FAQs

Home staging is the art and business of making homes attractive in order to obtain a higher property sale price or even a higher rental income on your investment property, faster.

It is the systematic process that involves many elements and aspects of maintenance, marketing and styling that, when combined, showcase a property’s strong points.

The International Institute of Home Staging (IIHS™) offers the first and only interactive online home staging and property styling courses in Australia.

This is provided at various levels, from introductory to more advanced certificate courses, giving you the tools and insights required to start your own successful home staging business, or even to just sell your own home for more.

Courses are as follows:

Course 1 – The Art of Home Staging

Course 2 – Advanced Home Staging

Course 3 – Starting My Own Home Staging

The courses offered are put together by IIHS™ founder Naomi Findlay and supported by a fantastic array of Australian design, styling and business mentors that provide great insight into what is a growing industry.

This expertise is designed to help Australian home owners, renovators, interior designers, property developers, budding entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to, to learn more about home staging. The skills and knowledge acquired from this course will give graduands the best chance of achieving the maximum sale price for their property in the least amount of time, or a creative new career in home staging, or the chance to start their own home staging business.

The courses are written by Naomi Findlay and along with other home staging professionals she assesses the course work and personally provides the support, advice and feedback to each student.

Naomi Findlay started her successful home staging business, SILK Home Staging & Styling, four years ago and is the founder of the International Institute of Home Staging (IIHS™). IIHS™  combines her experience in running her own successful home staging business with her awarded expertise in tertiary education.

Naomi has received teaching awards from the University of Newcastle and the Australian College of Education and been nominated for a national award with the Australian Teaching and Learning Council. She is also the author of a bestselling book, Ignite Your Property Mojo.

The courses are delivered online but students have the option to submit their assessment in various methods that suits each student individually, provided they meet the quality standards of the courses. Please see How do I submit the work?

A course certificate is issued and posted at the completion of each course.

Upon completing Course 1 – The Art of Home Staging, you will have developed foundational knowledge and skills in property buying and selling, design elements in home staging and home staging skills.

Upon completing Course 2 – Advanced Home Staging, you will have built on the skill set gained from Course 1 – The Art of Home Staging.

During this course we aim to complete and extend your skill bases as a home stager, provide you with foundation skills in advanced home staging techniques, mindset management, team building and communications.

By the time you finish the course, you will be confident in undertaking home staging work at a professional level.

Upon completing Course 3 – Starting My Own Home Staging, you will have developed fundamental business skills required to begin working in your own home staging or styling business. For those already in business, the course aims to provide participants with the skills and advice to re-energise and grow in the styling, staging and design industry.

It is important to note that this does not replace a small business management course, instead it is specifically focused on the skills you need to run a design and home staging business.

Each course is made up of modules that compliment one another and are essential for learning the best strategies and techniques in the home staging business.

Each course has different modules that build on the knowledge and skills acquired at each stage of completion:

Course 1 – The Art of Home Staging is made up of the following modules:

Module 1 How to sell a property for more

Module 2 Key mechanisms of home staging

Module 3 Design skills 1

Module 4 Design skills 2

Module 5 Home staging skills 1

Module 6 Home staging skills 2

Course 2 – Advanced Home Stagingis made up of the following modules:

Unit 1 Magic of Mindset

Unit 2 Starting a small business

Unit 3 Building a team

Unit 4 Colour and Light

Unit 5 Placement is Everything

Unit 6 Entries

Unit 7 Bathrooms

Unit 8 Dining Rooms

Unit 9 Kitchens

Unit 10 Living Spaces

Unit 11 Bedrooms

Unit 12 Outdoor Spaces

Unit 13 Communications

Unit 14 Client Consultations

Unit 15 Installations

Course 3 – Starting My Own Home Staging Businessis made up of the following modules:

Unit 1 Mindset

Unit 2 Business planning

Unit 3 Client Consultations

Unit 4 Branding

Unit 5 IT and Websites

Unit 6 Rates and Services

Unit 7 Public Relations

Unit 8 Social Media

Unit 9 Marketing and Sales

Unit 10 Advanced Communications skills

Unit 11 Inventory Management

There are no course pre-requisites for Course 1 –The Art of Home Staging.

However if you wish to continue with Course 2 – Advanced Home Staging, you need to have completed Course 1 and if you want to study Course 3 – Starting My Own Home Staging Business, you will need to have completed Course 1 and Course 2.

Each course and each unit are self paced and as a result the hours each individual student dedicates each week to its completion is individual and unique to each student’s situation.

For instance, some students spend 10 hours a week and finish the course in six weeks, others that have multiple demands at work and home can take up to a month to complete one module and that is ok too.

For each of the modules you will receive a workbook. This work book is downloaded as a PDF guide for you. Depending on the computer technology you have available you can submit your work in the form that is easiest and simplest for you. Most students use the work book as a guide and submit their work in various ways such as:

1. Printing the workbooks and completing it in hard copy, either returning it via snail mail or scanning it.

2. Using PDF software to complete the work within the downloaded file.

3. Requesting a word.doc version of the workbook to complete.

4. BUT most students simply create a document using, word, pages, PowerPoint or keynote that contains their work and email it back as a PDF to IIHS™ for assessment.

The format of work submission is up to each student and the International Institute of Home Staging™  is happy to work with students in the medium they prefer as long as the work is well presented and of a high standard.

Assessment tasks are scattered throughout the course with a major work to be completed at the end of the course. All assessment items need to be passed in order to pass the course, there are no electives.

On submission of assessments a confirmation email will be sent within 48 working hours of the IIHS™  receiving the submission.

The next unit of work will be sent out within five working days and the feedback / results of the assessment within two working weeks of the submission.

Assessment for Course 3 – Starting My Own Home Staging Business differs slightly in that each of the modules has substantial work that needs to be completed on an action or assessment basis. By action we mean that after each module we will be asking you to take actions towards improving your existing or developing your new business components that pertain to each module. This may be the completion of a basic business plan or report for a prospective client – all practical business orientated tasks.

This being the case modules will be released either when the previous module submission is received and marked or at one month time periods, but not any sooner, as we really want you to have time to work through the modules and start building your business as you learn.

Support can be obtained at any stage during the course via email at [email protected] or by calling 1300 769 028.

Email support and turn around is within 48 working hours.

There is no practical assessment component to the courses.

However, Course 3 – Starting My Own Home Staging Business is assessed based on measurable action steps toward improving you existing business or setting up your new one.

There are a myriad of skills that need to be mastered in order to develop, begin and sustain a home staging business.

We always recommend you expand your knowledge and skills in starting a business by undertaking a small business management course as the skills you need to run a small business are not only confined to design and home staging skills.

Payment can be made at the beginning of each course. Or by payment plans, the payment plans vary depending on the course and full details can be found for each at http://www.instituteofhomestaging.com/shop/