Today's Guest Blogger is Bonnie Grenier, owner of Day's Cove Interiors in Damariscotta, who talks with us about one of her first staging jobs here in Mid Coast, Maine. 

    My first local staging job happened quite by accident. I wanted to check out the house before beginning renovations on my own kitchen.  A new house with an updated kitchen would help me avoid the dust, mayhem, confusion, and stress that inevitably accompany every kitchen project.

   I was intrigued by the house because of the great location, right on Day's Cove with an ever changing water view as the tide goes in and out. The outside is immaculate with very attractive landscaping. My high expectations for the house were totally obliterated when I walked through the front door into a dark, dated, dirty and cluttered house with bright red tile in the foyer and adjacent kitchen.  you couldn't miss the stale odor of a house that has been vacant and closed up for months.

   My first thoughts were that this house was incredibly dated and in dire need of staging. There was so much potential, but I knew most buyers would not be able to get past the red floor and dark paneling throughout the house. (Very 70's!) Then, there were all those faded pictures adorning the walls, not to mention at least 3 dozen plates on the walls in the kitchen and dining room. Ahhh...so much "stuff" to look at inside at the expense of that fabulous water view!

   Fortunately, a forward thinking real estate broker and the attorney for the estate selling the home agreed to let me stage the house with a generous budget.  (No small leap of faith in an area of the country where staging has yet to come into it's own!) We agreed that 2%-3% of the asking price was a fair amount for a staging budget.

    We hired a terrific painter with a crew of two who painted 2/3 of the paneling in the house with 3 coats of paint.  A new tile floor in the kitchen and foyer were a no brainer.  The three quarter bath was updated with paint, new light fixtures, and removal of a very dated vanity mirror. We kept the light blue sink, toilet and shower to save on costs but new grey paint on the paneling muted their impact.  We eliminated a fair amount of furniture throughout the house to visually enhance the space.  Our "carpenter on call" did a great job on a variety of small jobs. Fresh bedding, removal of yellowed  accordion style shower curtains in both baths, and a really good cleaning completed our staging efforts.

   That's not to say we couldn't have done more, but given our budget we got a lot of bang for our buck and the changes were remarkable (even if I do say so myself!) The entire job took about 6 weeks, and that was with time off for Christmas and New Years.

   Now, the house has a great, attractive space for entertaining, water views from every room, and is in move in condition.  If my husband and I hadn't already begun construction on our new kitchen in the meantime, my staged house would be a serious contender!  However, you may want to take a look!

  In this competitive real estate market, every home needs to look its best to have a chance of selling. If you'd like to talk with Bonnie Grenier she can be reached via email, dayscoveinteriors@roadrunner.com or by phone 207-563-1305.To see this home in it's new splendor please call Lee Simard or Bill Byrnes at Newcastle Square Realty.

Brought to you by Sharon Kreighbaum, Staged Makeovers