The sharing economy has grown enormously in the last few years, whether it’s sharing cars, houses, workspaces or other assets. Sharing your home with tourists has become a popular way to make some extra cash, and there are plenty of websites that facilitate this type of activity. If you’re lucky enough to be living near a tourist hotspot, you could give it a try.
One difficulty that arises from temporarily renting your home (or a room in it) is keeping your house organized and ready to receive guests pretty much all the time. You can achieve your goal by reducing the amount of clutter in your home, storing away non-essential items, and streamlining your kitchen and bathrooms.
Declutter Your Home before Booking Any Visits
Hosting strangers in your personal space might sound challenging at first, but it can be truly rewarding, and not only financially. You’ll also get to meet new people and learn new things along the way. To reduce the amount of stress and to maintain a sense of intimacy, make some simple, yet effective home adjustments.
Since you need to clear at least a few drawers for the guests, now is the moment to sort through your belongings. It’s simply easier to keep some drawers empty at all times instead of scrambling around to make room each time someone is coming to stay at your place.
A self-storage unit is very useful during this process, especially if your home is in a metro where living space is a hot commodity. Renting a self-storage unit in New York City, for example, will cost you about $172 per month for a standard 10X10 one, and you can store off-season clothing, sporting equipment, books, and much more in there. It’s also a good idea to put things into storage that you want to keep private, for example papers, family heirlooms or other items.
Aim for an Airy, Spacious Interior
Having books, magazines, and knick-knacks lying around will make your interior appear stuffy and uninviting. Keep to hand only those items that are true assets: a few well-chosen decorations, a couple of nice books on the coffee table, some cute pillows. You don’t want your home to look impersonal, but it should not appear to be a mess either.
Pay extra attention to the bathroom. If your home has two bathrooms, set up the small one for the guests and keep it mainly for that purpose. If you only have one bathroom, make sure it’s in good condition and you can get it guest-ready in no time. Set up enough storage space to always maintain a clutter-free bathroom counter, shower and bathtub.
The kitchen also requires some care. Go through all your cabinets and discard expired condiments and mismatched or damaged dishes, glasses, cups and cutlery. You probably have a junk drawer in there – let’s be honest, who doesn’t? Now is your chance to re-purpose it!
Maintain Your Privacy While Renting Out Your Home
People deal differently with hosting paying guests. Extrovert personalities thrive when meeting new people, while for the introverts this part is a little bit more challenging. Keep in mind that you can still safeguard your privacy.
When renting out your entire home for short periods of time, keep one room locked and out of reach for the guests. Put in there all the stuff you don’t want other people to see – personal photos, medication and anything else you would rather keep to yourself.
Don’t forget about moving important and expensive items into your self-storage unit. Most tourists are probably going to be lovely people, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. When on holiday, people tend to party a lot, or they forget to lock the doors – you certainly don’t want your most prized possessions damaged.
Maybe you decided to rent your spare bedroom while still living in the house. Make sure the doors to all the bedrooms lock properly, to ensure privacy for both you and your guests. Set up a system that allows everyone to see if the bathroom is occupied – use a funny two-sided door sign, for example.
Don’t leave personal things, including letters, journals, photos, pieces of clothing and so on lying around in the common spaces. Keep all that in your bedroom. Set up a schedule for using the kitchen, and make sure that there is at least one free shelf in the fridge for the guests.
Be very clear, right from the start, about the parts of the house that are accessible to guests and the parts that are not. Set up boundaries about the activities allowed at your place for the duration of the stay. And don’t forget to make the most out of this experience!
Where to Donate Clothes in NYC: From Pickup to Mutual Aid
Every year, 200,000 tons of clothing end up in NYC landfills — but yours doesn’t have to. Your unwanted clothes have a real second life waiting. Whether it’s a low-income family needing affordable basics, a woman reentering the workforce looking for interview wear, or an undocumented resident accessing free community support, the donation method you choose matters. Plus, there are plenty of convenient ways to go about it. Local mutual aid groups, free pickup services, mail-in programs, workforce nonprofits, and textile recycling — each one routes your clothes to neighbors and causes that need them most. Here’s where to donate clothes in NYC, according to your plans.
The Best U.S. Metros To Own A Boat
Boating is one of America’s favorite pastimes. According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, nearly 100 million Americans go boating each year, and recreational boating contributes over $230 billion annually to the U.S. economy. It’s a lifestyle deeply shaped by geography, climate, and local culture.
Moving in a Hurry: Emergency Tips for Life’s Unexpected Relocations
Sometimes a move sneaks up on you and you wind up having to move in a hurry. A job starts sooner than expected, a lease ends abruptly, a sale closes fast, or life simply throws a curveball and suddenly you’re staring at a full house with only days or weeks to empty it. That short timeline can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to mean chaos. With a focused plan and a few smart shortcuts, you can pack up quickly, protect your belongings, and land in your new home without losing your mind.
How to Store Tools: Keep Your Equipment Rust-Free and Tidy
Good tool storage saves you time, money and the very specific rage of finding a rusted drill you paid good money for. Cleaning, drying and organizing your tools properly keeps them rust-free and findable — and it takes less effort than most people assume. True, nobody wakes up thrilled to organize their tools; it ranks somewhere between cleaning the gutters and reading the terms of service. But here’s how to do it right without the hassle.
Drive-Up Storage Units: Pros, Cons and When They’re Worth It
A drive-up storage unit is a ground-level space with an exterior roll-up door, a lot like a detached garage. Units are usually arranged in rows with wide, paved aisles between them, so you can pull a car, van, or moving truck directly up to your door during access hours. The key feature is the access, and it comes in a few forms:
2026’s Best Cities for Roommates: Irvine, CA And Atlanta, GA, Lead In Shared Living Gains
Americans sharing a two-bedroom apartment instead of renting a one-bedroom alone can save, on average, about $6,700 per year. In some of the country’s most expensive cities, including Irvine, California, or Jersey City, New Jersey, the savings gap widens to around $13,000. For a growing share of renters, living with roommates is less of a lifestyle arrangement and more a conscious financial strategy.
How to Organize Your Kitchen Drawers: Smart, Practical Ideas That Make a Real Difference
The best way to organize your kitchen drawers boils down to a few core principles: give each drawer a specific role, store items close to where you use them, and choose organizers only after you’ve decluttered. Most kitchen drawers aren’t cluttered because of a genuine lack of space but because no one decided what belongs where. Fix that first, and the rest becomes much easier.
The Ultimate New Home Checklist: 20 Essential Boxes to Tick
Moving into a new home is thrilling and stressful in equal measure. While you’re busy planning the big-ticket items like furniture and appliances, it’s easy to forget a handful of smaller essentials that you’ll suddenly need right before or just after the move. That’s exactly why a good new home checklist is worth keeping close. To make your move as smooth as possible, we’ve pulled together the ultimate list of basic items and setup tasks that cover everything your new place needs. First-time buyer or seasoned mover, this guide will help you settle in safely and comfortably, without those maddening last-minute runs to the store.
How to Store Trading Cards (So Your Grails Keep Shining)
The right way to store trading cards is a layered system, like gearing up for a boss, but the boss is time and physics. For this quest, you’ll need penny sleeves to protect surfaces, rigid holders to protect structure, archival boxes or binders to provide organization and access, and climate control — around 65–72°F and 40–50% humidity — to protect everything else. That combination keeps cards mint whether you have fifty or five thousand of them.