Interior Design for Your Tourism Business: Let Your Space Tell Your Story

What does your space tell guests about your business?

In a recent Firecircle live session, Kerri Howarth invited tourism entrepreneurs to explore how their spaces reflect their values, personalities, and the experiences they want to offer.

The conversation brought together practical examples from accommodation businesses, from rustic cabins and upcycled furnishings to gardens, colour choices, and the realities of keeping everything clean.

Start With the Experience You Want to Create

Before choosing furniture or paint colours, return to the foundations of your business: why you started, what matters to you, and who you want to welcome.

Kim, from Brennan’s Hill Camping and Cabins, shared how those foundations were guiding a change at her off-grid campground.

Travel trailers had helped her meet demand while more cabins were being built. Over time, guest feedback, booking information, and practical considerations helped her decide to replace them with cabins.

The decision connected with her vision for the business: a rustic experience, time together, and a close connection with nature.

Your business can evolve. The useful question is whether each change supports the experience you want to create.

Consider All Five Senses

Design includes what guests see, touch, hear, smell, and taste.

Kim described the difference between entering a wooden cabin that smells of pine and staying in a travel trailer. Both provide accommodation, but the feeling is different.

Denise Miller, owner-operator of Experience Saghalie, shared how her garden and farm-to-table offering express her interest in food systems and supporting local producers.

These details help turn values into something guests can experience.

Think about your own space. What do guests notice when they enter? Which details communicate what matters to your business?

Make Room for Everyday Practicalities

A space also needs to work for the people who use and maintain it.

The discussion included cleaning, durability, fabric choices, and wear and tear. Kim shared that lighter flooring in one cabin had proved harder to keep looking clean, influencing her plans to change it.

Denise described protecting a valued sofa with a cover, cushions, and a blanket while keeping the room’s character.

Before buying something, consider how it will perform through repeated guest stays. Can it be cleaned easily? Repaired? Replaced?

Those questions belong alongside appearance and comfort when making design decisions.

Build Character With Things That Matter to You

Jenny from Moon Gate Guest House described a space filled with antiques, vintage pieces, upcycled items, and gifts.

Those choices reflected her taste and environmental values. Kim also connected her use of second-hand furnishings and artwork with her commitment to reuse.

Kerri encouraged participants to collect inspiration through photographs, fabric samples, paint colours, and objects they enjoy.

Gathering these materials can help you notice recurring colours, textures, and feelings. It gives you a starting point for a design direction that feels connected to your business.

Keep the Experience Consistent

Consistency does not require every room to look identical.

Kerri encouraged participants to repeat the qualities they want guests to experience, whether that means warmth, comfort, thoughtful materials, or a particular standard of care.

Look at the connection between your website, your welcome, and your physical space. Do they communicate the same character?

For opportunities to learn with other tourism entrepreneurs and discuss questions like these, explore the Firecircle Community.

One Place to Begin

Choose one area of your business and look at it through your guests’ eyes. Identify a detail that expresses your values and one that could work better. A thoughtful improvement can help bring your space closer to the experience you want to offer.