Complaint Review: Certified Interior Decorators International

to the best of us.

Tried to edit the orig post, but it posted it as an update/rebuttal. Oh, well.

how education works in third world countries.

Hey at least they passed you.

Why not go for the phd? 

in medicine.

I am a CID member. I finished the entire course in one afternoon. It is that easy and that fast. You pay $1,000 for the course, and for that money you get a single 3-ring binder with computer-printed worksheets and a couple of $5 furniture templates that you can buy almost anywhere, but that you paid an extra $225.00 for. Moreover, the entire CID/DTI training package cost $10 to ship but you are charged $25 for postage.

I like Mr. Renner and I hate to say this, but the CID training course really is just silly to any serious design student. And apparently that is common knowledge throughout the industry; many of CID's students end up continuing their education elsewhere and the other schools say they are getting an earful about how incomplete and watered down CID's training is.  I can personally promise any potential CID student that you will be completely unprepared to enter the decorating field when you are done. I literally said, out loud, after finishing my final exam "that's it?" I couldn't believe I had just paid for that. The course is so obviously aimed at EVERYONE passing so that everyone will become a $225.00/yr dues-paying member.

Upon completion, I still felt untrained and unable to start working as a decorator. I didn't have a clue how much to charge, how to bill, etc.  There was absolutely no mention of how to arrange furniture, what fabrics to use, what went together and what didn't, how to decorate large spaces or small spaces or commercial spaces or any spaces, what kind of furniture to use, when to use it, how to use it, etc.  You literally get one page on each of the different periods in history that related to design (Gothic, Renaissance, Early American, etc) and nothing specific to decorating.  The worksheet questions are word-for-word from the reading and are asked in the same order as the reading so you absolutely can not miss them.  Each "chapter" is about 5-10 pages long.  There are 8 chapters. (Do you seriously believe you are going to make a $40,000 salary after reading 50 pages? The Home Decorating For Dummies book is longer than that!)

Unfortunately, I am now looking at having to spend an additional $2k for another decorating course that includes DVDs, videos of actual designer-client meetings, question sheets (a list of questions to ask clients), step-by-step directions how to conduct meetings with clients, lists of trade showrooms, books, supplies, continuing education, decorating bootcamps, yearly conventions at the Ritz-Carlton in Florida, forum membership, etc. Even "The Decorating Den" offers more complete training, conventions, a van full of supplies for their graduates to take to meetings, a Web site, etc. (That isn't the one I am taking next, but it did sound way better than CID.) 

In closing, I am sad to say CID's training is severely inadequate and not worth the money that you pay, or must continue to pay in yearly dues. It's nice to be able to say I am a certified decorator, and it's nice to get discounts at showrooms, but I really learned next to nothing with the course. Additional education WILL be required. (Also, you will not be allowed to be a member of any other organization, or list any other certification or training on your business cards if you want to stay a member of CID. They do not allow it.)