StagingGuru

Hoover Street Review: In April 2015, my husband and I were able to vacation on Siesta Key in Florida. During our stay, I sought to have a consultation with a Home Staging expert. I wanted a "fresh" viewpoint reflecting my budget remodel concerns for my 80+year old home. I am pleased to introduce you to one of Sarasota's best kept secrets; the Home Staging Guru, Mary Monroe. I contacted her and explained my specific needs and she invited me into her home for a personal review and consultation. As I walked through her front door, I was struct by the vivid use of complementary colors on her walls, the patterned furniture and eclectic use of antiques to uniquely blend a modern-retro elegance in this living room. As both artist and arts educator, I was impressed with her ability to pull a continuous flow of interest in this space as well as her sensitivity to color, texture and pattern. She shared her restrictions with this redecoration of her home as her color themes were limited to encompassing the "robin egg blue" countertops in the kitchen. I was able to view her kitchen and was intrigued with how she solved this challenge. Originally, she explained that the cabinets were a blonde wood, so she painted them a rich brown, replaced the hardware with brushed nickel and continued the design emphasis with a backsplash of frosted glass with metal iridescent accents and a brown tonal range of color. She completed her remodel with stainless steel appliances and splashes of color with the towels and accessories. One needs to be extremely oriented towards design elements to pull together a remodel when the use of existing cabinets and countertops were to be ultilized . Her resourcefulness and budget conscious design decisions were inspiring as well representing her unique perspective, showcasing her talent. Her recommendations reflecting my budget, architectural constraints and ideas were combined in a manner that that was practical and welcome. I am pleased to say, that I was able to use her suggestions and design ideas in my home located in Oregon, Ohio. I would recommend Mary Monroe to any client who is looking for a professional that can showcase their home as a work of art. Donna Lowe-Bochi

We hired Mary to help us relocate artwork in our new home. Mary's suggestions led to some creative locations. She came prepared to hang everything too. Mary was friendly, professional and very reasonably priced.

Mary Marazon staged our home in Perrysburg, Ohio. She cleaned out closets and clutter, rearranged furniture and put perfect finishing touches in every room. The bedspread and drapes were perfect for each room. She did everything we just did not know how to do. In fact, she staged our home so beautifully that we fell in love with her work and no longer wanted to sell our home. Mary gave us a new look and we feel like we are living in a brand new home... and we love it!

Mary Monroe has been cleaning for me since 2007, which says a lot about how pleased I am with her work. She's reliable, thorough, efficient, hard-working, honest, and cheerful. She gives a lot of attention to detail and consistently exceeds my expectations...and I'm no pushover. She also has a sense of style regarding home decor and landscaping, including an eye for color, scale, and what makes a good first impression. Thanks to her creativity and innovative ideas, Mary can do a lot with a little. I know her skills well enough to promise that her clients will get their money's worth!

I have worked with Mary Monroe for several years. As the owner of a condo I depend on Mary to see to things when I am not there. For example, I mailed a set of slip covers to her which she very resourcefully installed. Upon my return I was delighted to find evertything just as I imagined. She has an excellent "eye" and she uses her initiative well. She was invaluable to me as she oversaw the restoration of a bathroom which had suffered a major plumbing disaster. She discovered the leak, checked on the plumbing crew, relayed messages to them from me, accurately matched new tile, paint, etc.,and kept me informed by iphone photos. Mary is invariably pleasant to work with (in fact, she is a lot of fun), she is reliable and she is knowledgable. Marion L. Farmer

I have had the pleasure of having Mary Monroe work for me for the past seven years. She has always been extremely reliable and did excellent work something which she prides herself on. Mary is very bright and has a wonderful warm personality.She is a people person. She is also very creative. She has a good sense of color and spatial ability. I have counted on her for advise about my decorating. She is also highly motivated to succeed in whatever endeavor she gets involved. I highly recommend Mary. She is a person who because of her talents can make a difference in making your home more salable. Dr. Miriam F Hirsch

Mary Monroe is Fantastic! Not only is Mary easy to work with, she is a professional with pleasant demeanor, pays attention to details and most importantly gets the job done, along with a smile. Mary is always prompt, courteous and knowledegable about colors, syle and design. Ideas are discussed and goals transform into reality.

I have had the pleasure of working with Mary on several occasions over the past several years. As a real estate professional I have utilized Mary's talent to stage and prepare residential properties for sale. Mary has always approached each situation with enthusiasm, creativity and sense of style. Invariably she has made the properties much more appealing to the eye without adding a tremendous cost. As a result of Mary's efforts the sellers receive higher sales prices than had they not employed her. Mary's personality and professionalism are top notch and to invest in her work pays big dividends. I am happy to give her my highest reccomendation. David Marshman Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate

Mary is great! She has a great eye for decorating with a great sense for color and attention to the small details that really make a difference. Her positive, upbeat attitude make it a pleasure to work with her. You won't be disappointed!

Mary made our home sell after 10 months on the market. She freshened up and redorated the entire interior and made the exterior look bright and cheery -- all at a very reasonable cost and with an enthusiastic attitude. Working with Mary was wonderful. Our house sold to the first family to view it after her staging!! That should be her motto.