VRS157 – Vacation Rental Stager & Designer Sally Lauren Nichols

Today’s episode is the second in our two-parter on design and décor in vacation rentals.

As we are planning the Vacation Rental Success Summit for 2017, I’m reminded how valuable the face-to-face networking is, and just why I love going to conferences to make new connections and learn a bunch of new stuff.

I met Sally Lauren Nichols at the VRMA conference as she was attending with her husband Darik Eaton – owner of Seattle Oasis Vacation Rentals. Darik had explained in an earlier episode that the successful operation of their business is dependent on the owners relinquishing design and décor decisions to a professional designer and stager – and Sally is that professional.

With a solid background in design, Sally has a full complement of skills to create guest-ready properties in a timely and to-budget manner, and in this episode, we talk about how her role with Seattle Oasis give her the scope to meet the needs of a defined market.

She explains in details what it’s like to work with a designer and how it can save significantly in time spent on a project without having to shop at pricier outlets.

In this episode Sally tells us:

  • How to make a small space look much bigger.
  • What projects are better handled by a designer.
  • What a designer wants from a client.
  • Her five best tips for preparing a property for rental.
  • Why the little things are just as important as major renovation projects.
  • The one item of furniture every property in their portfolio has in common
  • How to make a bedroom look ‘grounded’
  • Why you can never have enough artwork.

Seattle Oasis Vacation Rentals

VRS132 – Vacation Property Management with a Difference with Darik Eaton


Where you can find Sally:

slnstageanddesign.com

Website

@SallyLNichols

Twitter

https://www.facebook.com/SLNStageandDesign

Facebook

About the author

Heather Bayer

  • Gary Troy Miller

    Thanks for all the great tips! I’d like to know how to make my vacation rental property look more like a cottage and less like a house? We are located in Muskoka and people expect a cottage, log cabin or something like it? Most if not all our guest have said they were very impressed by our place but sometimes give a five star review, then follow up to say ” Not What I Expected!”
    How do I bring the outside inside? And give a newer more modern house look more rustic?