dirt dine + wine: Expert Corner On Staging

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.

Lisa Hynes:  lisa@stagetoshow.com │www.stagetoshow.com │203.921.6628

the dine  │daily dose of vitamin C

My oldest son Nico grew up in Florence, Italy.  When he visited the States, he could not get enough hot dogs, hamburgers and Chinese food.  Pasta was the last thing on his mind, but we would talk about his favorite dishes from home. One of his favorites was his Nonna Ileana’s Strawberry Risotto.  Sounds interesting… strange? awful?  Well, it was put in front me of few times in the early years and I was not going to offend the hostess.  To my surprise, it is actually a savory dish!  

 

Recently, I noticed an abundance of strawberries and the complaint that we always end up tossing them out (did I mention we are not big fruit lovers).  So I did a little digging (thank you Google) … and found a great, authentic recipe (or video to be accurate) by Gennaro Contaldo which offers a great solution to not wasting all those strawberries.  My personal tweak, add a nice grind of fresh cracked pepper at the end.  This dish is great alone, but really pairs well with a protein-try a roasted pork lion or chicken and a nice bottle of The Calling Pinot Noir (pork) or Merry Edward Sauvignon Blanc (chicken). 

 

Now it’s my favorite way to get my daily dose of vitamin C!