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Thanks to Momeni for partnering with me on this post. All opinions are my own.
I am all over the place with house projects these days! I'm still not finished with our dining room, but I decided this was a good time to start working on Ian's room too. For the past few months, he's just had a mattress on the floor. Since he and Emmett are pretty close in age (21 months apart), I'm anticipating that I will have them share a room in the near future. So I designed the room with that in mind. At first, I was thinking two separate twin beds, like people normally do with shared kid's rooms...but then I had the crazy idea to start putting our house on Airbnb. I was inspired by The Grit & Polish (who I featured in this blog post). She rents her family's personal residence for weekends here and there, and they earn extra money from it. I'm super intrigued by that idea, so I started thinking of putting a king size bed in the boy's room, that will double as a secondary guest room. Ian will have it all to himself for now, and the boys can share the big bed when Emmett gets older (I might get them two separate small duvet covers, Scandinavian-style). If we do the Airbnb thing, I'm thinking of having a separate sheet set that's just for guests so it doesn't feel weird. Even though I'll obviously be washing the sheets, I just don't want my kids using the same sheets as random strangers. With all that in mind, my goal for this room was to have it feel like a fun, playful kid's space--but also sophisticated enough to host adults occasionally.
via Emily Henderson
Here are a couple example photos that are similar to what I'm thinking: they're clearly a boy's room, but with a big bed instead of a twin. The main elements (like the rug, bed, and lighting) can easily feel more "adult" just by removing the stuffed animals and toys.
via Amber Interiors
I figured the next step was shopping for beds and rugs that struck that right balance: kid-friendly and playful, but not for kids only. Let's be honest, I probably wasn't going to choose a race car bed and an ABC rug anyways. ;) I looked for a platform bed that was low to the ground so it would be easy for Ian to climb into by himself, and a rug with a cute pattern and good colors to set the tone for the room. Here are a few combinations I liked--all with rugs from Momeni. See if you can guess which one I'm going with!
Version 1: Vintage-style plaid rug / Channel tufted bed
Version 2: Colorful boho rug / Iron bed
Version 3: Cute navy rug / Tufted button bed
Version 4: Soft neutral rug / Green channel tufted bed
Which combo do you think I ordered? And tell me, am I totally crazy for wanting to put our actual home on Airbnb??? My idea is to put an exterior lock on our master bedroom and the garage, put all our personal items in those rooms, and vacate the house for the weekends we get booked. Would you ever do something like that, if you had two young kids? My parents think it's not going to work...so naturally, I'm determined to prove that it will! Haha.
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Our neighbors starting doing that this summer! They have 2 kids under 3, and have been going to the mountains almost every weekend, so they started listing their house on airbnb. I'm not sure what they are doing as far as locks (haven't asked), but it seems to be working because they've been keeping it up for several months now! It seems like it's a great rental for other families, as we often see folks with children there over the weekend. I'm all for this plan! If only I could convince my husband...
So awesome! I'm glad to hear another family with young kids is doing it (and sounds like they're getting lots of bookings too!). We're getting all ready to list our house and I'll be sure to share our experience as we go!