Meet Splashworks: Art That Works for Your Design (and Your Bottom Line)
Custom art can do more than fill a wall. It can sell the stay, improve acoustic comfort, and help owners protect their investment.
A vacation rental can be beautiful and still lose money because of noise.
Guests can’t sleep. Neighbors complain. Reviews take a hit. In cities with strict short-term rental rules, repeated complaints may even threaten the property’s ability to operate.
That’s why we’re excited to welcome Splashworks as a VRD brand partner.
Splashworks creates custom and standard wall art, acoustic panels, ceiling treatments, printed furniture, pillows, wall fabric, and custom yardage—all made to order in High Point, North Carolina.
Their work helps designers solve two problems at once: how a space looks and how it sounds.
Art That Earns Its Place
Art is often treated as the finishing touch.
We see it differently—especially in a vacation rental.
Custom art can give a property its identity, create a focal point for listing photos, and help the rental stand out from dozens of similar options.
A generic print fills a wall. The right custom piece helps sell the stay.
That doesn’t mean every wall needs a custom installation. It means identifying the few walls with the greatest business value.
Think about the hero image in the listing. The entry guests see first. The living room where everyone gathers.
Those are the places where art can work much harder.
The Review Connection
Guests probably won’t write, “The artwork improved my satisfaction with the property.”
They’ll say the home felt thoughtful. Unique. Even better than the photos.
That’s the impact we’re after.
Custom art can connect the property to its destination and make the experience feel intentional rather than assembled. If it becomes a natural photo backdrop, it may also appear in guests’ vacation photos and social posts.
Design can’t compensate for bad service, poor cleaning, or uncomfortable beds. But once the basics are right, it can help turn a good stay into a memorable one.
Sound matters here, too.
A beautiful room can still earn a bad review if guests can’t sleep or hear each other comfortably.
When Noise Costs Money
Noise isn’t just an aesthetic issue. For a vacation rental owner, it can become a business problem fast.
Outside noise may disturb guests and affect reviews. Noise created inside the property may lead to complaints from neighbors.
Repeated complaints can consume an owner’s time, damage community relationships, and create added risk in cities with strict short-term rental regulations.
No artwork can guarantee five-star reviews, prevent every dispute, or keep a permit active. Still, thoughtful acoustic planning can help owners address a known risk before it becomes a recurring problem.
Soundproofing Isn’t Sound Absorption
These terms are often used interchangeably, but they solve different problems.
Soundproofing limits sound traveling into or out of a space. It usually involves walls, doors, windows, floors, ceilings, insulation, and seals.
Sound absorption reduces echoes and reflected sound within a room. It can make conversation clearer and busy gathering spaces feel calmer.
Noise monitoring alerts the host when sound exceeds a chosen threshold. It doesn’t block or absorb noise, but it may help the owner intervene before a neighbor does.
The strongest plan may use all three.
Splashworks’ acoustic art addresses sound absorption. It isn’t a replacement for soundproof construction, but it can be a valuable part of the property’s wider noise-management plan.
One Piece, Two Jobs
Custom acoustic art helps us address sound absorption without making a room look like a recording studio.
Splashworks prints artwork on fabric, allowing sound to travel through the surface to an absorptive panel concealed inside the frame. Hard surfaces such as glass, wood, and paper tend to reflect sound into the room instead.
Splashworks founder Tom Van Dessel discussed the idea’s development in a CanvasRebel interview. He explained that printing on fabric adds texture and depth while allowing the art to function as a sound-absorbing panel.
Splashworks also produces its work in-house and collaborates with artists and designers on custom projects.
The Investment Story
When we recommend acoustic art to a vacation rental investor, we’re not pitching decoration.
We’re showing how one specification can support the design, listing, and guest experience at the same time.
Investment Stage | Potential Value |
Acoustic investment | Custom artwork creates visual identity while helping absorb reflected sound. |
More comfortable interiors | Improved acoustics can make conversations clearer and gathering spaces more enjoyable. |
Fewer preventable noise issues | Thoughtful planning may help reduce excessive noise buildup inside the property. |
Stronger long-term performance | Better guest experiences and fewer disruptions may support reviews, occupancy, nightly rates, and revenue. |
The exact return depends on the property, its construction, local rules, guest behavior, management, and market conditions.
Acoustic art can’t guarantee a particular result. It can make the property more comfortable while addressing a real operating concern.
That gives it a much stronger reason to be in the budget.
Pitch the Outcome
The weakest investor pitch is, “This will look beautiful.”
It should look beautiful. That’s the baseline.
A stronger pitch connects the recommendation to what the property needs to accomplish:
“This piece will become part of the property’s marketing and guest experience. We’re placing it where it can strengthen the listing photos, make the home more memorable, and help control reflected sound in one of its busiest rooms. Instead of paying for separate decoration and visible acoustic treatment, we’re using one specification to address both.”
Show investors exactly where the piece will appear in listing photos. Explain how it distinguishes the rental from nearby competitors.
Then connect it to measurable priorities: nightly rate, occupancy, reviews, noise complaints, and replacement costs.
Don’t ask an investor to imagine the value. Show it through renderings, listing-photo mockups, and competitive examples.
Not Just for Vacation Rentals
The same thinking applies to residential and commercial design.
In a home, custom art can respond to the architecture, reflect the people who live there, and improve acoustic comfort in open living areas, media rooms, or home offices.
In a restaurant, hotel, or workplace, it can support the brand and reduce reflected noise without introducing an obvious commercial acoustic product.
The application changes. The principle doesn’t.
The best custom art belongs to the space—and does something useful while it’s there.
More Than Wall Art
Splashworks gives designers access to more than framed pieces.
Its custom capabilities include:
Acoustic wall panels and ceiling treatments
Art-printed furniture and pillows
Custom yardage and wall fabric
Standard and custom wall art
A pattern can begin on the wall, continue across a pillow collection, and reappear on an upholstered piece.
An acoustic installation can become the room’s focal point instead of something we try to hide.
That flexibility gives designers more control over how a visual idea moves through the space.
Start With the Wall That Matters Most
Custom art doesn’t need to appear everywhere.
Start with the wall guests see in the listing’s hero image. The living room where groups gather. The entry that establishes the property’s personality.
That’s where custom art can help a property look better, feel better, and work harder for the owner.
Ready to Work With Splashworks?
VRD members can log in to the Member Dashboard and visit the Partner Directory for more information about Splashworks, available member benefits, and how to get started.
Not a member yet? Join VRD and get access to direct brand relationships, expert mentorship, industry resources, and a community of designers who believe we all do better when we share what works.
We’re thrilled to welcome Splashworks to the VRD community—and we can’t wait to see what our designers create together.
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