Christine, So far I haven't even used the links because I wanted to answer first. The one that looks very interesting (before visiting it) is Design Psychology. I remember from college that I didn't want to take psychology or advertising. You know, I was SOOO smart and just wanted design courses. :) I don't know how many times I've been so very glad for both or how many times I wish I would have paid more attention in advertising. Now, I'm going to go play around with the links. Thanks.

The week-long interior redesign course offered by SCHOOL OF INTERIOR REDESIGN was FABULOUS!  Ann Anderson, the intructor (actually, she is an amazing goddess if it all) was careful to understand what each student was looking to get out of the class.  My focus was on staging, and she was sure to outline how each  thing we did for redesign might be tweaked for staging.  She also offers a two-day staging course, but I felt I got much more from the five days spent with her.  This led to certification with IRIS, and I just passed their new certification test for staging.  Woohoo!  I can heartily recommend SIR.

Craig,

This is a great list! This will help anyone who is considering training to become a stager. Unfortunately, what cannot be taught is having an "eye for design" and a feel for each property individually instead of trying to fit every house into the cookie cutter mold of the training. On my very first job, which was a vacant home staging, a Realtor came through with a client and commented that the furnishings I chose were exactly correct for the house. She further stated she recently saw work of some other stagers where the style and atmosphere of the home was not taken into consideration and they just put some furniture in. The Realtor was surprised to find out this was my first job and took my cards to put me on her list of vendors. The point being is that the intangibles have a large part in whether an individual will be a successful stager, the training is just the icing.

Leslie Berdahl

1st Stage Home Design