The reality is that while some people may have a "flair for decorating" they don't succeed as home stagers because they are not provided with the tools, support and perhaps most importantly, the hands on learning or "field work" needed to jump start their venture.
Unfortunately home staging training it seems, is becoming a gimmick for an easy buck. Too often I see people believe the promise of guaranteed employment. Over the years I have received countless inquiries from people wondering which staging training program is the best. Many of them complaining that the training they took did not prepare them to run a successful business. To be honest (even though I am a staging instructor) I cannot definitively answer the question regarding the best training since people learn in different ways and unlike myself, some don't actually need to generate an income from staging homes.
I do know that the hands on training offered by Certified Staging Professionals was instrumental in launching and growing my staging company in 2006. I was serious about breaking into the industry and I had a limited time frame before I needed to make a profit. I knew that just reading about how to stage a property and looking at photos would not be an effective way to learn for me. The unopened manuals for my cellphone, camera and laptop are testament to that.
I clearly remember the first home I staged. It was under the direct guidance of staging guru Christine Rae. I was overwhelmed with information from the previous 2 days of learning but it all started to make sense to me once I rolled up my sleeves and actually staged a listing. The photos provided to me from that day were the start of my staging portfolio and helped me get my first client within days of taking the program.
Fast forward a few years and now I am the one taking new stagers to actual Real Estate listings to transform the entire property. I see first hand that students learn better and retain more by participating on the job. The on site training is a day full of "ah ha" moments, bolsters the confidence of the students and provides them with a necessary and well deserved sense of accomplishment.
I invite you to have a look at a few photos of recent class projects I have facilitated. Not only did the students learn the principles of home staging and how to run a business, they were given a jump start on their portfolio and did indeed have a field day!
Toronto
Winnipeg
Vancouver
Edmonton
Jackson West is the
owner of Reveal
Estate Home Staging and is an instructor for Certified Staging
Professionals.
He is also featured
on a television
series for the W Network. His
interior redesign work can be seen in the book "Home Staging For
Dummies" as well as multiple editions of the "Staging Standard"
magazine.
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