Your future in
Interior Decorating
Downloadable
Course Information
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From the Leisure Study Group, South Africa
Sheffield School of Interior Design
MMeet our Director of Studies … Phillippa (Pippa) Miller
Pippa has been our Director of Studies for two years now. She holds a Diploma in Interior Design, and graduated in 1983. After having worked as an Interior Designer for eight years, she started her own company in 1992.
Today, she is still actively involved in running her Interior Design company, and is thus well qualified to help students learn to do the same. She feels that a designer's job is to interpret the wishes of clients and guide them through the decorating process, and so has found it very satisfying producing beautiful environments that meet the needs of clients.
Pippa gains great pleasure and satisfaction from helping students explore and express their creativity while showing them new and exciting skills.
Meet one of our graduated students … Charles Spence
Charles enrolled for the Sheffield course in late 1992 and graduated in early 1995. He was guided through the course with the assistance of one of the school’s senior tutors, Mr Paul Simons.
Charles has now started his own successful interior design business. He claims he owes his success to the school and his tutor. He lists as one of his recent accomplishments a project that he undertook, the refurbishment of the foyer of a prominent hotel.
When we recently contacted him to ask for a few comments regarding the course he said: “The course and my tutor were terrific.”
Sheffield School of Interior Design offices:South Africa / Australia / New Zealand / Singapore
Tuition House
44 Main St
Howick, 3290
KwaZulu-Natal
Tel: 27 (0)33 330-4880
Fax: 27 (0)33 330-5195
Web: www.Lsgi.co.za / 2/1 Vuko Place
Warriewood
NSW 2102
Tel: (61-2) 9970-6578
Fax: (61-2) 9970-6579 / 3rd Floor
Hope Gibbons Building
Courtenay Place
Wellington
Tel: (64-4) 385-0623
Fax: (64-4) 385-0622 / 100 Jalan Sultan
#09-14 Sultan Plaza
Singapore
Tel: (65) 294-1320
Fax: (65) 294-1349
Email: / Email:
Do you enjoy doing your own decorating? Have you ever helped a friend solve a decorating problem? Then you probably have the makings for a rewarding career.
Perhaps you want to learn decorating so that you can beautify your own home and proudly live in an environment that expresses the creative talents within you.
Perhaps you are seeking a well-paid career as a part-time or full-time interior designer. Trained interior decorators can earn higher incomes.
Either way, even if you’ve done no decorating and have no business experience, you may be one of many people with latent talent waiting to be discovered.
Sheffield School of Interior Design training can help you bring out your hidden talent for decorating. And you can train for this satisfying and profitable career at home, in your spare time. No previous skill or experience is required to start.
Opportunities for interior decorators and designers are increasing each year. Interior decorating is one of today’s growth fields.
Today, large numbers of average homeowners and apartment dwellers rely on the services of decorators. They know that an interior decorator can provide beauty and individuality to their homes, can make their homes more comfortable and functional and can save them money too.
Interior decorators are busy in many areas outside the home too. Their talents are employed in decorating offices, boutiques, hotel and motel rooms, public lobbies and many other interesting spaces.
All these possibilities are open to you once you have been trained in interior decoration the unique Sheffield School of Interior Design way. In this booklet, you will read about some of the opportunities offered today by a career in decorating, and how Sheffield training can make it “happen” for you.
by Bill Turner
Dean of the Sheffield School (USA)
In fact, it’s difficult for me to think of a career that could give me deeper personal satisfaction. When I first entered this field, I pursued it as an interesting way to earn a living. But after a while, I found that it did much more for me – it broadened my horizons and enriched my whole life.
I believe this field can do the same for you. Everything you look at – a sunset, a flower, a painting, or a fabric – will take on a new meaning as you learn about design and colour.
What does it take to succeed?
I think your success in the decorating field depends on your interest in the art of living. If you enjoy working with interesting people, then this may be the field for you.
How can you get started?
I started in Birmingham, Alabama and went on to success in New York and Palm Beach. Now you may ask yourself: “Do such glamorous opportunities exist in my town?” The answer is yes. Wherever people live and work – from coast to coast, in big city and small town – there are people who want to make their homes and offices more beautiful, more exciting, more colourful. All of these people represent opportunity for you as an interior decorator. Begin with your own home – even a single room. That’s how most successful decorators started, and that’s how I started. To this day, l use my own home as a showcase for my talents. You can do the same. And you will probably also use your home as your first “office” too. / What can you earn?
I’ve said that interior decoration has been an extremely high paying field for me. Of course, you can’t start at the top. So, the real question is, What can you expect to earn after a couple of years in your own community?
While I can’t tell you exactly how much you will earn, I can tell you that even a small decorating project can net you thousands of rands. Whether you work only in your spare time or start a full-time career in interior decoration, your income can be considerable if you bring to your job sincerity, enthusiasm, and sound training.
The ultimate satisfaction
Aside from profit, as a trained decorator you will move constantly into new worlds of experience. That is the ultimate satisfaction I have derived from this wonderful profession. You will develop a fresh and discerning eye whenever you travel at home or abroad – at showrooms and trade exhibits … at exhibitions of art, sculpture and handicrafts … at antique shows and auctions. And you will become knowledgeable on all aspects of gracious living.
Most important, you will become intimately involved with people in one of the most personal aspects of their lives – the homes where they live and the places where they work.
Being an interior decorator has enriched my life in all these ways. It has provided me with a fine livelihood. It has bought me creative satisfaction.
Here’s how the Sheffield School
trains you step by step:
Within a few days after you mail back your Enrolment Form for your no-risk Trial Enrolment, you will receive a package. It’s your first Sheffield School Training Portfolio, and it contains five complete lessons, magnificently printed on giant-size vellum paper; a convenient and attractive slipcase in which to store all your lessons; a one-hour video tape and an audio cassette tape lasting over one-and-a-half hours.
