House Rules Sign Ideas: What to Write, How to Word It, and Airbnb's New Rule on Signs
Put three to six short rules on it, one per line. For a holiday let, that usually means checkout and locking up, quiet hours, parties, pets and smoking; for a family home, how everyone treats each other. Add a short reason where a rule isn't obvious, and put the sign where the rule applies. On Airbnb, for stays booked from 20 November 2026, the policy bars adding new rules "by message, signs in the home, or in person", so engrave only rules already in your listing.
This guide is for anyone writing a house rules sign, whether for a family home, a holiday let, an Airbnb or a B&B. It summarises Airbnb's published policy and the research on wording as they stand on 24 October 2026, with links to every source at the end. We make engraved house rules signs. We are not lawyers, and Airbnb's own help pages are the final word on its policy.
Airbnb's new rule: no new rules on signs
Airbnb has rewritten how house rules work. Its policy, Reasonable house rules and requests, applies to all reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026. Every rule and request must be shown in the listing's house rules section at the time of booking, and must be consistent with the rest of the listing page. After that, hosts may not introduce new rules or requests anywhere else: not in another part of the listing, not in messages, not in person and not on signs in the home. Airbnb's announcement to hosts says the same thing directly: don't write additional rules on signs in your home.
Airbnb's announcement lists seven standard house rules: maximum overnight guests, quiet hours, events, pets, smoking (including vaping and e-cigarettes), commercial photography and filming, and locking up at checkout. Most other expectations are added as requests, for during the stay or before checkout. Guests must follow house rules and are encouraged to follow requests. Hosts can cancel without fees if a guest breaks a house rule during the stay, or says before check-in that they intend to.
Requests must be reasonable. The policy says hosts generally may not:
- ask guests to do tasks that take significant time or effort, or that a cleaner would normally do, such as stripping the beds, taking rubbish off-site, or washing and putting away dishes
- restrict access to a feature advertised as part of the listing
- impose fines or other penalties on guests
Airbnb allows exceptions where local conditions make a request reasonable, such as shorter showers during drought restrictions. Its examples of what hosts can still ask for are putting used dishes in the sink, gathering used towels, sorting rubbish and recycling into indoor bins, and turning off the air conditioning when leaving.
What this means for a house rules sign in an Airbnb:
- Update the listing first, then order the sign. Engrave the rules as they appear in your house rules and requests, so the two never disagree.
- Take chores off the sign. "Please strip the beds" and "Wash up before you leave" are out for Airbnb bookings. "Used towels in the bath, please" is fine.
- Take fines off the sign. "£50 charge for smoking" is a penalty, and the policy bars them.
- Keep it a reminder. Both Airbnb pages talk about new or additional rules. A sign that repeats what is already in the listing adds nothing new, so on our reading it stays a reminder. Airbnb itself now lets hosts send their house rules as a quick reply to remind guests during a stay. That is our interpretation, not Airbnb's wording, so if you are unsure, check with Airbnb before you order.
If you take direct bookings or use another platform, the principle is the same: the booking terms are where guests agree to your rules, and the sign is how they remember them on the day.
How to word house rules so people follow them
Three findings from behavioural research translate directly onto a sign.
Give a reason
In a 1978 study by Ellen Langer, Arthur Blank and Benzion Chanowitz, a researcher asked to jump the queue at a photocopier to copy five pages. With a bare request, 60% of people let them. With "because I'm in a rush" added, 94% did, and even "because I have to make copies", which tells you nothing new, got 93%. When the request was bigger, twenty pages, only the genuine reason helped. So on a sign, add a short, true reason to any rule that might look arbitrary:
- "Please keep the gate shut. There are sheep in the lane."
- "Quiet after 10pm, please. Our neighbours start work early."
- "Shoes off at the door, please. The carpets are cream."
Don't advertise the rule-breakers
In a field experiment at Petrified Forest National Park, published by Robert Cialdini and colleagues in 2006, signs were placed at the entrance to three paths, and the researchers laid marked pieces of petrified wood along each path and counted how many were taken. Where the sign said simply "Please don't remove the petrified wood from the park", 1.67% of the marked pieces were taken. Where the sign said that many past visitors had removed wood, 7.92% were taken, nearly five times as many. Telling people that lots of others break a rule tells them it's normal. Notice that the plain "please don't" did best: a negative request was fine, and what hurt was announcing how common the behaviour was. On a sign, skip "Too many guests forget to lock up" and just ask: "Please lock up and leave the key in the key safe."
