Roger, my partner, and I are terrific at coming up with “great ideas”…

Those projects that start off exciting, fun, can’t-lose before snowballing into massive undertakings that take their toll in time, sweat, and burns from a hot-glue gun.

In the middle of renovating our farmhouse here in Omaha, we got distracted by a “great idea”: why don’t we open a showroom for our furniture company? Exciting! Fun! Can’t-lose! (And a ton of work.)

Photo by Chris Stout-Hazard

This subsequently led to another “great idea”: with so many customers flying in from other states to work with us to design furniture for their homes, wouldn’t it make sense to create a unique place for these visitors to stay? One thing led to another, and we ended up spending the majority of our free time this spring transforming an Aksarben bungalow into an unforgettably colorful Airbnb rental.

Photo by Chris Stout-Hazard

 Short-term rentals serve different purposes than full-time homes. We wanted this house to be a fun getaway, have the ability to accommodate a large family or group of friends, and showcase a bit of what we think makes Omaha special.

The starting point for the house theme was neutral to the extreme–gray exterior, gray interior, gray, gray, gray. We amended that by adding pinks, blues, oranges, and deep charcoals.

The home facade was lacking curb appeal, so we combined magenta with navy on the exterior to deliver impact. The trim was painted to match the siding color to remove distractions. Then, we added easy-to-care-for plantings in raised, galvanized metal horse troughs and wrapped them with a decorative garden fence.  

Photo by Chris Stout-Hazard

   The living room received more magenta. Above the colorful and ultra-durable sleeper sofa, we created an art installation with model railroad layouts—a nod to the role of Union Pacific Railroad in the development of our state. Elsewhere in the living room we added a side table in the shape of corn on the cob—a nod to the tastiness of our state.

Photo by Chris Stout-Hazard

Walls throughout the house received distinctive treatments with wood to break up the expanses of drywall. Bedrooms were trimmed with board-and-batten below custom wallpaper that we designed and printed.  And we wove in function and style, with convenient wall-mounted bedside shelves in a tight room, accessible reading lamps, and work spaces for guests.

Photo by Chris Stout-Hazard

The basement delivers an immersive experience for guests, with multi-colored walls wrapped in pine boards, custom shelving units, a vintage arcade game table, and a monstrous, multi-colored sectional sitting atop an artificial turf  “lawn” as carpet.

It isn’t your average Omaha Airbnb, and that is very much the point. While we had fun creating the space, it appears that guests are having just as much fun with it. Within days of listing the property, it was booked solid for months. 

Photo by Chris Stout-Hazard    

This article is part of a series chronicling the home renovation of Roger Hazard and Chris Stout-Hazard, furniture designers with Roger + Chris. For more information on their rental property, go to rogerandchris.com/visit/omaha-airbnb.

This article originally appeared in the September 2022 issue of Omaha Home magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.  

Photo by Chris Stout-Hazard