Listing your primary residence

[Jeff24]

I'm considering renting out my house periodically throughout the year and have read numerous helpful articles but am curious how hosts handle things like items in their refrigerator/freezer, personal items in the cabinets in the bathroom etc.  Do you just clean them out and put them in storage prior to renting?  Once again this would be my house not an investment property.  Thanks

Jeff

[Niki0]

I have the exact same situation as you!

What I do is stash all my personal effects in a cupboard & leave the guest the full run & use of the remainder.

Hope that helps; happy hosting!

[Michelle48]

I live in my house and have too much stuff to remove it every time I have guests. I don't rent out my personal bedroom or bathroom though. The guest rooms and bathroom they rent have space for their belongings and I leave a cupboard in the kitchen available to them as well as the large bottom shelf and a drawer in the refridgerator clear for them to use. This is adequate for most guest. A few larger groups have mentioned more fridge space would be nice but it hasn't been a big deal.

[Peggy7]

We have a walk in closet in our master bedroom. We put a keyed lock on it and store anything that we don't want to leave out.

Also the Garage is a locked storage area.

[Cristina106]

Thank you all for your replies - they are very helpful!

I was wondering about the same thing, but in addition to that, what about little personal things like bulletin boards, kids' activities information, photos, stuff magneted to fridge, etc... nothing that really can be damaged or rummaged through but really, just wondering if it's a little strange for giuests to see all this stuff.  My house is very tidy and I plan to make them space for their clothes, food, etc (tomorrow is our first booking!), but do I need to put all the random miscellanaous stuff behind closed doors or locked up?  shoes on a shoe rack in the mudroom, calendar items on bulletin board, toys neatly placed in a corner in the mudroom (ie not in the playroom), homeschool books/items on desk in school room, random family photos taped to a wall just for fun (ie: not framed and hung), etc

Trying to figure out how crazy I need to go.

[Cristina106]

I just got an "aha"! moment.  My mudroom is attached to the garage, which doesn't necessarily need to be used, and it has a pocket door adjacent to the kitchen, so I think I can just close off that door and tell guests that area is off limits.  Is that ok?  It really does not need to be used..all the amenities, rooms, etc on my listing do not include the mudroom/garage.  Is this ok?  As in, is it nice to list my entire house, but then close off an area for guests' usage?  The mudroom does have an exterior door to the outside, but they can use the front/main door.

Thank you for any input!