How to furnish your short-term rental

Dusty Rhodes • July 24, 2023

For some of us, the most fun part of the real estate journey is actually furnishing and decorating your STR properties (Okay, the revenue part is pretty great, too). But purchasing a house worth of furniture in a matter of days or weeks can be overwhelming for anyone. 


There are certainly services you can employ to help you, including your property manager, but this task is also definitely something you can tackle yourself. Here’s what to consider as you get started.


What’s Your Vibe?


Always start with the mood you’re trying to create. A lake house in New England or a cabin in the Smoky Mountains has a very different feel when it comes to furnishings than a condo in Fort Lauderdale or a single-family in Austin, Texas. The furniture you bring in should support and enhance your rental’s “brand” and help your home feel representative of its town/city/surroundings. If you’re inheriting any furniture, you’ll want to consider how those existing pieces support or distract from your vibe and whether you can work with them or need to start over.


You’ll also want to consider your audience and their expectations. Are you trying to attract families? Are most of your guests on weekend getaways from the city? Or are you the luxe beachfront bungalow charging $750 a night? Or the cozy bargain one-bedroom cabin?


The answers to these questions will help you understand the expectations of your guests when they arrive. A family-friendly rental should ideally include a high chair, and a super-luxe beach bungalow should not be decorated with IKEA furniture.


What’s Your Timeline?


Do you have a few weeks to get this place listed, or do you need to get it rented yesterday? The amount of time you can personally devote to the project, as well as how much time you have before you need it rented out, will have a lot of impact on your furnishing options. 


If your plan is to make all the furnishing decisions from your laptop in a weekend, your shopping options are going to be fast-delivery places like Wayfair and Amazon or one-stop-shop local furniture stores (which can range in cost and quality) that can deliver quickly. If you have a little longer, the world is your oyster. 


Durability: AKA the IKEA Question


If the “vibe” of your place would work with IKEA furniture, should you do it? My advice is that with anything that will get regular use, such as couches, dressers, dining tables, and coffee tables, you’re better off skipping IKEA and buying better-quality items elsewhere. (Getting something like a mirror at IKEA is probably fine.) 


IKEA furniture tends to look shabby quickly and, well, break. Over the medium and long term, you will spend more money on replacements (and more time putting it all together) than you would if you had gone for something a little more well-made and spendy in the first place. 


Where Should You Shop?


The best way to get high-quality furniture, often new or almost new, at reasonable prices, is through places like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and estate sales. (The good news is that guests at an STR would never expect to be the very first person to ever sit on your couch, so even in the most luxe environments, “like new” works perfectly.) 


But you can’t do this kind of shopping in a day, and it’s more opportunistic hunting in that you never know what you’re actually going to find. But consider that for the price of an IKEA dresser, you can easily find a real-wood, dovetail-joined dresser that will look amazing and last for as long as you own the property. It’s a no-brainer choice if you have the time. 


A few strategies to get the most out of online shopping:

  1. Use quality brand names like “Pottery Barn,” “Crate and Barrel,” “Room and Board,” or “Restoration Hardware” in your search terms.
  2. Send out a bunch of inquiries on Saturday morning and ask to come see the items that same afternoon. Make sure you have a vehicle that can transport your purchases, and then go from one site to the next, evaluating and hopefully buying. 
  3. Try this first: See what slots you can fill by shopping Marketplace, Craigslist, and estate sales, and then supplement with online retailers or local shops.


How do You Manage it All? 


Go through each room (in your mind or in person), and list out what it needs. For example: “Bedroom 1: Queen bed, queen mattress, two bedside tables, rug, mirror, dresser, etc.” and put them all into an Excel sheet. Add columns for measurements, approximate budget, and where you’re going to look for them. Don’t forget the walls and art. 


Once you’ve ordered the item, put in the actual cost (including shipping) and the date it’s scheduled to arrive to keep track of it all. Will you need someone to put furniture together when it arrives? Make sure that’s in your plan somewhere, too.



Source: Bigger Pockets Blog

Dusty Rhodes Properties is the Best Realtor in Myrtle Beach! We do everything in our power to help you find the home of your dreams. With experience, expertise, and passion, we are the perfect partner for you in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We love what we do and it shows. With more than 22 years of experience in the field, we know our industry like the back of our hands. There’s no challenge too big or too small, and we dedicate our utmost energy to every project we take on. We search thousands of the active and new listings from Aynor, Carolina Forest, Conway, Garden City Beach, Longs, Loris, Murrells Inlet, Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Pawleys Island, and Surfside Beach real estate listings to find the hottest deals just for you!

