How to Design a Game Day Airbnb That Books Out Every Home Weekend
Stacie HumpherysA few seasons ago, I started hearing from interior designers who were doing something clever. They were specifying the Vintage Playbook wallpaper — my hand-illustrated football pattern from the Gridiron Glory collection — not for man caves or boys bedrooms, but for short-term rentals near college campuses.
The idea was simple and kind of brilliant: football fans traveling for away games need somewhere to stay. And if you give them a rental that actually feels like it was designed for them, they will book it first, pay a premium for it, and come back every season.
One of those projects turned into a hotel commission. Which told me the idea had legs.
If you're a designer, a property manager, or a homeowner with a rental near a college town, here's how to think about the full room.
Start with the Walls
The wallpaper is doing the most work in this room, so get that right first.
The Vintage Playbook is a hand-illustrated toile wallpaper drawn from the golden era of American football — 1920s leather helmets, muddy cleats, and the kind of play diagrams that used to be scrawled on chalkboards in cold locker rooms. Named plays are lettered directly into the pattern:
- The Statue of Liberty
- The End Run
- The 65 Toss Power Trap
- A Close Slant
- A Criss-Cross
It reads like a sports bar designed by someone who actually cares about design.
Choose Your Colorway
Pewter Gray is cooler, cleaner, and more versatile. It works on its own or alongside navy, charcoal, or warm white. It reads well in natural light and is slightly more gender-neutral — which matters if your rental draws mixed groups.
Sepia is warmer, richer, and more nostalgic. It feels like an antique photograph come to life. If your rental has dark wood, leather furniture, or warm brass fixtures, sepia will tie the room together in a way that photographs beautifully for your listing.
Either way: order a swatch before you commit to rolls. Color reads differently on screen than on a wall, and scale can surprise you. Every listing includes a swatch option.
Build the Room Around the Pattern
Once the wallpaper is chosen, the rest of the room is about coordination and layering. Here's how I'd approach it.
Bedding
The Gridiron Glory collection includes coordinating bedding designed to work with the Vintage Playbook pattern. The Leatherhead Legends duvet cover pairs directly with the wallpaper — dark illustrated figures on a warm ground that echoes the sepia colorway without competing with the wall. Layer it with the Gridiron Gingham sheet set in navy for a classic, collegiate feel.
Furniture and Accessories
Resist the urge to over-theme. The wallpaper is doing the storytelling — you don't need helmets on every shelf and a football on every surface. What you do need:
- Warm wood tones — walnut, oak, or anything with amber in it reads well against both colorways
- Leather or leather-look seating — a leather headboard or club chair anchors the vintage aesthetic without being precious
- Warm brass or aged bronze hardware — lamp bases, drawer pulls, mirror frames
- A good reading lamp — the pattern has a lot of fine detail and it rewards close looking
Paint
If you're papering an accent wall and painting the others:
- Pewter Gray: Benjamin Moore White Dove (OC-17) for trim and adjacent walls
- Sepia: Benjamin Moore Pale Oak (OC-20) or Shaker Beige (HC-45) for a warm, layered room
Shop the Look: The Full Room
This section contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Once the wallpaper is on the walls, these are the pieces I'd reach for to finish the room. Each one was chosen to complement both the Pewter Gray and Sepia colorways without competing with the pattern.
- Leather headboard — Shop on Amazon →
- Walnut nightstand (set of 2) — Shop on Amazon →
- Brass table lamp — Shop on Amazon →
- Leather club chair — Shop on Amazon →
-
Ottoman bench with storage — Shop on Amazon →
- Brass drawer pulls — Shop on Amazon →
- Woven throw blanket — Shop on Amazon →
- Whiskey glasses set — Shop on Amazon →
- Wall art - Shop on Amazon →
- Alarm Clock - Shop on Amazon →
What Makes It Book
Here's the honest version of what makes a game day rental actually perform.
It's not novelty. Guests don't pay a premium for a room that has footballs everywhere — that reads as kitschy. They pay a premium for a room that has taste and intention. A space that looks like a real designer touched it, that has a point of view, that they can't find anywhere else in town.
These designs do that work quietly. The illustration is precise and detailed. The toile format is a legitimate design choice, not a sports store endcap. When guests photograph the room for their own social media (and they will) it reads as a designed space, not a themed one.
That's the difference between a rental that books once and one that books every home weekend for three seasons.
A Note on Substrates for Short-Term Rentals
Short-term rentals are hard on walls. Guests move furniture, bump suitcases, wipe hands on surfaces. Here's how to choose the right substrate:
- Non-Pasted Traditional Paper — PVC-free, GREENGUARD Gold certified, Type II commercial grade, breathable and mold resistant. Best for bedrooms and spaces that see moderate contact.
- Commercial Vinyl — Type II, Class A fire-rated, scrub and stain resistant. Built for high-contact surfaces and hospitality use.
- Pre-Pasted — Water-activated, removable. Good for rentals where you want flexibility to change the look.
- Peel and Stick — Self-adhesive, repositionable. Best for accent walls on smooth surfaces.
For a rental that will see real bookings, I'd strongly recommend the Non-Pasted Traditional Paper or Commercial Vinyl. Both carry Type II and Class A fire ratings. For a single bedroom, the 27-foot roll length available on both commercial substrates means you can often do the full room with fewer seams.
Make It Theirs: Custom Team Colors
Here's where it gets interesting for property managers and designers outfitting rentals near specific campuses.
A window seat cushion or headboard upholstered in Touchdown Tartan alongside the Vintage Playbook on the walls is the kind of layered detail that earns five-star reviews. Throw pillows in Gridiron Stitches on a leather chair, a bench cushion at the foot of the bed, fabric-covered storage boxes on a shelf — the collection can carry through every soft surface in the room without feeling overdone.
And because these are custom-printed designs, we can recolor them to match your team's colors:
- Navy and gold for a rental near a Big Ten campus
- Orange and white near a SEC stadium
- Crimson and cream for a storied Midwest program
Custom colorways carry a design fee in addition to wallpaper costs, but for a rental that will see bookings every home game weekend for years, it's an investment that pays for itself quickly. Reach out through the custom inquiry form and tell us your team colors — we'll talk through what's possible.
Shop the Gridiron Glory Collection
- Vintage Playbook Wallpaper in Pewter Gray — Shop Pewter Gray
- Vintage Playbook Wallpaper in Sepia — Shop Sepia
- Touchdown Tartan Wallpaper — Shop Touchdown Tartan
- Gridiron Stitches Wallpaper — Shop Gridiron Stitches
- Leatherhead Legends Duvet Cover — Shop Duvet Cover
- Gridiron Gingham Sheet Set — Shop Sheet Set
We recommend ordering wallpaper swatches before committing to full rolls. Every listing includes a swatch option so you can evaluate color and scale in your actual space before purchasing.
Outfitting More Than One Room?
If you're a designer or property manager specifying for multiple units — a hotel block, a portfolio of rentals near a university, or a hospitality project — we work directly with designers and property managers on custom projects. That includes custom colorways, scale adjustments, and coordination across a full collection.
