Why Should I Consider Home Staging and Redesign Certification?
Specialized Certification For
Those That Want It - Certification is not necessary for success, but some people
really want that extra credibility so we have a private certification process
for you. Unlike others, however, ours demands a candidate prove they have the
knowledge and skills. This makes it the most prestigious certification program
offered anywhere. Certification, REAL certification, should demand
accountability for talent and knowledge if it is to have true impact in
business. Anything less – well, it’s just less. Our certification involves an
exam and submission of a portfolio to be evaluated which makes it one of the
most rewarding and satisfying achievements in the industry. You may apply for
single or double certification.
Quite honestly, certification
designation may not be suitable for
everyone in our business. But for many, the rewards of being certified by a prestigious organization and industry
leader is really beneficial. Many prospective clients will not care if
you have a designation or are connected with any professional society or group -
but then again, some will.
However, many prospects will look for such designations in determining whether they want to hire a particular designer, stager or consultant.
And many professionals themselves consider their designations as an important validation of their expertise
and professionalism.
An Incredible Certification Offer -- Read On!
 
This is why Certified Redesign Specialists and Certified Staging Specialists were
created. They are professional designations, formed by seasoned professionals in the redesign and staging
industries, to afford others the opportunity to make sure their knowledge and
talent sufficiently exemplifies their ability to provide quality services to
clients in their local area. It is, in a sense, a badge of honor because it reflects a standard of excellence that cannot
ever be merely purchased. It must be earned. These designations in no way make a
candidate affiliated with the company offering the process, but serve as
a benchmark to gauge professionalism, knowledge and skill.
Unlike some of our
competitors, we do not grant "certification" by merely attending a 3
or 5
day expensive seminar. We do not consider that professional. To qualify as a
CRS or CSS, you must go through a fairly rigid process which requires some work
(and talent) on your
part. We look for talented, professional people and will not certify those that do not measure
up according to the standards one would expect in any professional industry. But once you have earned it, you'll be overcome with a sense of
fulfillment knowing that you're part of an elite group of professionals, not
just a group of seminar attendees or member websites.
TESTIMONY - "Barbara,
Yeah!! I'm done with this step of getting my certification. It has been time consuming but well worth it. I have learned a lot doing this. Thank you for your
time in accessing the exam. I look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you, Pam Elkins"
While the CRS and CSS overseer will be very particular about who
is granted the designation, we seek to be affordable to beginning
re-designers and home stagers
as well as experienced ones. Achieving designation through our program will allow you to let your prospects and clients have the
security that you have passed a level of professional
expertise to be deemed worthy of our designation. As more and more people become
involved in the staging and redesign industry, it becomes increasingly important
to be evaluated by an organization so that you are viewed with the highest
standard of respect - but designation should not be viewed as a guarantee of
success in any business.
By becoming designated yourself as a
redesign specialist or home staging specialist through Decorate-Redecorate.Com, you can assure everyone you contact that you have
been deemed worthy of being a part of our elite group of independent business
owners who have demonstrated a high standard of design talent and business
ethics. No one will
be allowed to simply "purchase" a designation. And while other organizations and associations give their seminar attendees a "certificate of completion" (which merely means
they stayed for the whole seminar), a CRS or CSS insignia means so much more.
While there is a fee to apply (to cover the costs involved in processing an application), it by no means allows someone who has
not been trained to receive the designation themselves without proving first in no uncertain terms that they are competent, knowledgeable,
creative and professional.
If you seriously are working as a redesign or staging professional, we want to emphasize that
you do NOT need to be certified to be successful, however, it certainly will
help. If you wish to do so, we have provided what
we think is a great program to give you any necessary credentials you feel might be helpful to you.
If you are a "hobbyist", however, please do not apply for the designation. Only serious, dedicated
re-designers or stagers should consider going through the process.
While becoming a designated
professional by us is not as expensive as other
programs, it just may be more demanding. You see we don't care if you're already
"certified" by some other
organization. We don't care if you're an interior design graduate, or you've taken interior design classes or home staging classes
or seminars somewhere, nor do we care if you've bought our ebooks and books and studied our materials.
The bottom line is whether you have understood and mastered the concepts of arranging furniture and
accessories, the concepts of preparing a home for sale and understand the premise and goals of rearrangement design and home staging design to our
standards and whether we feel you have the ethics and people skills to represent the interior
rearrangement or home staging industries in an honorable and professional manner.
