Color, which seems to be the biggest problem for most everyone! Which includes paints, and fabric on furniture.

Also texture. I didn't understand what texture meant for a long time.

Furniture placement in a room- working with the graph paper. I suppose that would be a beginning class.
I second the color class idea.
Art of accessorizing would be good it is a common theme here.

I taught a few courses, a couple of years back, for my local park district. Custom draperies and furniture refinishing were always filled to capacity with a waiting list. And this is not much of DIY town. I stopped doing it, the district would not limit the number of enrollees to a number I could handle for a hands-on class. Something to consider: hands-on vs. "lecture", for pricing, capacity, number of hours, etc.

Locally the decorating fung shui classes are filled.

I just signed up for a Beginning Woodworking with Power Tools class, and cannot WAIT for it. I would also like to take Upholstering/slipcovering.

Upholstery class is on my top list!

I am seriously considering taking one in the near future, when I have a bit more time.

One can learn a/b colors & texture from reading design books, but certain things like uphostery, drapery, refinishing, faux-finishing class would benefit from more hand-on instruction.

Linnea56 beat me to it!

Drapes and refinishing. Not really decorating, which can be so subjective, but things that can be actually taught.

Great ideas! Thank you all!

Any other ideas?

Upholstery for me too. I'd love to teach an adult color class, maybe I should try that at my local tech center.

Some Ideas:

A) Re-Decorating to Sell Your Home: "Rotate, Re-Organize and Re-Energize Your Sale" Bring in Photos of Your Home and Be Prepared to Discuss.

B) Clarifying Color Class -- learn about the Color Wheel -- and other terms like "hue"; "tint"; "Shade"; "intensity"; "value" How about Warm and Cool Colors. Picking the right sheen of Paint. Show Examples.

C) Organizing Your Home -- and it could be broken into "Home Office" (for example: how long to keep papers, equipment needs); Kitchen (food storage issues; creating a Family Office) -- just some examples!!

D) History of the Home -- Decorating styles and Influences through the ages -- examples found in historical artworks (for example -- the Dutch painters) AND classical and popular literature (Charles Dickens and Jane Austen).

E) History of Decoration and Design: Might be a separate class -- including famous ones like Nancy Lancaster and John Fowler; Dorothy Draper; William Haines.

F) Accessories -- Tablescapes and Mantels and Bookcases. Lots of photo images on screen and discussion of Symmetery; Assymetrical. Groupings in Terms of Odd Numbers.

G) Furniture Basics or "Sit on This!" -- How to Pick a Sofa or Chair. Eight-Way Tied -- Not a Sexual Term! Size Does Matter -- and So does Shape. Re-Cover or Buy New? Fabric styles and types.

H) Kids Rooms: Baby to Teenagers. Picking furniture for safety and fun. Changing the Room through the Years. Help! My Teen Wants to Paint! Show photo examples.

I) Homes and Houses in the Movies: Look at classical movies and new ones. Even Horror Houses have their fans! Fun and show examples! Provide Popcorn.

J) Clutter Control: Tough subject -- but very necessary!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

I'd be interested in furniture placement--good traffic flow, how to pull furniture away from the walls, how to get end tables that work with your sofa, etc.

Color would be next. How to mix colors and patterns. How to pick a paint color and how to test it before committing to it. Along with tips on how to paint well.

I don't know if you could make this into a class, but I loved the part of Decorating Cents on HGTV where they went into someone's home and redecorated it using what the homeowner already had. The people who did this were called Interior Redecorators, I think. If there could be a class like Greywings described, where you learn the basic rules of decorating in the first few classes and then went to peoples' homes and put the rules into play, it would be a real learning experience. My guess would be that the instructor would have to view the homes and pick the ones that would work for the class ahead of time. But I think a lot of us have the right things in our homes already; we just don't know how to pull it all together.

How about a class on pulling it all together? Focusing on the little details--side tables, art work, window treatments, vases, lighting, accessories? Most people have the basic sofa and chairs and a coffee table, but they don't know what to do with them to create the look they want.

A class in basic design concepts would cover the "rules." I'd include understanding three-dimensional space, basic ergonomics, the uses and emotional power of color, and proportion, proportion, proportion!
Then I'd move on to the basics of construction technology and what should be done before what, how to make a long-term phased plan, and guidelines on what kinds of materials are suitable for what purposes.
I would like to TEACH a class on how to prepare to hire a designer, and how to be a good client.

I would love to take a class on refinishing wood furniture. I have some really nice furniture that is pretty badly banged up.

Our tech college has waiting lists for their upholstery classes. People bring in everything from chairs to couches to boat cushions, etc. You have to make sure you have enough storage in the classroomouches take up a lot of room.

Color and texture are important elements in design and I think many people would enjoy some type of a class working with a "good" instructor

The very first decorating class I ever took was through a community ed. program. The teacher covered basics such as how to measure a room and draw a floor plan, but here was the best part: we all put our names in a hat, and 2 or 3 names were drawn. The "winners" got to have the entire class come to their house (during normal class meeting time) and work on a room in their house. It was really fun. The instructor would initiate ideas and the people in class would offer other suggestions, ask questions, etc.

