Expert Corner │The dirt on staging
with Lisa Hynes, owner of Stage To Show
Whether you are thinking about listing your home for sale in the fall or next spring, it is never too early to start the prep work. One of the most important steps is getting your home ready to show. We reached out to Lisa Hynes, owner of Stage To Show, and asked her to offers some important tips for sellers.
- Have you been able to quantify the benefit of staging a property? National stats report that staging yields a 200% ROI.
- Any issues with staging a lived-in house? Generally not, however sometimes pets claw or soil rugs and furniture or kids’ eat spaghetti on white linen chairs, so keep that in mind.
- Top 3 must-dos if you are doing it yourself. Clear surfaces. Remove all Asian rugs. Remove dated drapes. Paint if colors are dated. Wait… that is four, but who is counting?
- What is the lead time needed to stage a home? It depends on the season, but we generally book out a few weeks. However, we own a huge amount of inventory so we can sometimes turn in a day or two.
- Do you have to stage the entire home or just certain rooms? First floor and the master is usually sufficient and sometimes a playroom. However, some builders ask us to stage every single room.
- Would you sell the furniture if the Buyer asks? Yes, we often sell our furnishings.
- What was the biggest décor trend over the past 5 years; what do you see in the next five years? White kitchens, Gray and White! Love it or hate it, mid-century touches are continuing, warm tones for fall, mixing textures.

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Lisa Hynes: lisa@stagetoshow.com │www.stagetoshow.com │203.921.6628
the dine │daily dose of vitamin C

the wine │the right pairing
The other night I was invited by my wife to sit and watch the tail end of an old classic movie, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father on TCM. Ron Howard was 6-8 years old and you could see his acting chops back then! During the movie, there was a commercial advertising the TCM Wine Club.
Thought that was an interesting idea.
I spend a lot of time pairing my wines with the right food, the people, the weather, why not the right movie? Maybe it’s because my kids are older and I am no longer the top dog to hang out with, I got nostalgic for a classic foodie movie and nice bottle of wine, so a few favorite pairings:
- Godfather: Sassicaia, Bolgheri, Italy
- River Runs Through It: Flowers Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast
- 100 Foot Journey: DuMOL Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley
- Quiet Man: it is really a beer movie (Guinness)
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