With all this material you may be wondering where to start. The covering letter tells you: “Find a comfortable corner in your home. Sit back. Turn on the cassette tape. And relax. On the tape, Dean Bill Turner will tell you exactly where to start and what to do – step by step, page by page.”
What could be easier?
.
Course Outline – 30 Complete Lessons
EYE OF THE DESIGNER
Your course starts you at the very beginning. You learn how to “see” a room … what to look for, how to plan ahead, how to visualise the finished result.
PLANNING FOR PEOPLE
Successful rooms are rooms that “work” for people. Our exclusive lifestyle questionnaire helps you determine the personal needs of your clients – and their budgets and taste.
SKETCHING A ROOM
You are shown a simple way to measure a room and make a rough sketch of all its details – including closets, windows, doors, fireplaces, radiators, electrical fixtures, unusual shapes.
DRAWING A FLOORPLAN
You don’t need any artistic ability to convert your rough sketch into a professional floorplan using our unique, simple, step-by-step method. You’re provided with all the tools you need – a professional drawing board, graph paper, even pencils!
PLANNING A FURNITURE LAYOUT
You learn how to create a focus, establish an axis, provide traffic patterns. Exclusive Sheffield Furniture Cutouts that you move around the room make it easy and fun. Then, using your Sheffield Furniture Templates, you quickly draw your furniture layout onto the floorplan by just tracing the outlines.
LIGHTING A ROOM
The most beautiful room can be destroyed by bad lighting. You learn a simple way to plan interesting, dramatic lighting in any room of the house. How to use different lighting fixtures – modern and traditional. How to draw your lighting plan onto your furniture layout.
FABRICS
You learn how to select fabrics for upholstery and draperies. The advantages and disadvantages of different fibres – wool, silk, cotton, synthetics, etc. Where to find the best buys. How to order.
You are even trained to feel the “hand” of the most important fabrics by practising with samples in your Sheffield Fabric Swatch Kit.
WINDOW TREATMENTS
Windows will be among the most decorative aspects of your rooms. You are trained to select and use all types of treatments – curtains and draperies, Roman and Austrian shades, venetian and vertical blinds, shutters, valances and cornices. Which treatment is best for which situation. How to order materials.
WALL TREATMENTS
How to select and use wallpaper. How to get the best prices. What you should know to ensure a perfect paint job. How to work with your painter. How to use wood panelling.
FLOORING TREATMENTS
How to select the right flooring – rugs or carpeting, wood planking, marble, quarry tile, mosaic tile, vinyl tile, linoleum. How to recognise and choose a fine rug – Chinese, Persian, Kelim, Aubusson, Rya, Berber, Floktaki; and fine carpeting – Wilton, Axminster, velvet, saxony, shag.
COLOUR SCHEMES
Four lessons train your eye to see subtle differences in colour. The Sheffield Painting Kit (supplied) trains you to use hues, shades, tints, tones, intensities to plan sure-fire colour schemes every time.
HARMONY AND ACCESSORIES
You learn how to put a room together – how to combine fabrics, window treatments, flooring and accessories. “Camouflage” to make a room seem larger or smaller, wider or narrower. How to design a perfect room, down to the smallest vase or ashtray.
ROOMS OF THE HOUSE
Detailed requirements for living rooms, bedrooms, dens, children’s rooms, guest rooms, stairways, halls, playrooms. How to expand closet space. How to handle unusual situations and solve unusual problems.
KITCHENS AND BATHS
You learn to outfit “dream” kitchens and baths. How to plan exciting, unusual effects. How to use space and lighting for dramatic impact.
PERIOD FURNITURE
Our exclusive Spotters Guide System in four complete lessons will enable you to recognise all the major types of period: American Colonial, Italian, Spanish, and Mediterranean, Baroque, Louis XIV, XV and XVI, Directoire, Empire, Queen Anne, Georgian, Chip-pendale, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Adam, Federal, Duncan Phyfe, Victorian, M Deco, Contemporary-Bauhaus, Scandinavian, Italian, High-Tech and Post-Modern. You’ll learn to recognise these styles once and for all and how to use them!
FINISHED PRESENTATION
How to prepare and present your completed plans to your clients in the most appealing and professional manner. How to prepare your final drawings using your Sheffield Drawing Kit (supplied). How to present a budget. How to handle questions, suggestions and objections. How to sell your ideas to your clients.
BUSINESS METHODS
In a series of six “insider” lessons you learn step-by-step how to get started in your own interior design business – and succeed! How to charge. How much to charge. How much profit to expect. How to be welcomed into “trade-only” showrooms and get the largest possible designers’ discount. How to set up your first office in a corner of your home. How to promote and advertise. How to handle the initial interview with clients. Follow-up meetings. How to shop with clients. How NOT to shop! How to work with vendors and contractors.
You receive the Sheffield Business Kit, containing all the forms you need to get going – letterhead, envelopes, business cards, billing forms, etc. Everything you need to get started in your own business. You are prepared for success!
What kind of life do you seek
as an interior decorator?
Extra money
from freelancing
Want to earn extra money in your spare time? Interior decoration offers wonderful opportunities, and Sheffield shows you how to find them in your community and trains you to handle them successfully.
If you dislike routine and love travel, this can be a career for you. Set your own hours as a freelance. Take time off when you feel like it. Travel on tax-deduct-ible trips to furniture market centres, showrooms, antique fairs and trade shows throughout the world. Your home can serve as your office. And you don't need to invest large sums of money.