I realised that this might have been asked before from this Visa for France - showing actual hotel booking?
I did that when I was in the UK as well. I showed them email confirmations from Booking.com and I got the visa. However, now I'm going to apply from New York City and when I looked at the requirements I found this (it's from http://www.consulfrance-newyork.org/Short-stay-visa-for-tourism):
PROOF OF ACCOMODATION (for the whole length of your stay) (+1 copy) Confirmed and personal reservation from the hotel(s) in France and in the Schengen countries to be visited and which must be sent directly to you and not to the Consulate, confirming your reservations for each night you will spend in France and the Schengen States (we do not accept emails confirmations),
or personal hotel vouchers confirming your booking for a tour with names and addresses of all hotels with the number of nights stay in each (+ 1 copy),
- or if you are staying with family or friend(s) you must present a certificate of board and lodging "Attestation d’Accueil", which has to be obtained by your relatives or friends at the city hall ("Mairie"). The original needs to be stamped by this consulate to be valid and should be presented upon arrival in France.
However, I'm going to book Airbnb as it's a lot cheaper and it suits my needs. I just want to confirm with people who have applied for Schengen visa in the US and showed the email confirmation from either Booking.com or Airbnb and got the visa.