Housing consultant: What does your day-to-day work look like?

Interior design consultants usually work in furniture stores or interior design companies. They advise customers on the design of homes or business premises. Home consultants know the influence of materials, colors, shapes, lighting and different styles on the effect of a room.

With their specialist knowledge and trained eye for aesthetics, they can develop interior design concepts and explain them to their customers using sketches and illustrations. In some cases, they visit their customers at home. This allows them to discuss the effect of the planned furnishings and possible problem areas in the individual rooms directly and find solutions together.

Once a successful consultation has been completed, administrative tasks such as repeat orders, stock call-offs, supplier searches, price comparisons and business correspondence follow.

Target group and skills: For whom is training to become a housing consultant suitable? What qualities and skills are required?

Training in the area of housing advice is aimed at the following people:

• People from the areas of furniture sales and customer advice who would like to deal with interior design issues in greater depth
• People who are interested in housing advice and want to acquire in-depth knowledge
• People looking to enter the home, interior decoration and furniture industry

Important personal skills for this profession are

• Flair for beautiful living
• Sense of aesthetics, colors and shapes as well as creativity
• Good powers of observation
• Spatial imagination
• An eye for good design, quality awareness
• A confident and convincing manner and enjoyment of direct customer contact
• Strong sales skills, independent way of working
• Very good written and spoken German and good PC skills
• Willingness to work Saturdays

Prerequisites for admission to the housing consultant training course:

The admission requirements for the courses are not uniformly regulated. However, they are advantageous:

• Apprenticeship qualification with a federal certificate of competence; depending on the provider, in furniture sales, the interior design industry or as a carpenter
• Several years of professional experience in the interior design industry or furniture sales
• Good written and spoken German (at least level B1)

Subject matter and content of the training

The training to become a housing consultant is not federally regulated, i.e. the course material is compiled independently by the respective schools; it can therefore vary from school to school.

The following topics are often addressed:

• Interior design
• Drawing
• Sketching
• Perspective
• Color theory
• Materials science (leather, textiles, wood)
• Stylistics
• Product knowledge
• Measurement
• Sales training

Costs and financing of further training

The costs for housing counseling training are set independently by the schools. The amount of the tuition fee therefore varies greatly depending on the provider and the course offered.

You can expect the following costs for in-service training:

• Course feesapprox. CHF 8000.-
• Some providers requireExtra costsfor
  • Registration fee
  • Teaching aids
  • Training documents

Please contact the provider of your choice directly for information on possible extra costs.

Duration of study, training options, teaching format and learning effort

• DurationTraining to become a housing consultant is usually modular in structure and is designed to be part-time. The duration of the training varies greatly and can range from a few days to up to a year (depending on the provider and course offered).
• Training optionsTimetables are set independently by the schools. Lessons often take place one or two evenings a week (often also on Saturdays). However, there are also day and online courses.
• Teaching format:Depending on the course offered, the course takes place in face-to-face or online format.
• Learning effort:Thanks to the extra-occupational concept of the course, you can apply and deepen the learning material in practice straight away. Nevertheless, you should allow sufficient time for preparation and follow-up of the lessons and for self-study - how much depends on your prior knowledge, working style and learning speed. We recommend that you allow at least 4-6 hours per week as a precaution.

Degree, diploma and title

The modules of a training course to become a housing consultant are usually completed with a theoretical module. Those who can present all module certificates are admitted to the final examination.

Diploma and title

Successful graduates receive a certificate / diploma from the respective school: "Housing consultant [name of school] (cert.)".