Interior Decorating Curriculum

In this course, you’ll learn how to navigate your Penn Foster program. You'll also learn about the structure and features of your program and some resources and study tips to help you succeed in your studies. You’ll also be introduced to the world of interior decorating. You’ll learn about employment opportunities in the field and the characteristics of a successful decorator. You’ll analyze your abilities to find your strongest area of expertise and learn how to identify and interview your clients. You’ll also start building your decorating skills.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Identify all components and materials in your program
• Identify ways to use Penn Foster’s helpful services and academic resources
• Identify Penn Foster’s academic and behavioral policies
• Choose effective study and time management skills
• Identify historical factors that affect decorating
• Compare and contrast interior decorators and interior designers
• Explain interviewing techniques to determine the needs of potential clients
• Discuss characteristics of different types of clients
• Identify employment opportunities in the field of interior decorating
• Identify different specialty areas in decorating
• Recognize ways to gain experience in the field of decorating

Everyone has different ideas of what attractive and functional mean. As a decorator, you must establish what makes a room attractive and functional for that specific client. In this course, you’ll learn methods to determine and meet the needs of your decorating clients. In addition, you’ll learn about elements of design—including line, form, color, texture, pattern, light, and space—and principles of design—including balance, proportion, scale, emphasis, and unity.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Recognize the need for custom decorating
• Identify basic physical and psychological needs common to most clients
• Observe a specific client’s needs in the categories of family membership (personal characteristics) and room-by-room activities
• Determine a client’s preferences in regard to furniture styles, colors, fabrics, textures, and patterns
• Establish a furnishings inventory for your client
• Determine your client’s goal and budget priorities
• Identify the basic shape and structural features of an unfurnished room
• Recognize whether or not the elements and principles of design have been successfully applied to a decor
• Describe what interior decorators mean by the golden mean
• Explain the importance of function in laying out a room or space
• Explain the purpose of focal points in a decorated room
• Define and identify the elements of design, including line, form, color, value, texture, pattern, light, and space
• Define and identify the principles of design, including proportion, scale, emphasis, and unity

To become a successful interior decorator, you must learn to master the use of color. In this course, you’ll learn many principles to help you control the use of color in your work. You’ll also learn about furniture styles from different periods throughout history and be able to distinguish what periods and styles have been incorporated into a specific piece of furniture. In addition, you’ll learn how to create successful furniture arrangements.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Explain the importance of color in decorating and how color affects people
• Discuss specific properties of color and explain how color balance is created within a room
• Identify primary, secondary, and intermediate colors and show their placement on the color circle
• Recognize various types of color schemes based on the color circle
• Demonstrate how to lessen the intensity of a color
• Explain how colors affect each other and how the amount of light and various surfaces can affect color
• Use a variety of sources as inspiration for color schemes
• Experiment with watercolors to become more familiar with colors and how to use them in decorating
• Define the terms furniture style and period furniture
• Name the four general categories of furniture styles most widely used today
• Recognize typical furniture pieces from the past to the present day, and name the general periods during which these pieces originated
• Define the term eclectic as it refers to furniture, and explain how to create an eclectic look
• Plan furniture to meet a client’s needs based on best use as well as appearance
• Recognize traffic patterns in a room and plan furniture arrangements around them
• Create harmonious furniture arrangements by balancing line, object, and space and by combining harmonious materials and styles
• Measure a room, make a rough sketch of the room, and prepare an accurate scaled plan
• Plan furniture for a room by using blueprints when available or scaled floor plans
• Use templates in planning furniture arrangements
• Recognize quality workmanship in furniture
• Analyze the focal points and architectural elements of a room when planning furniture arrangements

