 The Final Piece
Interior Decorator launches award-winning career with help from George Brown courses
Laura Stein has a history with design. She is well versed in the theoretical aspects of design thanks to her time as both an art director with an advertising agency and a graphic designer with a publisher. Despite her credentials, she still felt something was missing from her resumé as she prepared to enter the world of interior decorating: practical knowledge of the industry.
“I decided, when I moved back to Toronto from Boston, that I wanted to get into the decorating industry,” Laura recalls. “As such, I needed industry knowledge, so I began working at HGTV as an assistant stylist. That gave me a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs.”
But that was only part of Laura’s plan. She also began to take classes toward the Interior Decorating Certificate offered through Continuing Education at George Brown College, and it was just what she was looking for.
“The classes that taught me how to do my job were the most influential,” the 37-year-old says. “The design classes were familiar because of my background. What was important to me was to learn how to get things done. That practicality was absolutely vital.”
From January 2006 to March 2009, Laura attended classes at George Brown’s Casa Loma campus, earning her certificate and getting a first-hand look at how the interior decorating industry actually works. In addition to the guest speakers and field trips to industry hot spots, the hands-on nature of the program worked to dispel the misconceptions about the industry.
“The foundation classes are a great overview of what the industry is about and what goes into putting a room together,” she says. “Television offers a very idealized version of what we do. George Brown courses are great because they prepare you for what you actually have to do – it goes beyond just putting colours and patterns together.”
Laura got a chance to put those lessons to use rather quickly when she opened her own business, Laura Stein Interiors, after her television contracts finished in July 2006. She also became a member of the Canadian Decorators’ Association (CDECA) while still in school.
That membership proved to be a great marketing tool for her company and her designs. With several projects already completed, Laura submitted them for consideration at the 2010 CDECA Awards.
“When I found out that I had earned Silver in both Design Excluding Kitchens and Decorating Under $25K, I was ecstatic,” Laura says.
The accolades just kept rolling in: Laura has been a featured expert on Canada AM, Global News and Real Life and in The Toronto Star, the National Post and the Toronto Sun among others. She won a 2011 Consumers Choice Award as the Best Interior Decorator in Toronto and earned Gold in the Interior Decoration Under $25K category at the 2011 CDECA Awards.
“Personally, it’s exciting and really fulfilling to be recognized by peers and others in the industry, both locally and nationally. It’s an affirmation that I’m doing a good job,” she says. “Professionally, it reassures clients and gives the business a sense of credibility. They know they’ve hired somebody with success and industry recognition.”
Laura shares that her courses were instrumental in successfully launching her interior decorating career.
“The classes at George Brown focus on how to design, how to execute those designs and, most importantly, how to get it into your client’s home,” she says. “At the end of the day, that’s what you absolutely have to do as an interior decorator.”
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