23 Mar Airbnb vs. Roommate
Living with a partner often has you compromising.
I like a soft glow and Nick likes bright, overhead lighting. He likes watching his favorite shows while he eats dinner and I’d rather chat it up over our food. I’m always reeeaaally cold at night and he’s an absolute furnace.
These are great problems to have in a relationship, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve had to install dimmers in every single room, I’ve taken to calling distant friends or family while eating dinner while Nick catches up on Deep Space 9, and let’s just say my freezing feet between Nick’s toasty warm legs is still a work in progress.
However, once everything settled from our complete kitchen gut, and the last piece of drywall dust was sucked up by the trusty shop vac, it came time to revisit our downstairs income suite, that’s just off the kitchen – complete with its own private entrance – and make her beautiful. It was one of the first rooms we gutted a couple years back, but we kind of let it go when we focused on the kitchen remodel. If money was flowing freely we would just pimp that space out and make it a badass den and entertainment space. However, with Queens being a great place to live, a fair price for a bedroom with an en suite is great income for us. We just can’t decide how to go about getting that income.
Before I elaborate, I wanted to show you what transformations the space has undergone:
The above picture is what we started with after we gutted the outdated paneling and flooring. We weren’t happy with any of it so out it went.
Ah, properly insulated, new closet, and bigger bathroom all built.
Drywall is up and our blank canvas is ready to be realized!
This is a shot of our bathroom that we expanded. I can’t find a picture of it pre-gut, but it wasn’t pretty.
We finished this space and immediately had roommates who got to make themselves at home by creating a space that made them feel comfortable. However, after we finished the kitchen, and our roommates moved out, I knew I wanted to take this opportunity to get a fresh coat of paint and get my hands dirty designing. The only thing was, Nick and I couldn’t agree: do we get another roommate or make money on Air BnB?
I’m all about Air BnB. I love getting spaces ready for people to enjoy them – that’s what I do! Whether organizing or designing, I’m prepping a space to be lived in and enjoyed. Once someone checks out, I essentially get to make the room pretty all over again. Running a bed and breakfast sounds fabulous to me.
Nick, on the other hand, thinks it’ll be too much work. We’re trying to expand our business and buy another property soon so he wants us to stay focused. If we get a roommate, we’re kind of “setting it and forgetting it”.
In the long run, there is more potential to make a greater income if we Air BnB it, but Nick is right; it will take constant work. However, what we could charge an Air BnB-er would allow us to have some days tenant free, whereas a roommate would call this room their home. At this point – we’ve agreed to disagree, knowing either option puts money in our pocket and fuel to keep growing as a business.
I just finished the final touches on the room. We have a badass guest room – or a getaway for me if I want to watch HGTV while Nick watches Star Trek! Eventually, this room needs to make us money – because we’re hungry to get our hands on another residential rescue!
Anyway….without further ado….my latest room design:
This a view of the room from our new kitchen (a post on all those gorgeous details later!)
Gah! Just looking at this picture makes me want to jump right in to this brand new memory foam queen size bed!
A view from the other side. The little cafe table table is going to be perfect to work at your computer on or chat with a friend over coffee! If you look closely, you can also get a sneak peak at our big kitchen make over!
A view from the room’s private entrance. You’ll notice the mini-fridge and coffee maker. I made sure we had these items ready in case I won and got to Air BnB the space out! This summer I want to build a reclaimed wood box around the fridge – so it’s more fitting in the space. And who doesn’t want their own full bath off their bedroom?
We plan to build shelves in that nook where those metal cubes are now. Behind that wall is our stair system – we didn’t want to waste any space!
It is SO nice to take a shower in that space!
Anyway, that’s it! We’re currently waiting on a Rockette to nab this space – who knows, I might just win out after all and get to Air BnB it. Persistence is key!
Know someone who needs a place to stay? Check out our listing on Air Bnb!
All photo credit belongs to the talented Kris Rogers Photography
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