An Important Distinction
One thing must be pointed out. It's a very specific and serious distinction between a CRS certified
redesign specialist or a CSS certified staging specialist and those
who are part of other organizations or associations. Many trainers give a
certificate of completion at the end of a 3 or 5 day seminar or access to a
member-only website. You pay a fee
and you are rubber stamped "accredited", as if you earned credits like a
legitimate college or university would give. It's
misleading and can be considered worthless. It may be more popular, or have more media
exposure, but that's all.
Give me a program any day of the week that builds into it a process of
accountability. We actually fail people who apply. Now that's a process that has
integrity, power and substance.
We think
certification should be more demanding than attendance at a seminar or some
unknown completion of looking at web pages in a website somewhere and getting a
paper that says you did all the steps. Where is the accountability? Shouldn't
you have to prove in some way that you know your stuff and you know how to apply
what you've learned in the real world? Some of our worthy colleagues in the field are now offering examinations, which is
a step in the right direction. We are proud to be the pioneers in setting a high bar
to be reached. But we don't just test people. We make them provide a
portfolio of their work and prove their skill set is where it needs to be to
represent the industry on a professional level.
Our examination will determine whether a candidate has the knowledge - the
all important design concepts - and not just the knowledge but the ability to
articulate the concepts and their meanings. The portfolio process will determine
whether the candidate knows how to apply the concepts in real world situations.
Without the proper knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge, the
candidate will not be successful and the designation will be denied. We take
great pride in offering the finest, most substantive certification process in
the industry and we have no interest in being connected in any way to people who
have been "stamped" accredited by virtue of sitting in a chair for 3 days. We
also monitor the internet to make sure that our designations are not being
claimed and our symbols are not being used by those that have not earned the
right to such usage.
Please be aware, also, that a CRS/CSS endorsement will never be used to control the activities, particularly the marketing tactics and strategies, that
re-designers or stagers choose to employ.
Assuming that all CRS re-designers and CSS stagers conduct all of their advertising and services according to the laws of the United States Government
(or the country they reside in) and the laws of the state where they
reside, they never have to fear or be concerned that we will use their
designation as leverage to control how they manage their businesses,
unlike our competitors. All persons who go through our process are independent
contractors and responsible solely for the claims and representations they
make, the services and products they provide and all advice they give.
When you consider being in this industry for the long term, and the fact that you are a self employed entity, we
expect candidates to be mindful of the importance
of maintaining
their individual autonomy and the right to decide for themselves whether they wish to seek additional training from anyone and the right to govern
their marketing efforts.
It alarms us
that other organizations or associations assume the right to control their
trainee's businesses and to admonish members at their whim who choose to make decisions they do not
approve of.
No CRS/CSS specialist need ever worry about being admonished by us nor be concerned about losing their
designation
from us merely because they sought training elsewhere
or chose a marketing method that was different from any method taught by us.
We value and respect the individual entrepreneur and only seek to encourage and be a source
of great support for those we designate.
How Do You Evaluate Applicants?
We have put together a Qualification Standards
Evaluation and Review Program. Those rare and exceptional individuals that pass our evaluation requirements will
have passed a written exam, submitted a portfolio of before and after pictures (or .jpg files) of their work with
explanations of the projects submitted for review, and they will have supplied us with references that are
verifiable and of the highest standards. All materials submitted for evaluation and review shall become the
property of Decorate-Redecorate.Com and shall not be returned, so candidates should not submit original
photographs or other materials without making copies, but should make sure they are willing to part with whatever they submit
permanently. Decorate-Redecorate.Com reserves the right to use said photos and
descriptions for training and/or advertising purposes to benefit all other
trainees. No payment for use of said photos and materials shall be made to the
applicant.
Candidates will be judged on a variety of levels
including redesign and staging and all decisions are final. Once a candidate is
designated as a Certified Redesign Specialist or a Certified Staging Specialist, he or she will be given a certificate of
achievement.
Neither Barbara Jennings, nor Decorate-Redecorate.Com, nor any of our employees,
heirs or staff
shall be held liable, either legally or financially, for any representations, products or services that
a certified redesign specialist or certified staging specialist shall claim, offer or provide.
Candidates who do not pass our evaluation and review
process shall be turned down, but may re-apply again after a 3-month waiting period. More on this below.
