Designer touches trump location for vacation rentals. In a market that has become increasingly competitive, owners are working hard to add designer touches to their homes. A recent classified ad read “Adding to the home’s beauty are period furnishings and art, such as Noguchi tables, a Heywood-Wakefield dining set and chairs by Prouve, Eames and Mies van der Rohe”.

According to a recent New York Times article, “Amenities like 600-thread-count sheets, Bosch applicances and radiant-heated tiles are now standard in most high-end rentals. Owners and property management companies are now looking to redesign to draw vacationers.”

Christine Karpinski, the author of “How to Rent Vacation Properties by Owner” , said design has become more important since more rentals have become available. Ten years ago, a mountain cabin could be decorated with utilitarian log furntiure, and “it would rent anyways because there was less to choose from…but now there are so many more choices, and travelers will gravitate to what appeals to them.”

Specifically addressing New Mexico, it was stated that traditional adboe-style details like kiva fireplaces, mud plaster and Ponderosa beams as well as a Southwestern pallette of burnt yellows and rich reds and reds and blues were appealing.