In this course, you’ll begin by focusing on floors and walls. First, you’ll learn the differences among various floor coverings available to professional decorators and study the characteristics of each type. Next, you’ll learn which wall treatments are best for which decor and how to properly install a wide variety of wall treatments. You’ll also learn how to draw detailed plans of walls called elevations. Then, you’ll study how to draw, plan, order, and arrange for the installation of custom window treatments to complement every style of decor. Finally, you’ll learn how to use blueprints to plan decorating schemes and how to offer help and suggestions for remodeling jobs.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Explain the importance of floor treatments and the importance of using an appropriate floor treatment
• Discuss the effects of lighting on floor treatments
• Compare the differences between types of flooring and floor coverings and explain where each can be used effectively
• Differentiate between carpets and rugs and identify the characteristics of each
• Select and use appropriate finishes on floors
• Plan attractive floors in tile, stone, slate, brick, vinyl, linoleum, terrazzo, and indoor-outdoor carpeting
• Distinguish between various architectural features of walls and use them in decorating
• Use color, texture, and patterns on walls to create specific decorating effects
• Identify and use a wide variety of wall coverings
• Prepare accurate scaled elevations and floor plans
• Recognize and describe different types of windows
• Identify various types of window treatments
• Choose appropriate window treatments for certain types of decorative styles and window problems
• Choose window shades, blinds, shutters, and panels to suit many decorating situations
• Describe how to save energy through the use of certain window treatments
• Determine accurate measurements for windows
• Calculate yardage requirements for curtains and draperies
• Calculate measurements for shades and blinds
• Draw windows to scale on an elevation
• Identify certain decorating problems or situations when reading blueprints
• Recognize a wide variety of architectural symbols and terms
• Name three types of house plans
• Evaluate house plan layouts according to their activity zones
• Discuss specific decorating problems and solutions, room by room
• Apply decorating ideas in a variety of practice situations

In this course, you’ll take a close-up look at fabrics to learn how different fabrics can transform a room. You’ll learn how to light a room to meet all your client’s needs and desires. You’ll study proper lighting requirements for all of the tasks performed in an ordinary household and develop skills for choosing accessories for your clients. In addition, you’ll learn how to plan for and decorate special-purpose rooms, such as home offices, home fitness centers, or home entertainment centers.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Name the natural and synthetic fibers and list the characteristics of each
• Discuss the types of special fabric finishes
• Identify types of knits, yarns, and common weaves
• Explain how texture affects fabric selection
• Give examples of various types of pattern techniques in fabrics
• Identify three important factors in choosing fabric patterns for furniture
• Explain the information on an upholstery tag
• Estimate fabric yardage requirements for upholstery, fabric-covered screens, and fabric-covered walls
• Identify the three types of residential lighting and explain the purpose of each type
• Name the five ways that light can be directed
• Distinguish between light fixtures and lamps
• Compare incandescent and fluorescent lighting
• List examples of where different wattages of light are suitable
• Explain the effects of natural and artificial light on specific colors of decor
• Choose suitable lighting for the selection of coordinated paint, fabric, and wallpaper for a room
• Plan appropriate lighting for various rooms and specific situations
• Meet the challenge of selecting and arranging room accessories
• Differentiate between functional and decorative accessories
• Explain how to use wall and table accessories singly and in groups
• Set a room’s style and mood with accessories
• Plan spaces for home offices, home fitness centers, and home entertainment rooms
• Select furniture for these rooms, based on anthropometric and ergonomic principles
• Make recommendations to clients about equipment for these rooms
• Provide your clients with lighting solutions appropriate for these spaces

In this course, you’ll learn about the close relationship between sales and a career as an interior decorator. You’ll learn skills and techniques of selling and how to adapt them to develop your own style of selling. You’ll also learn how to serve your clients through an organized follow-up system and how to prospect for new clients. You can apply the skills and techniques you’ll learn for selling and follow-up to any product. In addition, you’ll learn basic information about establishing your own business as an interior decorator.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• List important traits of a good salesperson
• Describe aspects of attitude and appearance that are necessary for success in sales
• Describe how to approach a client
• Define and use examples of open-ended and close-ended questions
• Outline a method for reapproaching a client
• Describe the five areas in which you must qualify a client
• Define feature and benefit as these terms apply to selling furniture, and give examples of each
• Prepare examples of closing statements
• Define and set up a follow-up system
• List reasons why a follow-up system is important
• Write appropriate thank-you notes
• Describe a good telephone follow-up
• Describe ways to prospect for new clients
• Establish yourself as a professional
• Develop a decorating program
• Discuss how to work with clients
• Assemble a decorating team
• Work with subcontractors, tradespeople, and custom fabricators
• Locate suppliers and set up a source file
• Define types of businesses and special licenses
• Locate an office or studio
• Establish and expand your clientele
• Explain how to charge clients and collect payments
• Set up bookkeeping and files and inventory and billing control, and use appropriate business forms
• Keep records for income and self-employment taxes

In this course, you’ll put into practice all of the principles you’ve studied throughout your program. First, you’ll complete a project that requires you to develop a decorating plan for a living room, either your own or someone else’s. Your decorating plan should include paint chips, fabric swatches, and photographs, similar to a presentation that you would make to a client for his or her approval. Then, you’ll complete a final exam.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Develop a decorating plan for a living room and submit specific information regarding the plan along with photographs, floor plans, paint chips, fabric swatches, window treatments, and elevations
• Pass the cumulative final examination