Home Staging Course Reviews

We’ve pulled together a comprehensive library of home staging course reviews over the years, and have a thorough understanding of what students want to learn, and how much they are willing to pay.

Home staging courses range in price from $10 to over $2000, and you get what you pay for. For this reason, we’ll be avoiding cheap courses (under $50) since the value you get from these is of very low quality. You should be prepared to pay $150 to $500 for a course that will provide enough information, resources, and guidance for you to go and start a home staging business.

Best home staging course revealed

Although we’ve reviewed many home staging courses individually, our ultimate guide ranks the best home staging courses and reveals our top 5 picks.

Start with reviewing the Top 5 Picks, ten if you need to know more about an individual course, dive into the details from the list below.

Home staging courses we’ve reviewed:

Course	Description
	The Home Staging Institute is perhaps the oldest provider of online home staging courses being established in 2007. Home Staging Institute courses start at $177, have payments plans, and offer 30-day money back guarantee, no questions asked. The course is frequently updated, with the last major update being December 2022. Read our Home Staging Institute review.
	The Staging Diva Program touts itself as “the only program you need to turn your creative skills into a successful business”. It is suitable for all types of students, from those just getting started in home staging, to those who have been doing it for years and want to grow their knowledge in this industry. Read our Staging Diva review.
	Staging Studio offers three courses / levels of certification and was created by owners of a successful North American home staging business. Unlike other courses, Staging Studio features a lot of online video for those that would rather watch, than read. Read our Staging Studio review.
	Australian-based Institute of Home Staging offers a range of home staging courses, from introductory to advanced levels. The Institute is ran by experienced home stager Naomi Findlay, who claims to stage up to 250 homes each year. Read our Institute of Home Staging review.
	Home Staging Resource claims to be the "most recognized home staging course in the industry" (which is debatable), and offers certification for $999 with multiple payment plans. Their money-back guarantee is 72 hours. Read our Home Staging Resource review.
	The QC Design School teaches more than just home staging, with additional courses for interior design, Feng Shui, and color consultants. The home staging course costs over $1,500, putting it at the higher end of the spectrum. There is however a payment plan. Read our QC Design School review.

How we reviewed the home staging courses

Price: As mentioned earlier, home staging courses can range from $10 to over $2000, so it becomes tough to decide how much you should be spending on a course.

We’ve analyzed the average price of each type of home staging course, so you can be more informed about whether your top pick is “cheap”, or “expensive”.

For reference, our pick for the best home staging certification course costs just $247.

Payment Plans: Splitting a lump sum payment over 3 to 12 months can make earning your home staging certification a lot less rough on the wallet. The Home Staging Institute, for instance, offers their $247 home staging certification for $42, split over six monthly installments.

Refund Policy: Unfortunately we found that none of the courses reviewed offered a truly thorough insight into what exactly the course entails. Sure, there are high-level overviews of topics and modules, but there are no detailed course descriptions. For this reason, there can be a little hesitation when clicking the “Buy Now’ button on any of the home staging courses. Therefore, we’ve reviewed each course’s refund policy. Is it no questions asked, and is it for 30 days or less?

Material: Although all the home staging courses cover the same topic, home staging, the course contents can vary quite a bit. Some courses get right into the styling and interior design aspects of home staging, and other courses give more time to marketing a home staging business, and arranging insurance and company structures. Thankfully, all courses give a high-level overview before you sign up, so you somewhat know what you are getting into. As mentioned above, however, no training provider gives an in-depth thorough analysis of what is in the course, so we’ve tried to dive into the course material more thoroughly on this website.

Bonuses: Many of the home staging course reviews will outline which bonuses the course provides. These can range from interviews with other home stagers, to home staging checklists and templates, to free ebooks about starting a home staging business.

Reviews: We’ve scoured Facebook, Google, Feefo, and TrustedReviews to gather and analyze hundreds of home staging course reviews, which we’ve shared with you on each individual course page.

Value: Ultimately, all of our home staging course reviews come back to value. Value is derived from the cost of the course, compared to the quality of the educational material the course provides. This means that the cheapest home staging course doesn’t isn’t guaranteed our highest recommendation. It also means that the course with the most material might not be our most recommended if it costs 20 times as much as the other course.

When deciding which is the best home staging course, we weight value highly.

