores, but be aware check to make sure they have all the pieces.

Mirrors For Getting Ready

Mirrors in your Airbnb will bring depth and make the living room look bigger. Whether you choose a small or large mirror, align your mirrors in a way they can reflex natural sunlight. For us, we love the vintage framed mirror which adds character to any Airbnb listing.

Bluetooth Speakers

While my wife and I were traveling around Bali, Indonesia, we met a couple who brought Bluetooth speakers with them. Throughout our tour buses and traveling they would play music off their phones via Bluetooth pairing. With music, it made the whole experience enjoyable and brought everyone together.

If you want your Airbnb guests to feel welcomed then allow them to play music. Write instructions on how to use the Bluetooth speakers but include a welcoming note such as

“Hi guys, we look forward to hosting your stay. To help you ease into our home we included a Bluetooth speaker to play your favorite songs. Enjoy and let us know if you need anything”

We use a low cost but highly reviewed Anker Bluetooth surround sound speaker with 66 ft range and 24-hour playtime. Many guests have mentioned having a Bluetooth speaker in our reviews.

Charging Station For All Airbnb Living Rooms

A charging station helps your guests manage all their device batteries at the same time in one location. Most of your guests will travel with at least a phone and some sort of tablet or laptop. Having a charging station is a small detail most Airbnb hosts neglect.

If you are looking for a quality built charging station then the USB charger with 4 USB + 3 AC Outlets allows any Airbnb guest to use 120V and USB charging together.

Binder Of Local Recommendation For Your Guests

There is nothing better than getting local recommendations. Those are normally where you find the best food for the lowest price or unique cultural experiences that are hidden gems.

For us, we take the time to go to our local restaurants and try their food. It allows us to give a personal recommendation for restaurants in our local binder.

If you look online, you can find the most popular tourist attractions and restaurants, but they are normally expensive. Anytime we have stayed in an Airbnb the hosts have suggested amazing restaurants and places to visit.

Keep a binder filled with your popular and unknown tourist attractions, plus takeout menus to your local restaurants.

Guest Book To Write In

For myself, I don’t normally read the guest book but my wife loves to. She tries to find other guests from our city and always writes something inside.

As your guests pile up, so will the memories of their travels. Place your guest book and a pen to write with. It adds a nice touch to any Airbnb listing.

Let guests write what they loved about your place, where they have traveled with tips or just memories for all of your other guests to read.

Airbnb Living Room Essentials FAQ

Should I Have A Smart T.v In My Airbnb Living Room?

You do not have to have a smart t.v. at all but some guests expect one. What we don’t recommend anymore is providing cable. Right now there is a transition for streaming platforms to pick up t.v channels. For example, PrimeVideo by Amazon has StackTv. This channel has numerous HGTV shows such as Property Brothers.

Furthermore, almost anyone can find something to watch on Netflix. A quality smart t.v. can be found on Craigslist very easily and a Netflix account at basic costs $8.99. Even an older grandma is able to work Netflix. Remember, leave your Airbnb guests an extra HDMI cable in case they want to stream a rare show off their laptop.

Final Thoughts

No matter what, give your guests the greatest chance to feel at home. Airbnb living room essentials should make any guest feel at home. Enjoy and happy hosting!