The Airbnb London office 'reached out' to me last week

Being American based, they like to say stuff like they are 'reaching out'. I always imagine somebody sitting at a keyboard typing with one arm outstretched.
They're building a big flash office in London and in their major locations they like to recreate in the office an Airbnb listing from somewhere in the world. It becomes a conference room or meeting room or something like that. It's a clever idea for them to keep their staff in touch with their core business.
So somehow, the staff in London happened upon our Airbnb listing at home and want to recreate it in their office. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do. I sent them a couple of better reference pics than the ones on the listing itself.

 

Ah, the green stove. It has a nice story behind it. They're unlikely to find one.

 

It's not so much a matter of 'sourcing and styling', more a matter of moving stuff from one part of the property to another. We've got a fair bit of stuff hanging around.

The building with the big sliding glass door will be my shed one day. It will have a couple of other lives between now and then. For now I have to settle for two smaller sheds out in the backyard.

 

Yep. It's just on Airbnb - and my kids nab it on the odd occasion it's free for sleepovers with their friends. It's a flat on top of my wife's studio in an old building (ex bakery) attached to our home. I'll dig out a photo of the downstairs studio. It's a great space.

 

Found those pics. How good is this space? I would love to have it as a shed. The stairs down one end go up to the Airbnb pad.

 

It was on the Marrickville Open Studio Trail this year. We had hundreds of people through the place that weekend. It was great fun. I met so many locals who said either a) I can't believe this place is here, or b) I've always wanted to see inside this place.

That building does get pretty cold, though.

 

The green stove is perfect.
I bought it on ebay for $100. Came out of deceased estate house. The bloke who bought the house was glad to get rid of it – boy, it’s heavy.
The green enamel was in great condition, that was enough for me.
Then when I got it home I had a better look at everything else. The hotplates were buggered, so were the drip trays and rims, and the oven door hinges.
I went looking for some new elements first and found a guy on ebay selling stove elements. I called him up and said, ‘I think I’ve done something dopey. I bought an old green stove and it needs elements and other stuff.’
He said, ‘Green, huh. St George Constellation? That would be the 1956 B series. I’ll come over.’
I told him not to worry, but he said he was retired and it wasn’t far. So half an hour later Ray showed up at the gate. He had rockabilly hair and was wearing stubbies, thongs and a work shirt with St George written on it. Ray had worked in the factory in Sydney where those stoves were made. He patted the stove, lovingly.
I said to him, ‘I’m never going to find elements, am I.’
‘Yeah you will’, he said.
‘Where?’
In my car.’
So Ray went out and came back with elements, drip trays, dress rims, oven hinges, a light globe and even a new clock. All in the original 1950s packaging.
I said, ‘When St George gave you the arse, Ray, did you take a truck?’
‘Nah, but I tried to. They were chucking everything out.’
He was up for a chat and I knew how these things go so I made us some drinks and snacks and got my tools out and the two of us stripped the stove in my shed and had a good chat. We spent a couple of hours pulling it apart. Then I told him I wanted to give it a good clean while it was in bits and he said he would come back in a few days. It took another three hours to get it all back together and functioning.
Total cost for parts and labour was $300.

 

Landlord insurers are gradually getting their heads around short term rentals. It's taken a while.

 

We are there for good, Sanj. The amount of stuff we have alone would make it hard to move. And that's just one building.
It is a building that creates great experiences. We've got a Canadian couple staying upstairs for a month in the Airbnb pad. It turns out his dad was a potter, so Saturday evening we all ended up in the studio having dinner and we pulled out the pottery wheel and everybody had a go at throwing a pot. Such a great thing for kids to have a crack at - better than sitting in front of a screen.

 

They will certainly spend more than me. Those drawers are 1970s NSW Department of Education. All plywood. They were free. We have another couple of older ones downstairs in the studio. All were being tossed out by the local high school.
That timber table was free, too - I made it from the ceiling timber when I pulled down the suspended ceiling.
There is a fair bit of recycled stuff in the space.

Scott