designing woman

years before my world became my kids, I was attending school for interior design. did you know that about me? I was hooked on HGTV and let that become my inspiration.

so I made it through the 1st year, which was a basic over view of everything to come. its the requirement to become a licensed designer; one must be certified from an accredited institution. I attended the Interior Designer's Institute in Newport Beach. simply put, those people know what they're doing!
the next 2 years are for your BA degree. like with any degree, there is a class for each individual aspect of design; lighting, perspective, model building, space planning, etc. once you have this degree, you can go on and take the "bar exam" for designers, then you are recognized by the National Council (NCIDQ I think) and get those little initials after your name.

I made it 1/2 way through the degree program and quit. yes, I'm a quitter. I realized that I don't have the natural talent, the gift that these other students have. I am not an artist on paper. I was doing my very best and was only pulling C's. I was majorly disappointing myself.
the stuff I wanted to do, was not emphasized. I wanted to get into set design; retail store fronts, magazines, tv/movies, model homes, whatever. you still need all those elements for set design, but class was taught for the majority, which was not me.
I never wanted to work with people that had so much money to hire me to go shopping for them. I know there are other aspects, but that's what I felt it all boiled down to. I was beginning to see it as pretty superficial ... and I never want to surround myself with that.

so anyway, fast forward to today ... I have been needing an outlet. I have not had something just for me in what seems like FOREVER. my hubby believes my grass to be greener, which has been an area of contention. he doesn't seem to understand that I too need to talk to other adults ... and not about poopy diapers and bedtime battles.
I started out looking for a place to volunteer, but then I found a class for home stagers. having 2 kids with 1 being homeschooled, no money for daycare full or part time, no one close enough to babysit, and having only 1 day/week available, this class actually works. it was too good to be true ... but I now remember, God will do such things as this. down to the detail.

home staging is similar to model home design. its based out of the real estate side of it; I will be designing to emphasize the homes features, rather than, an interior designer designs according to what the client/home owner wants and needs. home stagers can be hired by the home owner or the real estate agent. statistics show a staged home sells MUCH faster than an un-staged home. people need to see how it can be lived in with stuff, and more importantly, see themselves as a fit in that home. so, its right up my alley.

this class is run by the owner of Paradise Home Staging, based here on Oahu. when we finish this certification process, he will offer a position with his company. he is essentially training his staff with it; nice to know there is a job waiting ... even if it is still one day/week.
he works with middle-class all the way up to $5 million homes. next week we will be taking a field trip to some open houses in Kahala, which is where you find the high-end homes of the island. have you ever toured a $5 million home? it's fun.

so far so good. wish me luck.

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