My rental is upstairs the garage. I have a lot of stuff, storage boxes, tools, extra wood, etc. Anyone seen some creative ways to hide my mess? I know I need to clean and organize but even when I do, I mess it up with the next project. Advice?
Do guests have to walk through the garage to get to the rental or are there exterior stairs? If they have to walk through the garage … you need to keep it clean and organized. Sorry. Or look into how expensive adding exterior access would be.
Yes they do. It’s not terrible as I have never had a guest rate me down because of it. I’ve covered areas with a tarp but that looks almost as bad.
You don’t need to hide it. Just take photos of everything as it is, post it, and say What you see is what you get. The reason Airbnb is so popular is because it is largely unregulated. If the price is low enough someone will probably book it anyway. Just don’t have anything out you’d be worried about someone stealing! Or tripping over and suing you.
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Is it a two-car garage? We have a similar set up with an oversized garage with two garage doors. One side of the garage is strictly for guests, and it is on the side nearest the door which leads up to the unit. This is going to sound weird, but we hung a very heavy black curtain (three, actually) between the garage bays. We weighted the curtains down and stapled them on the ends where you would normally open them. We know where the opening is, but it takes some serious fishing if you don’t because the curtains overlap. Because we have two exterior garage doors, the guests never see what’s behind the curtain–unless they peek. I tell myself that most people probably peek for the heck of it. It kinda screams out for a peek.
Anyhoo, on the other side, we have our “stuff”, and the curtain makes a nice, clean presentation for the guest. No one has commented or seemed weirded out by the curtain, and nothing has gone missing to date. Our bikes are hung from the ceiling, holiday decorations are in bins against a far wall, tools are locked in a closet, etc… We went through every concept of what to do (including building a dividing wall) because our guests have no other way to get into their space. The fenced in courtyard area between our house and the garage does not have a gate. In the end, we decided to see how this would work. So far, it has been fine. Now, our guest tonight could clear out my stash of laundry detergent (the bikes are locked to the ceiling) or my favorite Christmas ornaments, but that is a calculated risk until we get a storage unit.
I don’t know if this helps, or is just TMI. Maybe it can help give you an idea, or maybe you could utilize a storage unit nearby? We gave a ton of stuff away, and I can’t think of anything I miss, honestly.
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What about using room dividers, or build a simple plywood wall to create a corridor? Or stack everything as neatly as you can, throw clean looking sheets over everything and make it clear in your listing that guests need to walk through the garage to gain access. Maybe even include a picture
There are some great ideas above - curtains, rooms dividers etc.
And I do think that it should be a priority - first impressions count!
I have the same thing. Guests enter the garage at a side door. They can see the whole garage, but they don’t have to deal with any of it as the steps are at the door.
I used to care, keeping it all clean and organized. But I have 4 kids and a 2 acre property. We are in the garage almost daily moving things around, kids riding bikes, etc. No one has said anything, so I no longer worry about it.
In the future we plan to enclose the stairs and make them cleaner/safer when we also make a few upgrades and can raise our price. But I’m not spending lots of time and energy keeping the garage organized when I’m a budget place but the actual apartment is very comfortable and clean. I’ve seen what others offer and charge more for, so I’m not worried about it!
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My guests have a separate entrance to their apartment and don’t need to walk through the garage.
But they have an own fridge in a room we use as storage. It’s next to their room. And it’s a mess - always.
I would never post photos on Airbnb. I only show it while we do our welcome tour and to you now:
Nobody ever complained about it. They are usually happy to have a fridge at all.
So in your case I would take a photo of the open garage from far distance and write something like: “You’ll have your own private entrance at our garage.”
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