10 Incredible Theme Ideas for Your Vacation Rental…

written on
December 29, 2022

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Vacation Rental Staging
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..Your Guests Will Love

Are you looking for an innovative way to create a unique experience for your guests in your short-term rentals? If so, creating a themed rental is the perfect way to infuse your entire house with family-friendly fun the whole family will love.

Popular Airbnb Theme Ideas to Use for Your Vacation Rental

While creating a themed experience in your vacation home may sound like a great idea, finding a suitable theme for your location, layout, and home features can take time and effort.

Read through this list of Airbnb themes to get your imaginative ideas flowing. We hope you can find the perfect theme from this list that will lead to more bookings and fabulous reviews!

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1. Magical Disney Theme Park

If your vacation rental is in Orlando, Florida, or Anaheim, California, near the theme parks, creating a Disney-themed Airbnb is an absolute must. You can draw inspiration from each theme park, creating a home that reflects the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Disneyland, or California Adventure. Or, you can draw ideas from popular Disney movies, like Frozen, Tangled, Cars, or Moana, or the classic characters, like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and Goofy!

Mural of Mickey Mouse on the stairs in a themed Airbnb.
One of our recent vacation rental staging projects

Regardless of how you style your Disney Airbnb, you’re sure to attract more guests—especially families with kids who want to bring the magic of the parks home with them each day. For some ideas, you can look at these photos of rentals we’ve designed, furnished, and decorated near Disney World in Orlando.

2. Star Wars Galaxy Adventure

Star Wars is a popular theme that adults and kids will both love. It’s an especially great theme for a vacation rental near Disneyland Park or Hollywood Studios since these parks are now home to the imaginative Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge.

There is no shortage of creative ways to transform your short-term rental into a “galaxy far, far away” using imagery and themes from the movies. You can go all out and transform the living space into the Millennium Falcon or opt for simple, subtle theming by using glow-in-the-dark stars in the bedrooms or spaceship beds in the kid’s rooms.

3. Pirates of the Caribbean Getaway

Pirates of the Carribean living room theme from Disney Land Hotel
Image of the Disneyland Hotel suite. Courtesy of Disneyland.

If your rental is located near Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, or even in a tropical or beachy destination like Florida, a Pirates of the Caribbean theme is the perfect Airbnb theme for your rental!

You can add pirate flags around the backyard, hammocks around your private pool and hot tub, and an attention-grabbing waterfall or a fire pit outside. If you’re catering to families, add pirate-themed play structures, like a pirate ship or sandbox where they can “dig for treasure” in the backyard.

4. Imaginative Book Lovers Theme

No matter where your rental is located, one of the best Airbnb theme ideas is a bookish theme that celebrates literary genius!

There are many different routes you can take with this theme—you can either draw inspiration from certain books or stick with a fun book theme in general. For example, maybe you’d like to create a “Roaring 20s” theme inspired by The Great Gatsby, or if your home is where a popular book was based, you could use that literary work to inspire your themed Airbnb. Or, to keep it simple, you can cover your walls from floor to ceiling with books for a cozy getaway that bibliophiles will love.

5. Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Harry Potter PB teen bedroom design
Courtesy of the Pottery Barn brand

If your rental is by Universal Studios, guests will be delighted by a magical Airbnb rental theme when planning their fun vacation to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

You can make your wizarding theme subtle, like this home we recently designed, furnished, and decorated in Orlando, by adding candelabras, themed photos, and moody lighting. Or, you can go “all out” by theming each room as a different space from Hogwarts, like making the dining room the Great Hall, the living area the Gryffindor Common Room, and each bedroom a different classroom, like the Potions Classroom, Divination Classroom, or Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. If your home has a movie theater, make sure you have all the movies in the series available for your guests to watch.

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6. Family Game Night

Want to create a space all ages will love? If so, use bright colors to create an arcade or gaming rental inspired by vintage games. Consider using glow-in-the-dark paint to create a Pac-Man room, or get inspired by Super Mario Bros., Pokemon, and other famous Nintendo games.

7. Elegant Victorian Home

If you’re lucky enough to own a Victorian-style home, you can let your imagination run wild with a creative theme. You can play up the opulence of these historic homes by bringing in chandeliers, four-poster beds, and other “royal” theming to make your Airbnb feel like a spectacular castle. Or, you can paint the exterior of your house bright pink and create a Barbie Dream House, perfect for birthday parties, bachelorette weekends, and more.

8. Local University Pride

Is your rental located near a popular college campus? If so, you can use this as a theme for your rental. For example, rentals in Austin, Texas, can sport the burnt orange and white colors of the University of Texas and maybe some flags or decor with the school logo. You can add a pool table, foosball, or cornhole set in the backyard to add to the college-themed vibes.

9. Laid-Back Beach House

Beach house theme living room with soft and bright colors
Beach theme living room. Courtesy of HGTV.

Creating a beach-themed Airbnb is an easy (yet fitting) choice if your rental is in a coastal state like Florida. Find a way to incorporate blue hues, white furniture, and simplistic “nautical” or “beachy” decor items. If you can, really play up the backyard—some of the best beach-themed rentals have a lazy river, waterslides, or hammocks to relax in.

10. Iconic TV Shows

Why not use one of the world’s most iconic TV shows to create a perfect getaway for your guests? These are a few of the most popular television series with solid themes you can use to embellish your rental:

  • Stranger Things—Take your guests into the “Upside Down” from Stranger Things with an 80s-style interior, complete with a photo wall covered in Christmas lights.
  • Game of Thrones—Add some opulent decor, medieval-style weaponry, faux dragons, and, of course, the Iron Throne to create a theme that Game of Thrones fans will love.
  • Friends—Style your home just like Rachel and Monica’s apartment in Friends, with purple paint, retro flooring, and a charming kitschy style.

Create the Perfect Theme for Your Airbnb with THE STAGING COMPANY

Getting creative with theme ideas (like these!) is a fun way to surprise your guests, secure more bookings, and ensure great reviews! However, choosing the “right” theme and selecting design elements to tie everything together cohesively can often be more challenging than it looks.

That’s where we come in. We love to help Airbnb hosts design, stage, and furnish their themed rentals in Florida and Texas. If you’d like us to help you turn your rental into an oasis for Harry Potter, Disney, or Game of Thrones fans (or something completely different), give us a call!

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