Interior Design Careers

Are you interested in the arrangement of physical spaces?  Do you tend to take detailed notice of your surroundings?  Do you frequently make suggestions on how to improve your surroundings, and/or like to design or redesign your personal space?  Are you creative and artistic, great at teamwork and enjoy solving problems and overcoming challenges?  These are the questions to ask yourself if you are interested in interior design careers. 

Interior design careers not only require an artist’s eye, but also energy, technical proficiency, vision and dedication.  As a service professional, an interior designer’s success depends on the ability to meet a client’s needs.  Meeting a client’s needs requires some understanding of the project, good interpersonal communication and management strategy.

Artistically and technically, interior design careers require the designer to be able to plan a space, to present that plan visually and to communicate it to the client.  Understanding the materials and products needed to create and furnish the space, plus how lighting, texture, etc., combine and interact to create a space is only one part of a designer’s knowledge.  In addition, structural requirements, health and safety issues, building codes and permit/licensing issues need to be addressed as well.

Interior design careers professionals must enjoy working with people.  They will need to discuss ideas with clients, architects, contractors and other service providers.  In addition, being able to listen is important.  Paying attention to requirements of both the providers is utmost, as is the ability to mediate or negotiate when necessary.

Managing time is another requirement of interior design careers.  Due to the time-delay nature of the industry, designers need to be able to work on more than one project at a time.  Plus, they need to have a good grasp of business planning, of how to sell their ideas to clients, how to create informative presentations and how to maintain good client relationships.

In interior design careers, most employers look for someone with a two or four year degree and some knowledge about the history and trends of the interior design world.  Many states require an interior designer to be licensed or registered by the state, and to pass the National Council for Interior Design in order to practice.  Even for those states that do not require the exam, membership in a professional organization can benefit a designer’s reputation and career.  To join such an organization, a designer must have at least six years of combined experience and education, with at least two years at a design school.

Employment in interior design careers varies widely.  A third of all designers either freelance or run their own business.  In addition to freelance and sole-owned businesses, interior design careers offer positions in specialized design services or in retail furniture stores.  Designers need to be flexible in their work hours to accommodate their clients’ schedules and be able to work under tight deadlines and budgets.  The salary for a designer varies widely, too, ranging from $13,440 to $93,000, depending on education, experience, and clientele. 

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