It’s all about wording in advance. I do ask ages so I can convey what’s available to them, and if there are toddlers I add that I the house is not “child proofed” and invite them to move items of concern out of reach. (I don’t leave really precious things within reach though.) And I think I will take your suggestion and add a request “when possible, please return items to their original location upon departure”. Usually it’s me cleaning but indeed, if it’s someone else, they won’t be able to restore things they way you’d like them. I had a couple once with a toddler and I returned after their 2 week stay to find thousands of stickers on virtually EVERY surface! I was floored that they would leave the house like that. (Yes, including the floor!) Parents of humans and dogs can easily lose their perspective - I know - I have been both. But your best shot is to relay the expectations in advance.
Yes!!! I’ve had that too! Amazing what the littles get away with these days.
Thank you for your response and advice. I appreciate you taking the time to assess what I was asking/needing and keeping on subject 
- Mucho Mahalos
I agree. I don’t have hardly any extras. I don’t run a Show home - just the basics
You should see the place my friend rented on the outskirts of my Mexican town last season. Beautiful place on a huge piece of property with a killer ocean view. But the place was crammed full of decorative pottery and Mexican knicknacks. It wasn’t even anything special- it was all stuff you see in the tourist shops.
She didn’t have any kids, but she was staying for 2 months and likes living in a minimalist space, so she took all those dust collectors and put them in the closet for the duration of the stay. (When the weekly cleaner came in, she nodded her approval 
)
All she made use of were the vases (there were lots of those, too), as the grounds were full of tropical flowers and foliage which she filled the house with.
We don’t ask guests not to move furniture - but we do specifically request that they put back anything they have moved before they leave (in the manual) and most do so.
It may be helpful to send a check out message the night before guests leave - hoping they have had a good stay and just a friendly reminder of check out time and that ‘it would be appreciated if they could ensure anything they have moved is put back in its original place’.
We just re-did our kitchen and almost all the appliances on the countertops now have homes in cabinets or the coffee station (with doors that close) and we added some small open shelves where I put the salt, pepper and napkins. The only “permanent” things left on the kitchen counters are the toaster and the paper towels.
Our maintenance guy saw it and said to the housekeeper “Huh - the lady wants it empty?!” She smiled and said “Of course - it looks a lot cleaner and it’s a lot easier to keep clean!”
Great idea. I do send an automated checkout message, so that’s a good place to put it.
Thanks!
The reason I’ve heard most often for hosts to instruct guests not to move furniture is not so much the time it takes the host to put it back in place (although sometimes it’s a heavy piece it took at least 2 strong people to move, but that the host couldn’t move back by herself), but that they have had guests ding up the walls, put large scrapes in the floor, or move furniture outdoors which isn’t designed to be out in the elements.
And one host said guests moved one small piece of furniture to the same spot so many times that she finally realized it was better placed there. 
I would love a nephew to paint whales on our Airbnb wall…fantastic
I host families, although my unit only sleeps three, so I usually have two parents traveling with a young child. I don’t currently use IB, so I talk to the parents ahead of time to set expectations and ask how old the children are. I keep a Pack-n-Play folding crib in the unit and tell guests to bring their own preferred infant bedding. I leave a few toys in the unit as a surprise and guests seem pleased.
I haven’t had any issues with messes or noise. I may have an experience if I were hosting a cabin or whole home, where guests might have more time and space to make a mess. My guests with kids are usually up early.
I ask guests to put back anything they moved, and they usually do. It’s the folks who sleep in and seem to leave right at check-out who tend to leave a bigger mess.
Add me to the chorus of those loving the whale painting!
He’s smart and realized that he gets to visit anytime and stay for free. Don’t tell him, he could have whether he painted a mural or didn’t 
Thank you so much. I will let him know.