When I had a client who wanted a kitchen totally gutted, I was the first to admit that I’m not the person to design it or create the drawings for the contractor. When I renovated my own kitchen, I hired a kitchen designer to plan out all the cabinets, etc. That said, I’m more than capable of choosing the finishes and have done this for myself and other clients. For example:

• choosing cabinet door style, color, and hardware
• picking tiles and grout color for back splash
• choosing counter top color and material (like granite, composite materials, laminate, etc.)
• picking tiles and grout color for floors, or alternate materials like hardwood, cork, etc.
• choosing light fixtures, window treatments and wall colors

I can do all of these things because I have good taste and I’ve taken the time to learn about different materials. I read books and magazines, visit show rooms and trade shows and learn about what’s out there. I didn’t need to study Interior Design or go back to school for 4 years.

That doesn’t mean I undervalue your choices!

Clearly you have training that I do not and it’s quite right that Interior Design is a regulated industry because if you’re going to start taking walls out of buildings or designing extensions, you need to know what you’re doing! I totally agree with you that we all have a “role in making our living breathing built environments as comfortable, sustainable, and beautiful as possible.”

While you’re here, though I can’t help but point out that if you would like to earn money while you’re working on your MS in Environmental Design, home staging is an awesome way to do it. This is a low cost business and a great way to use your design talents. I don’t teach people how to decorate but I do teach them how to turn their talents into a profitable business.

My point was NOT to belittle your training. My point was to share that if a person really wants to decorate and stage, they don’t need a 4 year Interior Design degree to do it.

When you make the decision to begin higher education in Interior Design, you have to be clearly informed on what the entire profession entails. If attending an accredited college or university, you will be informed of this in an introduction course before beginning studio courses. Interior Designers are relevant because they design the entire interior built environment, vertical and horizontal planes: ceiling, floors, and walls. I love being an Interior Designer because I am not confined to decorate the construction some else designed, instead I can completely gut a building (or take an existing empty building) and make a consistent design throughout the entire interior construction and decoration.

This is not at all to discredit Home Stagers, because that is a necessary art as well. Everyone has a role in making our living breathing built environments as comfortable, sustainable, and beautiful as possible.

As for your age, I have women writing to me all the time saying, “I’m 40 is it too late for me to start a career?” You’re 22 and you’re worrying that people won’t take you seriously, cause you’re too young. I’ve met plenty of middle aged people I would never take seriously.

My point is, it’s not about age, it’s about how you present yourself. I’m coming up on age 51 now, so everyone looks young to me. I see a doctor or a policeman and I think, “they look like they just finished high school!” But if they open their mouths and sound like they know what they’re talking about and carry themselves with confidence, then I can easily get past how young they look (to me).

There are many home sellers who are in their 20s and 30s. There are also tons of real estate agents in that age range. Don’t let a fear that you’ll be seen as too young stop you! That would be crazy. I got my first BIG job in a corporate office with a secretary and the full deal when I was in my early 20s and fresh out of business school. Looking back now, I think we all looked quite young, but there we were managing multi-million dollar budgets and we didn’t see ourselves as young.

Age is a state of mind. If you start now, think about how incredibly experienced and polished you’ll be by the time you’re 25! Think how much easier it is to start now, life only gets more complicated when you get older, especially throughout the late 20s and into your 40s. By late 40s you’ve let go of many of the “complications” or outgrown them and that’s why you see many people starting this business later in life (relative to where you are now, that is).

Hope that helps!

You can read about the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, one of the most respected and well known names in the field today at:

http://www.stagingdiva.com/homestagingtraining.html

Since you mentioned being a hair stylist for 30 years, I know you’ll enjoy this article about Carol King. She owned her own salon for about 30 years. She took my training and now has her own staging business in Texas. You can read about her here:

http://www.stagingdiva.com/homestagingbusiness/home-staging-gets-divorcing-couple-more-than-asking-in-one-day/

I’d love to help you do the same!