Say what most people do, when it's true
The same idea works in reverse. In a 2008 hotel study by Noah Goldstein, Robert Cialdini and Vladas Griskevicius, a towel card telling guests that almost 75% of guests asked to take part reused their towels got 44.1% of guests to reuse them, against 35.1% for the standard environmental appeal. If it's true for your house, say so: "Most of our guests are on their way by 10am on changeover day. Thank you."
One rule, one line
Short rules engrave larger and can be read from a doorway. "Checkout 10am" works; a sentence that wraps onto three lines doesn't. If a rule needs a paragraph to explain, it belongs in the listing or the welcome message, with a one-line reminder on the sign.
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| Too many guests forget to return the key | Please leave the key in the key safe when you go. Thank you |
| NO PARTIES!!! | No parties or events, please. We have neighbours on both sides |
| Please strip the beds and wash up before leaving | Used towels in the bath and dishes in the sink, please |
| £100 fine for smoking indoors | No smoking or vaping inside, please |
| Gate must be kept closed at all times | Please keep the gate shut. There are sheep in the lane |
House rules ideas for every kind of home
Holiday lets and Airbnbs
These follow Airbnb's seven standard rules and the kind of requests it allows, so a sign built from them can match the listing:
- Checkout by 10am. Please lock up and leave the key in the key safe
- Maximum six guests overnight
- Quiet after 10pm, please
- No parties or events
- Well-behaved dogs welcome downstairs
- No smoking or vaping inside
- Dishes in the sink and used towels in the bath before you go
- Recycling in the blue box under the sink
In Wales, smoking in self-contained holiday accommodation such as cottages, caravans and chalets has been banned by law since 1 March 2022, so a no-smoking line there states the law rather than your preference. Our guide to what signage a holiday let or Airbnb needs covers the difference between Wales and England, and the fire safety duties that sit alongside the rules.
Family homes
There's no listing to match at home, so family house rules are usually about how everyone treats each other, and they can be warmer:
- Shoes off at the door
- Please and thank you, every time
- Phones away at the table
- Homework before screens
- Whoever cooks doesn't wash up
- Last one up switches off the lights
For a funny house rules sign, one good line usually lands better than a list of ten: "The dog is allowed on the sofa. You might be." or "Muddy boots stay outside. So do muddy dogs."
Dog house rules
Dog rules work best at the spot where they apply: a no dogs upstairs sign at the foot of the stairs, a no dogs on furniture sign in the sitting room, and a well-behaved dogs welcome sign at the door. In a holiday let, pets are one of Airbnb's standard house rules, so set the dog rules in the listing first. The full range is in our dog signs collection, and our guide to dog-friendly signs for holiday lets goes further.
Workshops, garages and sheds
The shed has rules too, usually about who borrows what. Our My Tool Rules workshop sign is a ready-written set for the garage or workshop.
Where to put it, and which size
One sign by the door for the main list, plus single-rule signs at the points where rules tend to get broken, works better than one long list that guests read once and forget.
| Where | What works | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Front door or hallway wall, read on arrival | Welcome & House Rules hanging sign | Medium (158 × 115mm) for a handful of short rules; Large (225 × 164mm) or Extra Large (270 × 190mm) for a full list |
| Kitchen counter, hall table or bedside | House rules table sign, single or double-sided | 74 × 112mm or 115 × 168mm, for four to six rules |
| A wall or table where a full list is read from across the room | House rules sign, A5 or A4, with or without a stand | 210 × 148mm or 297 × 210mm landscape |
| The exact spot a rule applies | Single-rule signs: please remove your shoes, no smoking or vaping, no dogs upstairs | Smaller sizes, placed right where the rule applies |
Our oak veneered MDF signs are for indoor use only. For a rule that lives outside, such as the gate, our bamboo gate sign has a custom text option: it is 200 × 65mm in FSC-certified Moso bamboo (certificate BV-COC-190523) and ties flush to a gate cross beam. Our guide to what survives outdoors explains why bamboo has to be tied or clamped rigidly rather than hung loose. Hot tub rules can go on the indoor house rules sign.
What never to put on a house rules sign
- Key safe or alarm codes. A sign by the door can be read through a window or photographed by anyone who visits. Send codes by message before arrival instead. The same applies to key tags, which our guide to what to write on house key tags covers.
- Fines and charges. Airbnb bars host-imposed fines, and a "£50 charge" on the wall of any let sets a sour tone.
- Rules that aren't in your listing or booking terms. On Airbnb, the policy bars adding them. Elsewhere, a rule guests didn't agree to when they booked is hard to rely on.
