From Family Home to Airbnb

Sometimes the budget doesn’t allow for all new furniture pieces and we have to get a little creative. When the owners of the Apple Orchard approached us about turning the 7 bd 9 bath home into an Airbnb, they hoped we could use as much of the existing furniture as possible to keep costs down. (You can imagine how much it would cost to furnish a 5000+ sq ft home!) It turns out, the previous owners of the home had mysteriously left their furnishings in boxes for us to sort through!

It was no small job to figure out which things we could use and how we’d use it, particularly the pieces that we’d never have picked ourselves.

Much of it had to go, but we came up with an idea for how to save four of the brightly colored upholstered beds. Why not give each room the name of an Apple Variety based on the color of the bed?

The pastel pink bed was the easiest: the Pink Lady room. But how were we going to convince men to sleep in a pink bed? We decided we’d furnish the rest of the room in textures and colors of men’s dress suits to give it some much needed feminine/masculine balance. The letters over the headboard spell out the name “pink lady” and so far, we’ve had no complaints!

Originally the tall hot pink bed was in a downstairs bedroom, but it really deserved the higher ceilings of upstairs. As the tallest and most formal looking of all the beds, we decided this room would be the Gala Room. We chose some glittering, reflective end tables & lamps and toned down the bold fuchsia with soft grays and whites.

There was no question what we’d call the room with the light green headboard: the Granny Smith!

Except we wanted a fun and cool granny. No doilies or crochet here! Don’t these crazy beds suddenly look more intentional when paired with more modern furnishings?

On a nightstand next to each bed is a framed name of that room with a bit of a playful description. For example, the Macintosh room says, “It’s called the all-purpose apple because the macintosh is great for eating both raw and cooked. It’s actually the national apple of Canada, but probably the Mac’s greatest claim to fame is that it’s got a rather popular line of computers named after it.”

This massive house took around 3 months to complete repairs and staging before we were able to welcome our first guests. But now it’s a unique vacation retreat for groups, families, and even businesses.

With 2 kitchens, 3 living rooms, 2 porches, a lake with fishing, & pool table, there is no shortage of space or activity. It’s perfect to use as a home base to explore the area, and the orchard even allows small weddings.

Click here to see the rest of the 7 bd 9 bathroom Apple Orchard Farmhouse and book your stay!