A perfect vacation home

How was your weekend? Did you take a long weekend after the 4th or did you do what I did and work?  I had one of those boy-do-I-wish-I-was-still-in-my-30's kind of a grueling day Friday getting that vacation rental ready. You may recall I mentioned it here, that Allison my new assistant and I would be getting this home ready for the vacationers who will be arriving today. The clients live in a prime location on the water which makes the home perfect for a vacation rental, but the house needed some help with editing and styling to make it vacation ready.

The view from the front of the house

It was the first day of work for my new assistant Allison and she was amazing. She told me she was a fast learner and she was. I could never have accomplished half of what I did without her ... and we worked hard! I have been working solo for so long now, bringing in my sister once in a while to help with installations or hanging artwork but generally doing everything myself. It is a whole new ballgame for me to learn to delegate - I am so used to being a one-woman-show - but I am super excited for what I will be able to accomplish with her help.

We spent the first part of the day working outside on the upper deck arranging furniture, moving potted plants and umbrellas around, putting on seat cushions and placing pillows. Poor Allison was the one who got to run up and down the three flights of stairs to grab whatever I needed.  When we finished, we moved inside where we removed some of the client's more personal or fragile items and moved furniture around to make the house feel more spacious. I didn't take many photos because I left my phone in the car by mistake and after we were done I used Allison's phone just to get a few photos for the client so she could replicate where things were if they got moved around later.

There was an overflowing bookcase in one room that we weeded out and re-arranged. It will be accessible for the vacationers in case they want to borrow a book to read. We also removed framed family photos and fragile and irreplaceable items to pack away while the house is being rented. That left some empty spaces. 

On the dining room hutch, I used the new space to make a breakfast prep area to take the burden off of the crowded kitchen. We removed fine china and crystal and gave the hutch a more casual look filling it with some eclectic pieces that we didn't want sitting out to get accidentally broken. We took another cabinet that was full of glassware and filled it with snacks for the vacationers - their own little "mini-bar".

I made a tag for the mini-bar snack cabinet.

We moved side tables around, put down area rugs over stained carpet, rolled fluffy white towels and tried to make the house look and feel as perfect as we could make it.

I think it is refreshing that this house isn't your typical coastal style beach house. It very much reflects the style and flair of the client and is filled with things she loves and has collected over time and travels. It is colorful and whimsical and I love that. We painted her front door bright yellow and the upstairs exterior doors red. I think that anyone coming in to stay here will feel at home and comfortable. 

My goal for the client was to make her home feel welcoming and the guests feel pampered. I wanted to add some inexpensive but special touches that would make this rental feel special and unique. I made some tags to put around the house and a notebook filled with instructions for the house and places to visit in town. I thought it would be fun to make a letterhead and some stationery and note cards. 

To make the letterhead, I started with an image I found online. It was a photograph of a botanical print from a book and so I didn't think it would breach any copyrights to use it. 

This was my original image. I found it here via Pinterest

The first thing I did was take out the color and lighten it. I thought it would make a nice watermark. Next I made a heading playing around with various fonts and colors. I printed up some extras for them to use as stationery if they want and used the same image for the tags.

I played around a little more ... I could do this kind of stuff all day long!

Thankfully I had this little girl here for a visit this weekend - she makes it really easy to put work aside and play!

Happy Monday everyone!