Meet Your Instructor

Meet Your Redesign and Home Staging Instructor - Dana J. Smithers

Dana J. Smithers has taught over 500 students in an Interior Decorating Diploma program and 1000s of students and patrons have attended her seminars, workshops and library talks! She is in her 4th year of teaching the 5 Day CRDA Professional Redesign and Home Staging course and to consistently rave reviews:

"Dana's course should be the industry standard. I am so excited about the new direction in my life. I have found my purpose and I love it!"

Dana is actively involved in the hands-on work and her role plays in the client's homes have been exceptionally beneficial to her students. She has appeared on City TV - Breakfast TV on numerous occasions and most recently interviewed as the House Staging Expert on CBC Radio Vancouver and Victoria. She is published in BC Home Magazine, Home Improvement Guide, has written many articles for the North Shore News, North Shore Outlook and the Vancouver Courier.

Dana J. Smithers is a founding member of the Canadian Redesigners Association.

Her personal mission statement is:

"To educate and empower women to use their talents to create successful businesses for themselves by creating more beauty and harmony in homes for living, and houses for selling."

Dana spent many successful years in the corporate staffing busiiness but always had several businesses on the side where she used her creative and artistic skills. Many of her students feel inspired by her personal philosophy that if she can do it, you can do it.

Students taking Dana's program also benefit from her vast knowledge and expertise as an Interior Decorator. She taught for 5 years with the Lower Mainland Continuing Education Interior Decorating Program. She has taught Basics of Design, Colour and Fibers to Fabrics. She has completed the Vancouver School Board's Instructor Training Program.

Along with offering her redesign and real estate staging services to her own clientelle clientele on the North Shore and throughout the Lower Mainland, she has worked closely with the design team at Chalet Interiors with Randy Crosby and Meka Alexander in North Vancouver. This allows her to stay on top of decorating trends - what works for people living in their homes, and what works when selling the house are often very different.

Dana says that she has been redesigning and redecorating homes for as long as she can remember. Growing up her parents did not always have a lot of money to buy the most expensive things but her mother always made the home look beautiful. It was more than just 'decorating on a budget' it was about creating beauty out of what we had.

When redesigning she strongly believes in using what people already have in their home to give their home a new look that is both refreshing and uplifting. When selling a house (not a home) many times what clients already have can be used but often other purchases are required to ensure the home is appealing to a broader market.

Sometimes clients want to do more after their home has been redesigned. When this is the case as redesigners we save them money and time because now they know what they need, and can see how it will fit it, or how a new paint colour may work for them.

When preparing homes for selling or staging homes, she asks her clients to remember that "Their HOME is for living in, but their HOUSE is for selling".

Redesign is all about TRANSFORMATIONS. Dana is committed to transforming people's lives. Her workshops and training programs will continue to expand, evolve and improve as our clients want more and different services to meet their needs.

She recently received her Train The Trainer Certification with Peak Potentials. Using accelerated learning methods her students learn faster and retain more.