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10 Aging-in-Place Features Pros Swear By

By Dusty Rhodes • March 16, 2026
They’re often called aging-in-place features, but things like curbless showers, nonslip flooring and wide walkways and doorways can benefit everyone, no matter their age or ability. “Regardless of aging in place, there is a place for these in day-to-day life, whether it be a teenager on crutches, a family member having had surgery, active kids,” designer Dana Bass says. “It’s not just about aging in place. We’ve got to account for unplanned life emergencies.” Designer Tammy Battistessa of Ellaire Kitchen & Bath Design agrees. “Whenever possible, I include aging-in-place and universal design features in every project, as I believe many of these features benefit clients of all ages and abilities, in addition to allowing a client to safely remain in their home for a longer period of time,” she says. Creating a home that can adapt also makes it more sustainable. “Aging in place is a key element to making legacy homes that can evolve over time,” architect Tim Barber says. With all that in mind, we asked more than 50 home design and construction professionals to share the aging-in-place features they always recommend. Here are the 10 that came up again and again. 1. Wide Walkways and Doorways Planning ahead is one of the most important steps when incorporating aging-in-place features. Many of these elements require thoughtful design and construction, so it’s wise to start early — and to consider hiring professionals who understand the nuances. “Thinking through how you will really use the space makes all the difference,” designer Haiku Durden of HDS Design says. “Having a designer involved really makes a difference.” A professional can help you create a plan that works for your current needs and anticipates future ones. “We currently default to aging-in-place features when our clients are near retirement or retirement age,” says designer Jenny Guggenheim of Guggenheim Architecture and Design Studio . “Preplanning by adding blocking behind the wall finish, spacious floor planning to allow for wheelchair or walker use.” In fact, spacious layouts are among the most commonly recommended aging-in-place strategies. Wide walkways and doorways — and generous clearances around furniture and fixtures — make it easier for anyone to move through the home comfortably. Installing a continuous flooring material throughout also reduces tripping hazards caused by changes in height or texture between rooms.

The Price You Set Can Make (or Break) Your Sale

By Dusty Rhodes • March 2, 2026
There’s one decision you’re going to make when you sell that determines whether your house sells quickly, or it sits. Whether buyers make an offer, or scroll past it. Whether you walk away with the maximum return, or you end up cutting the price later. And that’s your asking price . The #1 Mistake Sellers Make Today: Trusting the Wrong Number If you’re thinking of moving and trying to figure out what your house may sell for, it’s tempting to start with an online home value tool. They’re fast, free, and easy. And you don’t have to talk to anyone. But here’s the problem: they don’t know your house. And that can be a bigger drawback than you realize. Where Online Estimates Fall Short Online tools often lag behind the market. They look in the rearview mirror, relying on closed sales and delayed information. And in that sense, they’re using incomplete data . That’s not a miss in how these systems are built. Some information just isn’t available online. Bankrate explains: “ While these tools can be a useful starting point, keep in mind that they typically do not provide the most accurate pricing. Algorithms can only rely on the information available; they can’t account for things like a home’s condition or renovations made since the last public information was updated.” They can’t see: The unique features that make your house special All the work you’ve put in to keep it in good condition Or, how in-demand your specific neighborhood is right now So, while they may do a good job in some cases, they can’t be as accurate as a local agent who has boots on the ground day in and day out. In a market where buyers have more options, a seemingly small margin of error can cost you thousands if you price too low, or weeks of lost momentum and time if you price too high. If you want to sell for the most money and in the least amount of time, you don’t want the fast answer on how to price your house. You want the right one. That’s why the savviest homeowners today don’t rely on algorithms when it actually matters. They rely on people, specifically trusted local agents. What an Expert Agent Brings to the Table According to 1000WATT , sellers overwhelmingly believe real estate agents have the best sense of a home’s true value, far more than any automated tools. 

Top 3 Reasons To Buy a Home Before Spring

By Dusty Rhodes • February 23, 2026
If you’re planning to buy a home this year, you may be focused on the spring market. And hoping that when spring does hit, you’ll see: Mortgage rates drop a little more. More homes hit the market. But here’s what most buyers don’t realize. Buying just a few weeks earlier could mean paying less, dealing with less stress, and feeling less rushed. Here are three reasons why accelerating your timeline over the next few weeks could actually be a better play. 1. Holding Out for Lower Rates May Not Pay Off A lot of buyers are hoping mortgage rates will fall even further. But that’s not the best strategy. Here’s why. Experts are pretty aligned on this: rates are expected to stay roughly where they are. Forecasts throughout the industry all point to the same thing: rates are projected to be in the low-6% range this year ( see graph below ) :