And I think my next choice would be a Color class. Of all the classes I've taken (I have a certificate in Decorative Arts), the color class I took was probably the most valuable.

My list is exactly like Graywings! I need help with all of it.

Given the state of the economy, it might be pertinent to show people how to decorate on a small budget (or no budget!). There are many ways to save money in decorating and people who do not frequent home decor forums may not be aware of this.

I took a "home decor" night course about 40 years ago when I was about 8 months pregnant with our first. The instructor, who was a decorator, gave us many ideas on how to use items we already had in different ways. On the last night of the course she had a tour of an Ethan Allen showroom which I missed as I was delivering our child!

What I see a lot on home decor forums is that many people do not have the slightest idea about how to arrange furniture. This, to me, is not difficult and something that can be taught.

I think it might be useful to have a series of topics given over perhaps 6 weeks. Prospective students might choose one course at a certain rate or take 3 or all 6 at a discounted rate. There are many topics I would not pay to attend but there might be a few I would. Getting scale right in a room is a problem many face. How to do theme rooms without going overboard is another problem I see on the forums. The subject of eclectic style is very much misunderstood and could be done in one class. How to choose the best style house to purchase might be good for some people.

Definitely important to limit the number of attendees per class.

Best wishes on the job interview! :-)

I agree with canlan - a class in using what you have. Kind of like when a company comes in and does "staging" to help sell your house. These days, people what to create a "new" look with things they already have.

Sueb20's idea sounds like fun and evokes "Trading Spaces" but with no surprises.

Hope you gt the job!

Interior rearrangement - how to use the old stuff and make the room look new! Call it "everything old is new again".

The big question in my mind is who your audience is? If you don't know that it's tough to design a class. If your class profile is the home decorator with no need to make money from their skill, how to paint, pick colors, blah blah (refinish reupohlster etc) would be the route to focus on. If your audience is planning on becoming paid professionals in the design world, then a class focused on drawing and design is normally a first level type course, followed with color and design theory.

Thanks, igloochic...

The courses seem to be intended for a moderately upscale, gotta-get-out-of-the-house people, for people who want to meet other people, and for people who want to improve themselves. Not so much for job-training.

A lot of DIY stuff. There are already two full sections of upholstering. Lots of semi-exotic cooking classes.

I suspect with the current economy, classes for saving money would be popular.

What teacats and graywings and a couple of others said.

Basically the rules of decorating. How wide are pathways? How high is (____) hung? Choosing color combos. That sort of stuff. Things that can be learned as a reference point or a starting point.

Cake decorating, so I can eat my mistakes.
Casey

Topics I'd like to see addressed in a decorating class would be how to coordinate fabrics...i.e.combining patterns and colors. What to look for in quality furniture. How to arrange accessories. Pitfalls to avoid when selecting paint colors (don't go with gumball pink if you want a pink room, beware of the opaqueness of yellow, understanding how important undertones are,etc). Surely there are some rules to guide the novice, it would be good if those were spelled out to make the process a little easier. Throwing a little Fung Shui in there couldn't hurt. I don't mean all that chi stuff, focus more on the more logical aspect of it like where to place chairs and desks in a room so the person's back isn't facing a door, that sort of thing. How to chose carpeting, what does all that loop and pile jargon mean.

I wished my teacher had provided a list of local sources for upholsterers, seamstresses, wholesale to the public suppliers, that have been vetted be her/him...so students can skip the middle-man and go directly to the person who is able to sew bedding, slipcovers or upholster furniture.

I have taken several classes through the community center. What I discovered is that many of the instructors use this as a marketing tool to drum up clients. What the interior designer really wanted was for the students to hire her after they saw she was competent enough to teach the class but not so informative that they would think they can do this all themselves. So I never got the sense she was willing to give away all her trade secrets. But maybe she was just trying to keep it at a very beginner level so as not to saturate the students with too much information. I'm not saying we had to sit through a one hour sales pitch but I thought I should have walked away with a lot more information than I did. She did spend some time on proper placement of art, mirrors, etc on the wall..pointing out that most people usually hang them too high. So that part was good.

Sombreuil... Michaels Craft Store offers cake decorating classes for much less than you'd pay through adult education. All the supplies you need are right there in the store (how convenient, wink wink). Wilton puts out an instruction book for each of the levels and is very well organized with lots of pictures. And you get that for free with the price of admission. They go through it page by page at Michaels so the class is very comprehensive. I have taken classes 1 and 2 so far and have been very pleased. There aren't enough hours in the day to practice all the skills they will teach you. It's a really good program. There's also a Fondant and Gumpaste class which is fun.

What I discovered is that many of the instructors use this as a marketing tool to drum up clients.

Thank you, Flyingflower. I had not thought of that issue. If I get the job, that will be something I need to keep in mind.

being and interior designer and craft class teacher in the past, there is only one class that I can think of that I really wish I had taken and would still love to..someday..that is real stained glass..i've done the fake stuff beautifully, but that isn't what i want, i want the cut and solder and came and real glass..and big projects like windows..that would be my desired class to take

accessorizing and furniture placement