- Details you expect to change. Engraving is permanent, so keep it for rules that last, and put changeable details such as a WiFi password you rotate on a sheet or in the welcome message.
- Safety instructions. What to do if the smoke alarm sounds is safety information, not a house rule. Our holiday let signage guide covers what the fire safety guidance expects you to tell guests.
House rules in Welsh and English
No holiday let in Wales has to put Welsh on its signs by law, as our guide to whether bilingual signage is required in Wales explains, but a bilingual sign is a welcome touch for guests who read Welsh. Put both languages in the personalisation box, one rule per line in each. A bilingual sign gives each language half the room, so choose a size up. Our free bilingual signs page has a printable Welsh and English no smoking or vaping notice (Dim Ysmygu na Fwpio).
What we make for house rules
- Welcome & House Rules hanging sign: a "Welcome — Please Note Our House Rules" heading with your rules engraved beneath, in four sizes from 102 × 74mm to 270 × 190mm, with two pre-drilled holes and a jute string loop.
- House rules table sign: 74 × 112mm or 115 × 168mm, single or double-sided, on a removable push-fit wooden base that comes apart for storage.
- House rules sign, A5 or A4: 210 × 148mm or 297 × 210mm landscape, with our standard wording or your own, and an optional flat-pack stand for a table, or fix it flat to a wall with your own pads or screws.
- Home information table sign: for the practical details that sit alongside the rules.
All four are laser-engraved to order on FSC-certified 4mm oak veneered MDF in our workshop in North Wales. Type your rules in the personalisation box, one rule per line. Bulk discounts apply automatically at checkout, counted per product: 10% from 20, 15% from 50, 20% from 100, 25% from 250, 30% from 500 and 35% from 1,000, which helps an agency fitting out a portfolio of lets. Everything else for a let is in our holiday accommodation signs collection.
All items are made to order. Dispatch time is shown at checkout. UK orders via Royal Mail Tracked 24. International via Royal Mail International Tracked.
Frequently asked questions
What should I put on a house rules sign?
Three to six short rules, one per line. For a holiday let, that usually means checkout time and locking up, quiet hours, parties, pets and smoking. For a family home, it means how you want the household to treat each other. Add a short reason where a rule isn't obvious, and leave out codes, fines and anything that changes often.
Can I put a house rules sign in my Airbnb?
On our reading of the policy, yes, as long as the sign only repeats rules already in your listing. For reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026, Airbnb's policy requires every rule and request to be in the listing's house rules section at the time of booking, and bars hosts from adding new ones through signs, messages or in person. Engrave only rules that match your listing, leave chores and fines off the sign, and check with Airbnb if you are unsure.
What can Airbnb hosts still ask guests to do before checkout?
Light tasks. Airbnb's examples of reasonable requests include putting used dishes in the sink, gathering used towels, sorting rubbish and recycling into indoor bins and turning off the air conditioning when leaving. Stripping the beds, taking rubbish off-site and washing and putting away dishes count as unreasonable.
How do I word house rules so people follow them?
Keep each rule short, give a reason where it isn't obvious, and never announce how many people break the rule. In a study at Petrified Forest National Park, a sign saying many past visitors had taken wood was followed by nearly five times as much theft as a plain "please don't". Where it's true, saying that most guests already follow a rule helps.
What size house rules sign do I need?
For four to six short rules on a counter, a 74 × 112mm or 115 × 168mm table sign. For a full list read from across a hallway, an A5 or A4 sign, or the Large or Extra Large hanging sign. A bilingual sign needs roughly twice the space, so choose a size up.
Also see: what signage a holiday let or Airbnb needs, welcome and home information signs for holiday lets, do I need a no smoking sign?, dog-friendly signs and all holiday accommodation signs.
Sources
- Airbnb Help Center: Reasonable house rules and requests (policy for reservations booked on or after 20 November 2026)
- Airbnb Resource Center: Important changes to house rules (20 October 2026)
- Airbnb Help Center: Add house rules and requests to your listing
- Langer, E., Blank, A. and Chanowitz, B. (1978). The mindlessness of ostensibly thoughtful action: the role of "placebic" information in interpersonal interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(6), 635–642
- Cialdini, R. B. and others (2006). Managing social norms for persuasive impact. Social Influence, 1(1), 3–15 (US Forest Service copy)
- Goldstein, N. J., Cialdini, R. B. and Griskevicius, V. (2008). A room with a viewpoint: using social norms to motivate environmental conservation in hotels. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(3), 472–482
- Business Wales: Smoke-free law changes, 1 March 2022