Interior decorating allows for endless creative possibilities

Clarissa Stevens-Guille is no stranger to reinvention. As a business owner who then worked a day job, became a student, then an instructor, then an entrepreneur again, she’s keen to share her passion for interior decorating with students, clients and anyone interested in creating beautiful, functional spaces through Mount Royal’s Interior Decorating Extension Certificate program and courses.

Stevens-Guille has always been intrigued by fabric and textiles; having worked in fabric stores as a teenager, she transformed that intrigue into income while she was living in The Netherlands in the 1990s. She started a retail store selling curtain and upholstery fabric imported from the United States and distributors from all over Europe.

When she eventually returned to Canada after 15 years in Europe, she was excited because — unlike in The Netherlands at the time, where peoples’ career paths were chosen while in high school — there were a variety of options available for continuing education. Choosing to study the interior decorating program at Toronto’s George Brown College, Stevens-Guille also earned her license as a residential real estate agent in Ontario. Her initiative also set her on a new path when she noticed an opportunity.

“Near the end of my interior decorating course, I overheard some students saying that this was a great program and they wanted to earn the certificate but didn’t know what would happen after that,” Stevens-Guille explains. “They were wondering how to go about starting a business. At the time, there was no business course in the program, so I put together a curriculum and went to the dean to propose teaching it. I put together a 30-hour course and ended up teaching it about six times over three years.”

The teaching skillset paid off when Stevens-Guille moved to Calgary. “One of the first job postings I saw was an ad looking for a continuing education instructor,” she says. “I’d only ever taught the business course but was assigned the Materials for Window Treatments and Soft Furnishings course, which was a perfect fit. I’ve now taught every course in the certificate program except for Perspective Drawing.”

Her favourite course, she says, has got to be Interiors Past and Present. “When I was a student, my favourite class was about the history of furniture. The instructor did such an amazing job that I wanted to teach it too - it was on my bucket list. Now, I’ve taught it at least 20 times and I learn something new every time I teach it. 

“It's the one course where I tell students ‘you’ll never look at furniture the same way again’. Understanding history and the way we’ve lived in our homes just gives you such a different way of looking at the world.”

Now back in Ontario and working as a real estate agent and operating Create Design Home, her own interior decorating and staging company, Stevens-Guille encourages students to take a chance on exploring their options through interior decorating.

“Many of my students work as decorators. Some came from the retail world, some worked for builders doing the interiors of those homes. Some have gone onto the more architectural side of things, learning building information modelling and drafting. Some have taken interior design so that they have those skills in addition to interior decorating. Occasionally, some are interested in staging for real estate.”

Stevens-Guille says this career path is the perfect fit for those with a creative bent. “You need to be creative,” she says. “You can do so many different things and there are so many possibilities. I think that’s why I love it.”

Courses for the Interior Decorating Extension Certificate program are open for registration. Visit the program page to learn more.