Society of Decorating Professionals (SDP)

Visit the SDP site.

Having been in this field for many years, we felt there was a need to develop a forum to promote the talents involved in creating beautiful spaces. So, along with JoAnne Lenart-Weary and Carol Bass, we founded the Society of Decorating Professionals (SDP). Great decorating is about blending many elements. Color, placement of furniture and accessories, window treatments, floral design, custom wall finishes, and more are all a part of the decorating process. The goal of SDP is to bring together homeowners and talented professionals to accomplish just that.

We've developed a website and will continue to roll out new services and features. SDP is designed to serve the following:

The homeowner who is searching for creative decorating ideas or a decorating professional to help you achieve the look and feel you've always dreamed for your home.

A passionate and talented person who is searching for training and certification to build your own successful business.

An established decorating professional who is searching for other decorating resources. You may have a specialty as a Redesigner, Decorator, Stager, Window Treatment Specialist, Faux Finisher, or Floral Designer. Are you looking for a way to take your business to the next level through networking, marketing, and continuing education? The SDP can help.

Visit the site or, to talk with someone now, call 1-866-SDP-4SDP (1-866-737-4737).

A Great Book: Live What You Love

A redesigned master bath.

I picked up a book recently called "Live What You Love" by Bob and Melinda Blanchard. The book begins with a "Retrospective Perspective" and has some really good, inspiring considerations for all of us but especially for those considering redesign as a career:

Have you ever found yourself counting up the days to the weekend — and it was only Monday?

We're all very, very busy. We have e-mails to answer, planes to catch, and we're constantly reshuffling schedules to squeeze in new meetings, each more important, more urgent than the last. But every now and then, we get a signal: life should be more satisfying.

When did your dreams get buried under the responsibilities of adulthood?

Now you sense that something needs to change, but you're too busy to stop and think about what it is. You long for those forgotten times when each day's accomplishments filled you with joy and excitement, when you embraced life with energy and enthusiasm.

Wouldn't it be awful to live your whole life and then say, "Wait! I need another chance. I just wanted to try this one thing."

Remember how scared you were to take the training wheels off your bike? Or how much courage it took for that first kiss? Nothing stopped you then. So what's stopping you now?

New Training Venues

Our new Crystal Lake training facility.

We are now teaching at Harper College as well as our facility in Arizona. We also have purchased a townhouse in Crystal Lake for training classes.

In addition to the growth of our training program, we continue to enjoy redesigning rooms for clients. This keeps us in touch with the business and provides so much gratification in helping people feel good about their homes again. As Continuing Education Teachers at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois we teach a two hour class which is an overview of the redesign business.

Our first anniversary of training in our new Crystal Lake facility was November 2005.

We're very excited to be able to offer classes in Arizona starting in October 2005. While we've had students from all over the country, this helps us reach out in a new way to those that don't like to travel so far.

The survey we conducted in connection with our 5th anniversary showed that many of you were interested in a newsletter that kept you up-to-date on new trends in the business. If you'd like to be on our newsletter mailing list, just send us an email. Our mailing list is not shared with anyone. So, you can be assured of privacy.