Jessica Duce: Vacation Rental Design
Vacation Rental Design With Jessica Duce
I was so happy to have The Woodlands, TX based vacation rental designer, Jessica Duce, principal of @JDuceDesign as my most recent guest speaker on Meet The Members, discussing vacation rental design.
Jessica got her start in vacation rental design when she was referred to the owner of a 10,000 sq. ft. vacation rental residence in a remote spot on the coast of Oregon. Jessica shared that she wasn’t at all sure she was going to get the job when she was flown there to interview for it, but the owner liked her practicality and pricing, and agreed to hire her on the spot.
She learned the ins and outs of vacation rental design literally “on the job” and is now a nationally recognized expert in vacation rental design with clients all around the USA and in the Bahamas.
Below is an image of this home that was Jessica’s first vacation rental design project in Oregon, which she’s since been hired to go back and refresh.
For those of you not familiar with Meet The Members, it is an exclusive opportunity for members of my Facebook Group community for interior designers, #DesignWealth, to meet my guests live on Zoom, every Saturday morning at 9:30 am CT, and ask my guests their questions.
One of the things that made our time with Jessica on #MeetTheMembers so special last Saturday was that she was on the job in Wisconsin with vacation rental design clients when she joined us!
Her clients agreed to wait for her in the hotel lobby where they were all staying so she could spend an hour with us.
Jessica: thank you again for arranging that and tell your clients thank you, too, for being so understanding!
Top Takeaway #1: People book VRBO’s because they want an experience with all the amenities of a hotel, but in a homelike atmosphere.
Jessica shared that the #1 thing people seek when booking a vacation rental is to feel like they are going to have an experience that is unlike what they can get in their own homes. They want a vacation rental to have all the amenities of a hotel, but within a homelike atmosphere.
Gorgeous images that evoke the feeling of the beautiful experience your visitors will get are critical when marketing a vacation rental property. Showcase the hotel like amenities, too.
In this vacation rental home Jessica designed, the evocative image below easily allows viewers to feel the type of experience they would have were they to rent this home.
And this image shows who the home is for and what can be enjoyed there.
Image Credit: Colin Park.
Top Takeaway #2: Replenishment cost, turnaround time and housekeeping must all be taken into account when designing and furnishing a vacation rental property.
When designing for a vacation rental, Jessica shared you always have to take into consideration 3 things:
1. Eventual replenishment cost. Replenishment cost should be 10% of total rental income.
2. Selecting surface and flooring finishes, fixtures, appliances, materials and furnishings that make it as easy as possible for housekeepers to do their work in a minimum amount of time as guests are often arriving one after the other.
3. You have to keep in mind the turnaround time it will take you to get everything you need to furnish/renovate the property as there are often limited windows of time available with no leeway.
In this primary vacation rental bedroom Jessica designed, you can see maintenance would be rather easy - a bit of vacuuming, a bit of sweeping, minimal dusting and washing of the bedding would be all that’s needed.
The topper on the bed gives people a place to set their suitcases when they walk in, and saves the bedding underneath from needing to be replenished as often - a tip Jessica gave us on the ZOOM.
Top Takeaway #3: New client acquisition sources.
When Jessica was hired for that first job in Oregon and didn’t really know what she was doing yet, she decided to learn the ropes by offering to clean the vacation rental home property with the housekeeper. She shadowed the housekeeper all day, learning what the pain points were.
The property manager was so impressed by Jessica’s willingness to get down into the nitty gritty with the housekeeper, that he has now referred her to 6 more clients.
Jessica also shared she’s gotten new clients through her engagement in various Facebook Group communities for vacation rental property owners & managers as well as through her membership in the Vacation Rental Management Association, vrma.org.
Top Takeaway #4: Vacation rental design fees include a day rate for travel, a day rate for time on the job, product procurement and logistics management.
Jessica shared that her design fees include all of the above.
Whether her time per day on the job is 6 hours or 12 hours, which it often is due to tight turnarounds, her 8 hour a day rate stays the same, and her clients appreciate that.
In addition, she procures furniture, artwork, accessories and window treatments for her client’s vacation rental homes or arranges for rehab of existing items that can be reused and transformed by a talented local upholsterer or workroom.
She also arranges all logistics.
She shared that not every client wants turnkey procurement down to the last fork in the drawer, but some do, and she offers that service, as well.
Even though potential clients can sometimes balk at the idea of paying a vacation rental designer, experienced VRBO designers like Jessica can often see things that can be done for minimal pricing — that that clients often cannot — and that can bring immediate increases in rental income.
A case in point:
Below is a living room in a vacation rental home that Jessica designed. When she originally saw this space, that stunning wall of windows was covered by heavy wooden shutters, obscuring part of the view and reducing the available light in the room.
She replaced those shutters with inexpensive roller shades. This flooded the room with beautiful natural light and enabled potential renters to easily feel the experience & see the view they would get by renting this property, which immediately increased the rentals of this VRBO.
Top Takeaway #5: Managing logistics is the biggest pain point in vacation rental design.
Jessica emphasized that the logistics portion of her job is the hardest one for her. But despite that, she shared that her willingness to learn how to do many things herself that normally would be handled by an installation crew and her ability to handle stress have been critical to her success.
Jessica also discussed other challenges vacation rental designers often face.
VRBO designers have to be willing and able to travel to spots that are often remote, they have to be able to travel within tight time frames at a moment’s notice, and they have to be good at working within tighter budgets than a professional residential interior designer would normally command.
Most importantly, though, they have to be very good at dealing with logistics, including finding receivers, arranging deliveries, managing through delays within tight timeframes, Plan B & C thinking, finding sub-contractors and being onsite for lengthy installation - often lasting into the wee hours.
She advised thinking through these challenges carefully, before deciding if becoming a vacation rental designer is the right path for you.
Thank you all for reading this post. I hope Jessica’s generous sharing on #MeetTheMembers has given you some nuggets that will help you understand all that’s involved in being a vacation rental designer.
I’m sure she’d love to hear what you think - please let her know in the comment section of this post.
Be looking for some upcoming exciting news from Jessica herself on this topic, too. Make sure you’re following her on Instagram via the link I’ve provided below.
[ MY NOTE: Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of working with Jessica professionally, where I gave her some strategic advice on her digital marketing initiatives. Please be looking for Jessica’s newly revamped website, coming soon! ]
Links To Jessica
I invite you to follow Jessica on Instagram here
https://instagram.com/jducedesign
and here:
https://instagram.com/vacationrentaldesigners
and to visit her website here:
https://jducedesign.com
More Learning For You!
Don’t Miss These Previous *Meet The Members* Top Takeaway Posts:
Carla Aston: Monetizing Your Website or Blog For 24/7 Income
https://www.savourpartnership.com/blog/2022/6/10/an-interview-with-carla-aston-her-top-takeaways-for-you
Veronika Eagleson: Influencer Marketing
https://www.savourpartnership.com/blog/2022/6/14/5-top-takeaways-on-influencer-marketing-from-veronika-eagleson
Lisa Peck: Growing Your Instagram Following and Acquiring Your Ideal Clients
https://www.savourpartnership.com/blog/2022/6/21/lisa-peck-5-top-takeaways-on-instagram-growth-and-new-client-acquisition
Robin Baron: Product Licensing
https://www.savourpartnership.com/blog/robin-baron-5-top-takeaways-product-licensing
Laura Muller: The Impact of Authenticity in Online Branding For New Client Acquisition
https://www.savourpartnership.com/blog/laura-muller-top-tips-online-branding-authenticit
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Named one of Home Furnishing News Magazine’s Top 40 Most Inspiring Women In Home