ABOUT CARLA GENTLE, MSMOB, CPHS, CRS
Budget-Conscious Interior Styling with a Designer Look ...
Hello! I am a Chicago-based Certified Professional Home Stager, Certified Redesign Specialist, and Interior Stylist providing an array of interior design services to clients in the Chicagoland area. I launched Design Realign, Inc. in 2010, stemmed from my lifelong passion for everything home interiors.
Fast forward to 2014, I leaned on my home staging and marketing expertise to help sell homes when I became a Licensed Illinois Real Estate Agent, working in conjunction with my design work. I continued as a licensed Realtor until 2018 and was quite successful in selling my clients' homes, and for other Realtors, through my home staging.
COMMUNITY: I am passionate about giving back and during COVID school lockdowns, I developed and taught an online design class to teens and tweens called 'How to Design and Decorate a Super Cool Bedroom'. (See the 'Reviews' webpage).
Certified Professional
Home Stager
Certified
Redesign Specialist
Budget Decorator
Color Consultant
Former
Licensed Realtor
Former Interior
Design Instructor
Marketer
PARTNERSHIPS WITH CHICAGOLAND LIBRARIES AND COLLEGES
I have delivered design presentations throughout several Chicago suburban libraries, and most recently have developed a partnership with a local college where I will be delivering two design presentations October 2026. The topics I have presented on include 'Room Makeover on a Budget', 'How to Mix Interior Design Styles with Confidence', and 'Decorate for the Holidays Like a Pro'.
FORMER ONLINE INTERIOR DESIGN INSTRUCTOR ...
During the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, I took on the role of teaching an online design class to teens and tweens through Outschool. The class was entitled, 'How to Design and Decorate a Super Cool Bedroom'. I created design style boards of suggestions for each child's bedroom designing 80+ childrens' bedrooms. I taught a total of 96 learners and received 25 raving testimonials from parents (see Praise page).
Carla Teaching Class
EDUCATION / LIFELONG LEARNER
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MS in Management and Organizational Behavior with Double Major in Organization Development and Human Resource Management from Benedictine University
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BA in Business Administration from Governor's State University
CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENSES
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Certified Professional Home Stager -- The Decorating & Staging Academy
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Certified Redesign Specialist -- Midwest Staging Redesign Institute (now called Redesign Staging Group)
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Former Licensed Realtor (Illinois) -- Your House Real Estate Academy
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Content Marketing Certified -- HubSpot Academy
I received additional training and education on color / color palettes / the color system and in marketing and copywriting.
"Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God."
- Leo Buscaglia
COMMUNITY -- GET INVOLVED ... MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
TEACHER | CHILD SPONSOR | BIG SISTER: I happen to love kids and feel the greatest gift you can ever give is love to a child. I currently sponsor a 15-yr.-old boy from Guatemala (since he was 5) through Compassion International (www.compassion.com), a child-advocacy ministry pairing compassionate people with children living in extreme poverty to release the children from spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty.
During COVID school shutdowns in 2020 and 2021, I taught an online class to kids ages 10-14 yrs. old through Outschool (www.outschool.com). I have also done some substitute teaching in the state of Illinois and am a former Big Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Florida (www.bbbs.org). In addition to my extensive work with children listed above, I am a past Board member for the Community of Organizational Development in Chicagoland (CODIC).
