Should I go to Interior Design School or become a Home Stager?

Many women approaching their 40s write to me wondering whether they should go to Interior Design School or take a home staging business training program instead. I love that question because I struggled with the idea of leaving a successful career and going back to school to study interior design myself many times over a 20 year period.

I interviewed a number of schools at various points but never followed through on actually applying. I already had a BA and an MBA and years of experience behind me too. 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 long a time.

Now that I've staged hundreds of homes in less than 3 years I'm so happy I went with my instincts! By the way, you wouldn't believe the number of interior design graduates that have approached me during that time 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.

In a nutshell here's what I learned being a Professional Home Stager instead of being an "interior designer":

• 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.

A graphic designer in New York, was considering going to the New York School of Interior Design in January. She decided to go through the Staging Diva Program in December. Here's what she wrote me after completing the courses:

Debra, you are a force of nature and a formidable combination of smarts from education and excellent marketing experience, business savvy, practicality, self-and-sanity preservation and super-focused energy. You do what you do with generosity, high ethical standards, common sense and a can-do spirit that is irresistible. My background is that of a designer, still, you provided information about applying that knowledge to this business, without which, my talents would be hardly useful at all. If you were a publicly traded company, I'd invest in your stock. You are a winner.

With highest regards,
Kathleen F.

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 XV, 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 three website, they've heard about me from their neighbors or real estate agents or they've read about Six Elements 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!

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Debra Gould is President of Six Elements Inc. an internationally recognized Home Staging company. She is also the creator of The Staging Diva Program which includes training, licensing and many other services to support women who have always dreamed of turning their passion for decorating into a home-based business.

The Staging Diva Program is the only Home Staging Business opportunity recommended in Entrepreneur Magazine's 2006 Be Your Own Boss Guide to the best businesses to start-- the same magazine that called Home Staging one of the hottest new businesses!