Airbnb styling guide
You've got a property in Brisbane, on the Gold Coast or across the Sunshine Coast that's about to go on Airbnb, and the rooms are empty or still full of your own things. Good Airbnb styling starts with one photo: the first one a guest sees in search.
By Liam Hukins, co-founder of Lane Property, which manages 200 properties across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. Last reviewed 17 October 2026.
Get that photo right first, then the amenities. Airbnb's own 2025 search data, published in August 2026, ranks a pool, free parking, Wi-Fi and air conditioning as the four amenities guests filter for most.
Key takeaways
Listing photos
Guests choose from the first photo, so style for it before anything else. Liam Hukins' rule for every Lane listing: five good photos, and one hero shot with colour in it.
BeforeNo styling.
AfterSame room. A throw, decorative pillows and artwork.
"If the property has a pool or another amenity guests search for, that's your hero. If it doesn't, the easiest hero is a bedroom with a pop of colour from throws, decorative pillows and some basic artwork." Liam Hukins
The first photo has to work at thumbnail size on a phone. Airbnb's How to take great listing photos (updated 8 November 2024) says search results crop photos to a square and each photo should be at least 1200 by 800 pixels.
Throws and pillows are the cheapest part of a setup and the part guests see first in search. Clear the benchtops, turn every light on and style each room around one angle. Photography is an add-on to our management fee, booked once the styling is finished.
Guests search by amenity first and by style second. Airbnb's article The amenities guests want (31 August 2026) lists the ten amenities guests searched for most in 2025: pool, free parking, Wi-Fi, air conditioning, kitchen, hot tub, washer or dryer, self check-in, TV and barbecue.
That list is the brief for your setup. If your unit has a carport, say so in the listing. If only the living room is air conditioned, put a split system in the main bedroom before you buy a single cushion. A guest who filters for air conditioning in January never sees a listing without it, however good it looks.
Airbnb's amenity list runs to nearly 150 items (Help your listing stand out, updated May 2025). Tick every one you genuinely have, because each one is another filter your property appears under. Our DIY Airbnb hosting guide covers the rest of the listing.
Most-searched amenities, 2025
Source: Airbnb, The amenities guests want, 31 Aug 2026. Worldwide search data, 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2025.
Style for heat, sand and turnover, then for photos. A Queensland short-stay works hard: guests come back in wet swimmers, sunscreen ends up on pale fabric, and the cleaner has a few hours between check-out and check-in.
Choose pieces that take it
Performance or outdoor-grade fabric on sofas, washable slipcovers, hard floors or a rug you can replace, and outdoor furniture rated for UV.
A neutral base, one local note
Keep the base neutral and add one local note, like a print of the beach down the road or a piece by a local maker, so the photos have something to remember.
Spend on bedrooms first
The largest bed the room fits with space to walk around it, two pillows per guest, a mattress protector on every bed, and white linen, which bleaches and matches from one changeover to the next.
Pieces that are easy to photograph and replace also make Airbnb damage claims simpler.
Setup checklist
An Airbnb setup checklist covers six areas: bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, living, outdoor and arrival. Airbnb's minimum, from the same August 2026 article, is toilet paper, soap, one towel and one pillow per guest, and linen for each bed. Guests expect more than the minimum.
Bedrooms
Bathroom
Kitchen
Living
Outdoor
Arrival and safety
Smoke alarms are the item with a deadline. The Queensland Government's Smoke alarms page (updated 15 October 2025) says every existing home, townhouse and unit needs interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms by 1 January 2027, and alarms must be upgraded when a home becomes a rental.
That deadline is less than three months away. Book the electrician alongside the furniture delivery, so the listing isn't waiting on an alarm.
Pool, body corporate and council requirements depend on the property. The Queensland short-term rental guide sets out what applies today by council, and for properties we manage, we handle these as part of management.
Interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms in every Queensland home by
1 Jan 2027
When one alarm sounds, every alarm in the home sounds.
Source: Queensland Government, Smoke alarms, updated 15 Oct 2025.
We manage properties, we're not accountants, so check this with yours. The ATO's Depreciating assets in rental properties page (updated 21 May 2026) says items costing $300 or less can be claimed in the year you use them, and items worth less than $1,000 can go into a low-value pool.
$300
or less: claimed in the year you use it, unless it's part of a set. Four $250 dining chairs are one $1,000 purchase, not four deductions.
Under $1,000
can go into a low-value pool and be depreciated together.
1 July 2017
In most cases you can't claim second-hand depreciating assets after this date, so moving your old lounge into the Airbnb usually earns nothing back.
Our Airbnb tax calculator and the ATO's 2026 holiday home ruling explained cover the rest.
Doing it yourself works if you live nearby and have time for deliveries. If you don't, our Airbnb furnishing service sources through wholesale suppliers at 30 to 40% below retail, quoted separately from the management fee.
The real cost of doing it yourself is time off the market. Across the properties we manage, the first booking typically comes within 7 days of going live, so every week spent waiting on deliveries is a week of nights not sold.
Still deciding whether short-stay beats the weekly rent? Start with a free income forecast and furnish once the numbers work.
30 to 40%
below retail, through our wholesale suppliers
7 days
typical time to first booking after going live, across the properties we manage
It depends on the bedroom count, the number of guests you'll list and the finish you want, so we quote each property itemised. Our furnishing service sources through wholesale suppliers at 30 to 40% below retail, and the quote comes back within 24 hours.
No. Most short-stay styling is a checklist plus a few good decisions: the amenities guests filter for, hard-wearing fabric, white linen and one local piece for the photos. A designer earns their fee on a large or high-end home where the look is the reason guests book.
The amenities guests filter for. Airbnb's 2025 search data ranks a pool, free parking, Wi-Fi and air conditioning as the top four, so close any gap there, especially air conditioning in bedrooms, before spending on decor. A listing missing a filter never appears to the guest using it.
You can, but it usually won't be deductible. The ATO says in most cases you can't claim second-hand depreciating assets after 1 July 2017. Check with your accountant, and replace anything worn, because guests notice wear and mention it in reviews.
By 1 January 2027. Every existing Queensland home, townhouse and unit needs interconnected photoelectric smoke alarms by then, and a home has to be upgraded when it becomes a rental. Book the electrician with your setup so the listing isn't held up.
Send us the address and bedroom count.
An itemised quote within 24 hours.
Sources
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