Is Home Staging Certification Necessary?

The one acceptable answer to this question is a simple “no”.

Home stagers do not need to be certified.

Dentists need to be. As do doctors, engineers, electricians, brain surgeons, and lawyers.

Home staging certification simply means that you have undertaken training, or completed a home staging course, and are knowledgeable in this industry.

It is proof for potential clients that a neutral third party has given you the stamp of approval.

When it comes to marketing ANYTHING, customers and potential clients like to see what is called “social proof”.

Social proof shows that others believe in your services, and it can come in many forms.

Testimonials are social proof that others found your services valuable, and that they are willing to put their name and face to recommending you to others.

Your portfolio can be social proof that you have had 5, 10, 20, or 100 previous clients. It shows that others have used your services, so you are not a nobody within the industry.

Even Likes on social media are social proof. Each one is a little tick next to your name that shows that other people like your work (assuming they are all real likes).

Likewise, a home staging certification is simply social proof that you have done training, and that someone else has reviewed your work (or exam scores) and given you the tick.

Which is The Best Home Staging Certification?

We think it is way too tough to tell you one simple answer to this question. To decide which is the best home staging certification, we need to know a little more about you.

What is your budget?

What exactly do you want to learn?

Which country are you in?

Are you only interested in online home staging certification?

If we knew the answers to these, we could most likely direct you toward the best home staging course. But since we don’t, we are going to take a little shortcut and do a few categories…

Cheapest home staging certification: The Home Staging Institute.

Best local home staging course: The International Institute of Home Staging (Australia)

Most free home staging resources: Staging Studio

Most interactive online classes: The International Institute of Home Staging

What about free home staging courses?

We aren’t aware of any quality free home staging courses online, but there are some very affordable courses (see further up this page for our cheapest home staging course recommendation).

There are a few home staging training providers which offer a free course, although in these cases it is a “teaser” to give you a small taste of what’s to come in their paid courses. If this is all you want, then check out the recommendations below. Both these sites have a free online home staging course – you just need to provide your name and email address to sign up.

Staging Studio (direct link to their free home staging course)
Staging Diva (be aware that this is an email-based “course” – so essentially a newsletter)
Home Staging Institute (direct link to their free home staging course)

Is there any other way to get free home staging training?
When we think of the word “course”, most people think of a structured process in which to learn a topic. There will be lessons, modules, and maybe tests or exams. However, this is only one way to learn home staging.

You can do your own home staging training, and build your staging portfolio, by practicing in your own house. You can even consider using your friends and family’s houses if need be. There are a number of home staging books available on the Kindle store, and also paperbacks you can buy online. If you can’t afford a $300+ home staging course, then perhaps a $10 to $50 book is more affordable.

Sure, you won’t earn the home staging certification to help win clients, but you’ll still be able to teach yourself home staging and practice in your own home.

Also, check your local library for home staging books. Then you actually will get some free home staging training!

Home Staging Course Reviews: Our Final Thoughts

We’ve done our best to write these home staging course reviews with an open mind, and hopefully, we’ve helped you decide which course is best for you.

But at the end of the day, you need to look closely at each program yourself and decide which one seems like the right fit for you.

Some people reading this might already have interior design experience and need a more business-focused course.

Others might have already owned a small business, and need to fine-tune their creative side before they are confident owning a home staging business.

Although we’ve mainly reviewed online home staging courses, some people might prefer in-person local home staging courses. If this is you, we suggest heading back to Google and searching your area for a more suitable course.

The budget also plays a big role in which course to choose. If $1000 is spare change for you, then you could afford to get one of the higher-priced courses, or perhaps even multiple courses. But if the budget is tight, you’ll be leaning more towards cheaper home staging courses.

Lastly, what is your goal?

Are you wanting the certificate to be put on your website, or hung in your office? Or are you wanting a deep learning experience covering a wide range of topics. Both of these are valid reasons for taking a home staging course.

I hope my website helps you choose which home staging course is best for you. I certainly enjoyed reviewing the courses! One thing to note however, is that if you are looking for an interior decorating certification course, then that is an entirely different kettle of fish. For that, we recommend checking out the Interior Decorating Institute.

With that said, head to our list of best home staging courses to get started!

As always, visit our contact page if you have any questions.