Those taking training at a Diamond or Gold level will be guaranteed of ultimate
certification because we will personally work with them in training and the
development of a portfolio of distinction until they do pass. All others will be
turned down if their work does not rise to our level of expectation.
What Are the Fees for Certification?
Diamond and Gold level
trainees need not be concerned about any fees as they have paid their fees
already as part of their course. All others will have to pay the fee before the
process will begin.
An evaluation and review fee shall be paid in advance
with an applicant's Application Form. If the applicant is accepted, the entire fee shall be considered
the certification fee. There are no other fees required. Accepted candidates shall also be listed on this website
in the Staging and Redesign Directory at no additional charge and may feel free to refer prospects to their listing for
additional confirmation of their designation. A business listing in the
directory does not mean that all entities have achieved the designation of CRS
or CSS.
The evaluation and review fee is $150.00 (one time only)
for a single designation or $285 for double designation. The process has four steps. 1) Submit your application for
review and the required $150 fee or $285 fee. Link provided below. 2) Choose your specialty and take the exam.
You will be sent the exam by email. 3) You will be
required to submit before and after photographs or .jpg files of 5 rooms (single
designation) or 8 rooms (double designation) that you have personally rearranged or staged for clients.
Two of your rooms may belong to you, but the rest should be for other people, whether paid or for free. You must state the details
of each redesign or staged room so that we have adequate evidence that it reflects your work as a legitimate redesign or staging
specialist. 4) You must provide us with hand-written or typed and signed statements from 3-5 clients or individuals who
have experienced your talents and professionalism and who would recommend you and your services to others. Please don't submit a reference from your Mom.
:)
Once you have completed all of the steps listed above,
your submission will be reviewed. You will be notified in writing of our
decision within 2 weeks of submission. If your portfolio is accepted, you will be sent an official certificate of recognition and you
will be free to market your services as a trained specialist with the designation of CRS, CSS or both.
What If There are Two or More Partners From the Same Business?
While we would like to accommodate requests to designate a "business", we can only
evaluate individuals. The reason is that a business could go and hire individuals
that are not
capable in the redesign and staging concepts, yet using our emblems as if they were. So if you have a partner, you would each need to apply for
the designation
separately, with two different fees.
You each could turn in two rooms individually, then turn in the same 3 additional rooms that you have redesigned or staged jointly. Testimonials from clients
would have to include the names
of all parties that participated in the project.
We have to make sure that the people we sanction as being talented enough to use our
emblems have met our standards.
The only way to do this is to require each individual to apply separately.
There are partnerships where one person does the redesign/staging and the other person does the marketing. We would not want to certify someone who isn't knowledgeable
and talented in the design end but just doing the marketing end.
How Should I Prepare for the Exam?
Candidates who apply for designation from us have usually taken our training in design and the basic business tutorial first. Passing is not guaranteed and
the certification fee required does not include any training. To make sure you pass easily, we recommend you take the following training first:
- Home Staging for Profit (CSS) or Rearrange It (CRS)
- Decor Secrets Revealed
- Where
There's a Wall - There's a Way
If you study these tutorials we provide, you should have no problems passing the
exam. Otherwise, we have no idea what you know and what you may lack and passing is not guaranteed.
The fee is to cover our costs to process your application, review your exam and review your portfolio and does not include any training.
What If I Do Not Complete the
Designation Process?
Once you apply for Certification, there are no refunds.
Failure to take the exam or turn in a respectable portfolio is not acceptable.
We do not make refunds if you decide along the way you just don't want to
complete the process.
How Do I Apply?
Click on the link below and fill out the application
form in Step One. To purchase the Evaluation and Review for Certification, go to Step Two. When your
application and fee has been received, watch your email for further instructions on the Review Process.
You will be sent a link to fill out an online exam, and given further instructions for submitting
your picture portfolio and references.
Click Here to Apply for Interior Redesign or Home Staging
Designation
TESTIMONIAL - "I've enjoyed learning about Redesign and now Staging through Barbara Jennings books. She makes available many tools of the trade to help us build
our business. She keeps on top of the latest trends and keeps us informed through her monthly newsletter. Barbara has always been very helpful and understanding.
She has always responsed quickly when I've had a question or problem, so I know I can count on her in the future to do the same. - Jayne Obialero, CRS" TESTIMONIAL - "The training is fabulous and comprehensive. - Padma Nayak"
2004-Present Copyright Decorate-Redecorate.Com
| 
