Too nice? Or not nice enough?

I sound like an adolescent girl trying to figure out my next move with the football player.  But I’m actually wondering about some of my plans for The House of Goodwill – specifically, about whether some furniture I’ve bought (or want to buy) is too nice or not nice enough for a rental property.

I’ve had to stop myself a few times from buying something I’ve absolutely loved, because I was afraid it was too fragile – and might get easily broken by a careless renter – or too beautiful – would a renter even appreciate it?  On the other hand, do renters today expect for their Airbnb to resemble a Hilton Hotel?  (A really, really nice Hilton Hotel?)

I’ve been advised to price our house high enough to weed out the party crowd.  It sounds like solid advice.  But I wonder exactly what expectations this comes with.

My most recent dilemma arose for this reason:

While cruising craigslist for furniture recently, I saw this ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL antique French night stand with a marble top (oh, I love the marble tops!) for $50.  Even more amazing then the price, was the fact that it was still available 3 days after it was posted.

I had to buy it.  So I sent my errand boy.  (He is still at the age where he is elated by any excuse to drive.)

The problem is, once I saw it live, I felt really conflicted.  As in – this table is too nice for a rental.  Wouldn’t it be wasted in a rental property where the general public probably wouldn’t appreciate it?  

Where a dog could chew it?  Or someone could spill water on it? etc, etc.

So beautiful!  And it has the old-fashioned metal lining inside the cabinet.

A couple of times now I’ve almost bought something antique and then stopped, because I felt like it didn’t deserve to potentially get destroyed somehow in a rental.  And yet, I still need to make this place look nice.  Really nice.  And I know there will be some renters who would appreciate these things.

Will the night stand show up at The House of Goodwill?  I still haven’t decided.