Cornwall is known for its tourism industry and every year millions of people flock to the county to enjoy its gorgeous beaches and slower pace of life. 2019 has been a particularly great year for visitor numbers and with the uncertainty that lies over our country at the moment, and the knock on effects this is having, the staycation is having a resurgence which looks set to continue into 2020 and beyond.
If you have a holiday home in Cornwall, you’ll no doubt want to maximize on this opportunity and make your property as attractive as possible to stand out from the crowd. I have been working within the Cornwall luxury holiday let market for over 30 years and I am one of the only British Institute of Interior Design accredited Interior Designer who lives and works solely in Cornwall. I absolutely know what you need to do to stand out from the crowded Cornish marketplace and I appreciate you can’t always do everything at once. With this in mind, I wanted to have a look at a few ways you can freshen up your property and make the most of this lucrative time.
Here are a few of my insider tricks to freshening up your rental:
The kitchen:
The heart of the home is a great place to start and there are a few simple swaps you can make in this space that can really make a big difference. Beautiful or bold tiles can dramatically change a space, so this is a great place to start. It’s fairly easy to swap a small feature area of tiling like a kitchen splashback, which will really help freshen things up. The next place to look is your worktops, especially if your current one is looking a little bit scruffy from general wear and tear. This is a great way of giving the impression of a new kitchen without the huge price tag and work involved. Equally, if the cupboard doors have seen better days there are loads of great companies who can custom build just new door fronts for you. Another thing that can really help to transform a kitchen is a new sink, I don’t know anyone who isn’t secretly impressed by a gorgeous Belfast and fancy mixer tap combination and the difference this can make to a kitchens personality is well worth the relatively small investment.
Bedrooms:
One of the easiest, yet most cost effective ways of revamping your bedrooms is to give your linen cabinet an overhaul. Be brutal, get rid of anything that you wouldn’t expect to find in a 5 star hotel and replace with the most expensive bedding you can afford. You can’t beat plain white crisp linen for a sense of understated luxury but if you want to push yourself out of your comfort zone, it’s a great way of injecting some personality into a space without having to decorate the walls. I absolutely love mixing patterns, textures and layering up accessories to create a personalised look in a space, it’s something you can have huge fun with and create really fantastic results. Another easy way to make an instant change is to add or replace your headboard, you’ll be surprised what a difference this can make to a rooms look and feel. It’s a great way of adding a sense of individuality to a room, or pulling a new décor scheme together.
Bathrooms:
Like kitchens, bathrooms need to ooze quality when you are holiday letting. They don’t have to have the most expensive suite, but they do need to look clean and in good condition. A great way of making them feel a little more special is to upgrade your brassware, this doesn’t need to be expensive as long as the controls you are swapping are roughly the same size or larger. Adding a traditional exposed shower for example, adds an instant touch of old school glamour that your guests will be dying to stand under every morning.
Every room:
Sometimes all it takes to freshen up a space is a rejig of what you’ve already got. Simply moving your artwork to different spots around your property can make such a huge difference. Equally shifting your furniture around can completely change how a room works and feels, or better still swap things between rooms. A word of warning, there is a real knack to this kind of interior styling and one I have perfected over my 30 years, you can sometimes risk looking a little bit like a junk shop, especially if you decide to buy some new pieces to add in where you may have created space. The skill is in knowing what works with what and to get that balance right, you want to look chic not shabby.
Also, make sure with all this looking ‘around’ your property on ways to improve, you look down too. You can make all of these gorgeous changes but if your flooring is tired or even worse, grubby, this really can undo all of your hard work. Is it time for new carpets / flooring too?
Lastly, adding a bit of green to your space will always make it look more homely, as well as breathing fresh air into your space, visually and literally. You can pick houseplants up everywhere, from the supermarket to your local DIY store or garden center and they are so competitively priced, the danger is often knowing when to stop.
At Hops and Camellias, we offer our clients the full range of interior design services and everything in between, and remember if you need help in deciding what fixtures and fittings to go for (to add that extra touch of luxury) or just need an extra bit of handholding or advice, I’m only a phone call away, I would love the chance to discuss your project dreams with you.
Enhance with
Window treatments
Plants
Artwork
Maintain
Cleaning and refreshing
Gardening
Handyman
Restore
Painting and decoration
Carpeting
Retiling floors, bathrooms, kitchens
