Interior & Experience Design
Sanctuary Design helps vacation property owners in San Luis Obispo County plan layouts, choose furnishings, and turn a rental into a place guests actually book and rebook. Founder Katie Korgan has been an Airbnb Superhost since 2015 and works with owners across the county, from a first empty room to a full portfolio. If you have a property (or you’re about to buy one) and you want it designed to earn, start with a 30-minute Strategy Session for $99.
What happens when you design a rental with Katie?
Sanctuary Design works directly with short-term and mid-term rental owners on layouts, furniture selection, and the guest experience, not just the look of a room. That's the difference from a general interior designer: every choice is made to help the listing rank, photograph well, and pull higher nightly rates. Katie's background is in UX and graphic design, so she treats your property the way a good product gets designed, around how a guest moves through it and what makes them hit “book.”
Most owners come in one of two ways. Either you're furnishing a brand-new build and want it right the first time, or you already have a rental that's underperforming and you can't figure out why.
The Rental Refresh
For existing spaces: If your property isn’t performing the way it should, the problem is usually visible before a guest even walks through the door. The Rental Refresh is a deep-dive audit that identifies what’s holding your listing back and lays out a clear path to a cohesive, compelling space that stands out in a crowded market.
Aesthetic Alignment: Pinpoint friction points in your current decor and introduce a cohesive palette that creates a more resonant, memorable guest experience.
The MTR Pivot: Strategic guidance on transitioning your space to attract longer-term, premium tenants like traveling professionals or graduate students.
Visual Optimization: Specific photography angles and styling adjustments that will immediately improve your click-through rate on booking platforms.
From The Ground Up
For new developments: Bringing design strategy in early—during the build or furnish phase—prevents costly pivots later and ensures your property is optimized for guests before the first booking goes live.
Material Selection: Hard-finish consulting for longevity and aesthetic coherence, from tile to furniture, chosen with both durability and vibe in mind.
Energetic Blueprinting: Thoughtful attention to how a space feels to move through, ensuring the layout supports the restful, retreat-like experience guests are paying for.
Operational Design: Building practical systems into the bones of the space: smart locks, linen storage, cleaning efficiencies—so the property is as easy to manage as it is beautiful to stay in.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Katie has actually hosted, not just advised. Airbnb Superhost since 2015 means she's lived the turnovers, the reviews, the pricing swings, and the guest messages at 11pm. That experience shapes the design choices, so you're not paying for a pretty room that falls apart in month three of real guest use.
The UX and graphic-design background is the other half. A rental is a product, and it competes on a screen against dozens of others before anyone walks in the door. We design for that reality: layouts that read well in photos, spaces that match what the listing promises, and details guests mention in five-star reviews.
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A 30-minute Strategy Session is $99. You bring your property and your questions and leave with a clear answer on the right path and the next step. If you move forward with design work, the $99 credits toward it.
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Sanctuary Design serves all of San Luis Obispo County. That includes San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Atascadero, Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, Los Osos, Cambria, Cayucos, Arroyo Grande, and the unincorporated county. Local matters here because permitting rules and guest demand shift from town to town, and a coastal cottage in Cayucos gets designed differently than a wine-country stay near Paso.
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Book the $99 Strategy Session to start. Bring your property details or the address you're weighing, and come with your real questions. You'll walk away knowing whether it works and exactly what the next step is.
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No, and that's deliberate. Every engagement starts with the $99 Strategy Session so the first conversation is real work, not a sales call. The fee credits toward whatever you book next, so if we end up working together it effectively costs nothing.
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It's the best time to talk. The most expensive rental mistakes happen before the first guest ever books, like buying in a zone where permits aren't available or furnishing a space that can't legally operate. A Strategy Session before you commit tells you whether the numbers and the rules actually work for that address.
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Yes. I work on both, and part of the strategy is figuring out which one fits your property and local rules. The MTR Pivot is exactly that: shifting a property toward mid-term stays when the math or the regulations make it the stronger play.
Pick your starting point.
Want the full treatment—photos, listing rewrite, room-by-room walkthrough? → Listing & Experience Transformation
Just want a designer’s read on your questions first? → Book a Strategy Session
It credits toward the Transformation if you go deeper.