The Home and Garden Network specializes in shows where an energetic team takes over someone's house, banishes the person and redoes the homestead. They always end with the homeowner being led, with eyes closed, back into the newly redesigned house, and going into transports of joy and incredulity. (Actually once I watched a show where the designer later admitted the man had hated the Greek island theme she'd redone his room in, and she had to repaint the bright blue walls plain beige.)

It was therefore an irresistible proposition when a local designer, Ruthanne Hatfield, whose work has been featured on the HGTV's "Decorating Cents," invited the Register to come along on a project.

Hatfield, a Boston native who relocated to Napa three years ago, now specializes in redesign, one-day projects using the furniture and accessories in a house, and in staging houses that are on the real estate market. Both trends, she said, "are really hot," right now.

In addition to doing home staging and one-day redesigns through her business, the Art of Interior Placement, Ruthanne and her husband, Charlie, also conduct classes for aspiring redesigners and stagers.

On this day, Ruthanne and Charlie Hatfield, were finishing a two-day staging class with a project for their four students. The house in question was a three-bedroom, two bath bungalow in east Napa, owned by a bachelor who was rarely in residence.

The house is isolated on a sharp curve on a busy road. Its listing price of $1.2 million, Ruthanne said. On the other hand, the back opens to a panorama of vineyards, and includes a small vineyard of its own and a swimming pool. Therefore the listing Realtor, Cyndi Gates, had decided it wasn't the most appealing house for a family but could be perfect for a city couple in search of a weekend getaway.

The staging, Ruthanne explained, would help prospective buyers visualize themselves living in the house. 'We want people to come in here and fall in love," she said. Particularly women.

"If a woman falls in love with a house," Charlie Hatfield added, "it's better than if a guy thinks it's OK."

At 10 in the morning the crew had assembled, the four students plus the Hatfields and a rental van full of props. The house was hardly objectionable -- neat, clean and clutter free. Gates had already had the house painted inside and out. The homeowner had told them to do whatever they wanted, Gates said, "but he's a bachelor and there was very little to decorate with."

"But it's a little sterile," Ruthanne told her crew. First would be rearranging the furniture; then they'd bring in the accessories. "They're the icing on the cake," she said. "But first we have to bake the cake."

The plan was to set up the living room to draw attention to the view beyond the sliding glass doors, to turn an empty third bedroom into a den, and to create a feminine retreat in the bachelor's bedroom.

The team went to work moving furniture.

By noon the heavy lifting was done. The television and one armchair were gone from the living room, moved into the new den. The sofa now faced the glass doors and the view, and a mirror on the north wall of the room was positioned to reflect the view. A potted tree stood where the television had been.

The entryway had been transformed as well, with a narrow table (which they'd found in the garage) two lights, a mirror and a red patterned tapestry rug. "just to warm it up, to welcome you in," Ruthanne said. "Before we're done, we'll have a dish of candy on the table."

The new den is now the man's retreat, with an armchair, television and desk (formerly the table in the dining room).

In the guest room, Ruthanne said, it had just been a matter of angling the double bed and moving a chest of drawers from too near the door ( "It makes the room look too small") to the opposite wall.

The crew was just sitting down to lunch on the back deck, looking out over the vineyard. "This view adds half a million dollars to the value of the house," said Matthew Chapman who'd come from San Francisco for the class. (He subsequently qualified the remark, the view of grapes adds half a million for those who don't live in Napa for whom the sight of a grapevine is not so remarkable as to pay for it.)

By 2 p.m. the "frosting" part of the procedure was well underway. In the master bedroom, they had changed a staid dark blue bedspread to a rich burgundy silk one. An armchair was positioned with an ottoman to look out at the grapevines. On the ottoman was a tray with a coffee cup, a vase of yellow flowers and a book on entertaining, all for the woman who is going to fall in love.

"We want her to imagine herself sitting here, planning a party," Ruthanne explained.

The final new touch to the bedroom was a woman's straw hat, sitting on a chest of drawers where a trio of model airplanes had stood. The airplanes had been moved to the den, where a folded copy of the Wall Street Journal appeared on the desk. "You see," she said, "the man gets his room too."

In the bathroom Vanessa Nielson from Concord and Elizabeth Forth from Danville were hanging up a new gold shower curtain to cover the old-fashioned frosted glass shower doors, and elaborate arrangements of new towels, complete with elegant tassels. Bath oils and lotions were on the counter.

In the living room, paintings had gone up on the walls, logs were in the fireplace, a candelabra and pottery was arranged on the mantel, some were things they had found in the house others Ruthanne was taking from her a stash of accessories, paintings, silk flowers and tablecloths that she brings into projects.

By 4 p.m., the crew was putting the final touches on the dining room project: Creating the impression that a party was about to begin. The chairs had new cushions. The china cupboard had been emptied of its more formal crystal, and now held brightly colored pottery. The wine rack was filled. And on the table was a set up for a buffet, with Chinese dishes and spoons, trays. To complete the illusion a bright red bowl and wooden spoon along with a cookbook in a holder had appeared on the counter, the book open to a recipe for crab cakes.

"It's all to give a sense that here is a place to entertain," Ruthanne said. "Now, if we had been trying to appeal to a family, we might have set up a malt bar, had the recipe for cookies open, Parents' Magazine. Things like that."

The final touch here: A new chalkboard, with "French Laundry, 7 p.m." scrawled across it, and an invitation tucked into the frame. But would the buyers realize that even buying a million dollar house did not mean it would be any easier to get reservations at the French Laundry?

Ruthanne only smiled.

By 6 p.m. the work was done, and a few days later Gates brought other Realtors in for a tour. "It was fantastic," she said. "They all thought it was wonderful." Gates said she used to stage homes herself for clients, "but it's so time-consuming." Nonetheless she finds all the preparation -- staging, painting, landscaping -- a valuable step in selling a home. "I've gotten a ton more money for clients."

The only reaction we didn't get to see was that of the bachelor homeowner, who as of press time, had not yet returned to see the flowers and chocolates and straw hats that had invaded his home.

"He might be horrified," Charlie said, with a grin.

Not if he sells his house for $1.2 million.

Ruthanne and Charlie Hatfield will be conducting four workshops on staging for homeowners through the Napa Valley College in June and July. Ruthanne will also contribute occasional articles to the Register about redesign projects. For more information about the classes and other services visit their Web site at www.interiorplacement.com.