Aaaahhh. Back in St. Michaels, Maryland. This house isn’t a rental, but neither is it exactly ours. We share it with other family members. Our stay here is temporary.
But you know how I like to nest.
So this year, I decided to do a few things to make this house, our vacation home, feel like it IS ours. If you’re dragging your family to Rehoboth Beach, doing a time share with friends in the Hamptons, or borrowing your in-laws’ house in New Hampshire, here are 5 things that will make your vacation rental feel – and look – more like home.
1. Your favorite pillow. For the bedroom. It’s amazing how much the wrong pillow can ruin your night. I don’t know about you, but I looooooovvvve to sleep, especially on vacation.
2. One framed family picture. It’s easy to slip it into a suitcase – and it’s so nice to have by the bed or in the living room.
3. Fresh flowers. Buy them at the little market in town and put them in the front hall, on the big dining room table, on the porch…wherever you’ll see them the most. It’s cheery and special – especially if you don’t often splurge on flowers at home.
4. A lightweight throw. Something that won’t take up too much space in your suitcase – even a “tapestry” or sheet-weight hanging from World Market would do the trick. It can be laid on an less-than-ideal sofa, folded over the back of an unfortunate chair, or spread across the foot of your bed.
5. Fun-tak. Remember that sticky blue stuff? Well, it’s still around. Pack some – especially if you have kids. They’ll love to decorate the walls of their room with the art they make on a rainy day. And if there’s a fun poster you see in town, you can hang it up in the rental’s living room before rolling it up for the trip home.
Conversely, if the decor of your vacation rental offends your aesthetic sensibilities, EDIT.
- Take down the artwork – e.g. still lifes of straw hats on rocking chairs – and stash it in a closet.
- Throw those itchy velveteen accent pillows on top of them.
- Fold the poly/cotton floral bedspread down so you only see its pure white underside.
(For goodness’ sake, don’t forget to take pictures first, though, so you can restore the vacation rental to its former glory.)
The moral of the story is this, Gentle Readers. Whether you go away for a long weekend or a month, this is your vacation we’re talking about. Make the most of it – any way you can.
As usual, thank you, xJavierx, for the wonderful selection of pictures on your Flickr photostream.
Annie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. She has been quoted in publications from The Washington Post to The Seattle Times and is considered an expert on color, residential space planning, and telling people what to do in the nicest way possible.
