MIRROR, MIRROR

I have a love-hate relationship with mirrors. I hate looking into them, but love what they can do for a room. As the real estate market began its downward plunge a few years ago, the number of houses for sale went up and the desire for interior designers (and money to pay them) went down. To stay afloat in rough waters, designers like me have had to reinvent themselves. Purchasing $10,000 sofas and $900 throw pillows have gone out the window, shopping at high end furniture stores have been replaced by chains like Ikea and Target, and big budget makeovers are merely a distant memory. More and more people are hiring designers to stage their homes to make them shine for the drab market. There really isn't a set formula for staging a home because, just like people, every one is totally different. A job I'm currently working on, for example, sits high on a hill with gorgeous views of the Hudson river and valley. In this market, however, breathtaking views don't necessarily guarantee a buyers breath will be taken away by the house. While this home is fairly new and striking in many of its details, some of the bathrooms needed updating to make it as pristine on the inside as it is on the out. While I would never advise a total room makeover if you're putting something on the market (remember, your tastes might not be the same as a potential buyers), bathrooms and kitchens tend to be the areas people are most turned on (or off) by. In this 1990's version of a guest bathroom, the Formica counters just weren't cutting it. To make a drastic change without spending a dramatic amount of money, I simply replaced the counter tops with Carrera marble and an under mount sink, new faucet, back splash tiles in glass (from the Home Depot), and to add a special touch to the mirror, I added crown molding by using liquid nails to affix the wood directly to the mirror. For less than $2,000 this bath (with two vanities) went from blah to WOW!
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Two days (to jazz up mirror, twenty minutes)
COST: The entire bath project: two carerra marble counter tops, two Kohler under mount sinks with Kohler faucets, glass cut tile, new knobs for dated vanities and new lighting fixtures above each vanity cost $1650.00. The wood for the mirror cost $25, a tube of liquid nails $3.75.
STRESS LEVEL: if this house doesn't sell HIGH