Interior Redesign, Decorating and Home Staging

What does "interior redesign" have to do with home staging? Well, there are differences between the terms and those differences depend on who is using them.

Home staging, the practice of showing off the best assets of a home that is for sale, has really been around for about 20 years. Someone got the idea that the term should be trademarked and using that term on its own could technically be called trademark infringement. We'll save you the legalities of using the term, but suffice it to say, we all need to be careful not to use the term on its own to name a business.

Someone else decided that they wanted to use a name that meant almost the same thing. Their idea was "Interior Redesign". However, in the business, interior redesigning can mean staging, or it can mean rearranging existing furniture in a home to make the home look better - for the current homeowners. There is a non-professional organization called IRIS that offers a certification based on that name, and there are others that incorporate that term into their business name or their group's name.

The distinction between "decorating" and "design" is more hard and fast. An interior designer is someone with professional credentials that is licensed to practice the interior design trade and has a designation of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) or IIDA (International Interior Design Association). You have to complete a course of study at an accredited institution to become members of either of these groups. However, you can be a "decorator" just by hanging out a shingle that says you can decorate a home.

Confused? You needn't be. The staging industry is not a licensed industry or business - you don't need a license to become a home stager. There are quite a few organizations or groups that offer an "official sounding title" that represent home stagers, but neither a title, nor a certification, are required to become a home stager. The profession is not regulated or licensed by governing bodies and there is no requirement of schooling, classwork, hours or licensing. (Your municipality may require you to buy a business license to operate a business in their town, but you don't need to be licensed to stage like a doctor or plumber.)

Interior designers can be home stagers if they so choose, but a home stager can not be an interior designer unless they complete the courses and get the license and certification.

This site is all about home staging and gives you a comprehensive step-by-step plan to stage a home -- from fixing it up to staging each space. To fully appreciate all the steps involved in staging, we invite you to start with Preparing a Home for Sale , then move on to Clean, Organize and Declutter, and finish with Design to Sell Fast! where we stage in room and space one-by-one. Everything you need to know about staging, (or interior redesigning!) is right here!

Go to our home page from Interior Redesign.