Educational costs are soaring even as the economy is plummeting, making the price tag of a traditional interior design course shoot off the charts. That’s why many savvy students are opting instead to go into redesign staging which doesn’t require a degree to get started.
Here are a few of the primary benefits to starting a career in home redesign rather than traditional design according to Barbara Jennings, director of the Academy of Staging and Redesign.
1) No college education needed for redesign – To properly prepare for an interior design education that leads to a career, a student typically must receive a Bachelor’s Degree at an accredited 4 year college or design school. Four years is a long time to wait to enter the field as an employee or entrepreneur.
2) Little to no risk to start a redesign business – Interior design involves time consuming and costly investments in samples, vendor books, products and operations. Building up a client list can be long and arduous. Mistakes happen that can also be costly and non-recoupable. However redesign has almost no risk and start-up costs are minimal.
3) Projects are completed in one day for fast rewards – Projects in traditional design can become quite extensive, involving many permits and contractors. Delays and problems are commonplace. However, in redesign, the essence of the service is working with the furniture and accessories the client already owns and projects are typically completed in half day or full day sessions.
4) Costs associated with learning are minimal – The expense of a four year degree at a college prevent many people from entering the interior design field. Those that do are often left with huge loans to repay. Re-designers can learn quickly through home study courses and repay their costs immediately with fees charged to one or two clients.
5) Associated services, like house staging, are easily incorporated – Additional lucrative services can easily be incorporated into a redesign business, such as house staging, color consultation, floral design, party decorating, shopping services and a host of others. Since the services are simplified, the life of a re-designer is much more free and adaptable.
“One designer I know transposed code numbers on a commercial installation of carpeting. All the carpeting had to be torn out and replaced and tens of thousands of dollars had to be absorbed by the designer at a loss. This would never happen in redesign.” commented Jennings.
As more and more people hold on to their present home because of the collapsing economy, redesign is becoming the decorating method of choice by consumers and professionals alike.
Barbara Jennings has over 20 years experience in the interior redesign and home staging industry. Barbara’s Academy of Staging and Redesign is the world’s largest and most affordable home study interior redesign and home staging training center.
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Cebu Philippines has been dubbed the “Milan of Asia”, and if you know your geography, you know what it implies. Despite the lack of a major source of material and the difficulty in obtaining them, Cebuanos still come up with globally competitive products many the world over are in wonderment of. Why? What is the secret? In talks with many of those in the industry and with those outside of it, they all agree that the number one factor for the continuing stature that the products enjoy is the genius and creativity of the Cebuanos and of the designers in cebu philippines.
The lack of rattan, a major component, has challenged them to come up with other materials that may substitute for rattan or may be combined with it and thus lessen their need for it. With materials like stone, aluminum, wrought iron, wood, coco and sea shells, bamboo, banana bark, abaca, steel, leather, tikog, sea grass, lampakanai and other indigenous materials, Cebuanos come up with the most contemporary and exciting designs ever, yet still retaining the beauty of form and function in the resulting products.
The second factor is the skill and artistry of the workers. Cebu has a history of its people’s ingenuity in making do with what they have, given the land they cannot really depend on for food and livelihood. Cebuanos are used to making things work with whatever is on hand for them to work with. And because they are surrounded by beautiful, natural scenery, they can’t help but turn out things of beauty. They are naturally artistic. Capitalizing on masterful Filipino abilities, the Philippine-made furniture today is a fusion of eastern craftsmanship, natural materials, age-old traditions, clever designs and modern technology.
Current Trends
Every year, since 1988, Cebu International Furniture and Furnishings Exhibition or “Cebu Xcite”, is held to showcase what a Cebu furniture exporter has to offer to the world. The show, dubbed Cebu X, is held the first week of March at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Cebu, Philippines in Cebu Philippines. Organized by the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation, Inc.(CFIF).
It is now the “must-see” show among the many furniture design shows in Asia. The show has long been recognized as the foremost exhibition of its kind in the Philippines, and through 17 years of design innovation and the occasional revolution, it is an influential barometer of the region’s design direction. Make your reservations now to attend the show at the CFIF website.
Based on the industry’s latest offerings, and on talks with a Cebu furniture exporter, Alan Murillo, we can conclude the following design trends in furniture:
* First, the trend to use mixed media as material for furniture. There are reasons for this, one of which is the scarcity of materials that have been used for furniture. Now, manufacturers and designers are using non-traditional materials and traditional craftsmanship mixed with modern technology. The materials may be ethnic but the sensibility is modern. Another reason for this mixing of materials is the new realization among the Cebu furniture export manufacturers not to waste nature’s bounty, but to enhance, protect and preserve it, as much as possible. Not only for this generation but for future generations as well.
* The use of material that makes the furniture light and airy. This is what the Europeans call the Asian lifestyle trend, or what some dubbed as the tropical feel, or the urban ethnic. The material may be indigenous- coco shell, sugarcane stalks, abaca, rope, sea grass, -but with the consummate Filipino craftsmanship and artistry married to the state-of-the art machinery, the results are urbane designs, unmistakably contemporary, thoroughly modern.
* The result of all this is what Mr. Murillo calls a “responsible design.” The design with a social conscience. Materials such as coco and bamboo, long used locally in relatively basic applications are now transformed into highly evolved finished pieces that comply with the strictest international standards on the use of non-toxic chemicals and the preservation of the environment. When designing furniture now, they see to it no laws-social, environmental, or otherwise-are being violated.
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