Should I go to Interior Design School or Be a Home Stager?
Many women approaching their 40s write to me wondering whether they should go to Interior Design School. It’s an issue I struggled with myself many times over a 20 year period.
I interviewed a number of interior design schools at various points in my past career but never followed through on actually applying. I already had a BA, an MBA and years of experience. The thought of being a full time student for 2 to 4 years, with a bunch of kids 20 years younger than myself was not that appealing. And the cost was huge considering the significant income I’d be giving up over that period.
Now that I’ve staged hundreds of homes I’m so happy I went with my instincts and stayed out of Interior Design School!
You wouldn’t believe the number of interior design graduates that have approached me during the past four years to hire them for Six Elements Inc., my home staging company! Most seem to be working as sales people in furniture stores and looking for a way out.
One woman called me this week who was working on 100% commission! Imagine working retail hours for a furniture store after studying interior design for 4 years and not even earning a salary! I was shocked. If you’re going to be on 100% commission, you should absolutely be in your own business. At least then all the sales come to you instead of a hefty percentage going to your employer.
Here’s what I’ve learned being a Professional Home Stager instead of being an “interior designer” over the past four years:
• Being a home stager you get lots more projects to work on because they are shorter term in nature. So, lots more variety.
• Being a home stager your clients give you creative control because they know they don’t really have to live with what you do to their homes. So, you get to be creative and make the decisions.
• Being a home stager you get interior redesign and color projects because your staging clients love what you do with the house they’re selling and ask you to work on the one they’re moving into.
• Being a home stager you get to work with the kinds of people who wouldn’t normally hire an interior designer or decorator, in other words a much larger target market.
The other important thing I learned, is that I would have hated being an interior designer!
It’s really frustrating doing a beautiful room only to see your client later clutter it up with additions that clash with everything you’ve done. Or, having to sit there for hours while they can’t decide which fabric they want to pick.
I love having the creative control I get from staging houses. I get to execute my vision because clients realize I’m decorating their house to sell, not for them to live in it. I know there is no way I could have done hundreds of homes in so short a period with an interior design degree fresh out of school.
Granted because I’ve never gone through an Interior Design program, (or ever taken an interior design or color course!), I can’t tell you if a chair is Louis the XVI, or draw plans to build an addition off the back of a house, but I don’t miss having those skills!
The kind of people that hire me (upper middle class, usually professionals) don’t really care!
They hire me because they know I’m an expert in decorating a house to sell because they’ve visited my websites, they’ve heard about me from their neighbors or real estate agents or they’ve read about Six Elements or Staging Diva in the media.
For the things I don’t know, I’d happily refer them to a trained interior designer! I know they have many skills that I don’t. But like I said, I learned I wouldn’t want to be an interior designer so that’s OK by me. And, it was a relief to finally let go of all the wondering about it!
In case you’re wondering about the photo at the top of this article, it’s from a kitchen I decorated that was featured in Woman’s Day Walls Windows and Floors. Not only did they do a 6 page spread on the house, I was the photo stylist. Never once did the magazine ask for my “design” or “stylist” credentials. They did the spread and hired me because of the strength of my portfolio of before and after photos.
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
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February 6th, 2007 at 11:39 am
I wanted to tell you that I love this article and agree with it. I have had 4 recent graduates from Interior design schools contacting me recently - I will use them as needed. I might take a non credit course from a local college for my personal satisfaction.
Thanx!
February 10th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
I find that interior designers are jumping on the Home Staging bandwagon. I truly feel there is a conflict of interest. Designers design for their customer’s personal taste and Home Stagers design to sell. I do educational speaking for Real Estate groups and I tell them I usually go in and take out everything a designer does so a potential buyer can see the home.
LJ Pilant
Alamo Home Staging
Proud Graduate of Staging Diva
February 13th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Of course interior designers are jumping on the staging bandwagon, there’s MORE MONEY IN STAGING!
One property I staged belonged to an interior designer. She hired me to stage it for her, it sold in days at $40,000 over her $1.4 million price.
Fast forward 18 months and she has her latest home on the market. I didn’t stage it and only realized it was hers during an open house when I realized I recognized much of the furniture and art. It was obvious to me why it isn’t selling… it’s been on the market for 5 months now… but funny thing is she hasn’t called me to help her out again!