Intentional Design for STRs: How My California Road Trip Changed Everything

How Intentional Design for STRs Creates Deeper Guest Connections

There’s something you should know about me: I didn’t exactly take the scenic route through life—I built it.

Laura, Olive and Wilde Interiors Founder, taking a moment to reflect on her travels, while watching the sunset

At the end of university, while everyone else sprinted into corporate jobs or back to back weddings, I realised the path laid out for me felt… wrong.

Safe, yes. Expected, sure. But right? No.

So instead of following the checklist, I booked a flight across the world, to travel with a girl I met on an internet travel forum, and let serendipity lead the way.

We met for the first time in the lobby of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (hi, chaotic energy). We road tripped California in fits and starts: Couchsurfing, sleeping on boats, staying at silent monasteries, making friends in pools in Palm Springs. We took two weeks to travel the two hour stretch from San Diego to Los Angeles, saying yes to every invitation, every detour, every mad idea.

What I didn’t realise at the time?

This trip was shaping the way I would eventually approach intentional design for STRs, and for every home I would ever touch.

Slow travel taught me that spaces are more than structures. They’re emotional anchors. When you slow down, when you let yourself feel a place, its textures, smells, weather, colours, you connect with it in a way no Pinterest moodboard ever captures.

At the silent monastery in Big Sur, I realised: Simple spaces create clarity. At Newport Beach, bunked up with new friends we met while in a pool in Palm Springs, I learnt: Spaces foster belonging.

Whale watching from the silent monastery in Big Sur, California

That’s where my belief in designing spaces that tell a story really took root.

Not about looking trendy.

Not about matching a Pinterest board.

But about building a feeling, a memory, that lingers long after the guest leaves.

When I got home, I pivoted. I found work designing bespoke travel experiences. And eventually, I returned to my first love: designing spaces that made people feel something.

Now, through Olive & Wilde, I design short term rentals and homes with the same spirit: Design that connects you. Design that lets guests feel the place they’ve arrived in. Design that turns stays into stories.

Today, every decision I make, from furniture layouts to colour palettes to scent, is rooted in that original insight: Good design is intentional. Good design creates emotional connection. Good design tells a story.

And in the world of STRs, where guests make split-second decisions while scrolling, that emotional connection? It’s not just nice to have. It’s your competitive edge.

If you’re dreaming up a holiday let, a second home, or even just a better guest experience—but you feel overwhelmed by the options, let’s talk. I help you pull the pieces together and build a space people remember.

Book a free 15-min Wilde Call here

(Bring your wildest ideas. I’ll bring the coffee.)

Because designing for short term stays isn’t about squeezing into the market. It’s about creating a space so powerful, people can feel it—even through a screen.

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