Spotlight: Interior Design Industry

If you're interested in interior design, you probably have some idea about what the job will entail. You understand that you need to be creative, innovative, and artistic with the spaces you design, but there may be a few things about the career that you haven't yet considered. For instance, interior design is a people business. Since you will be designing others' homes, offices, etc., you will need to take their opinions, tastes, and budgets into account when you design their living or working spaces. At some point in your career, your ideas will likely clash with those of a client, and you must be willing to compromise and work with that client's taste to create an appropriate environment for them. This just means you need to be prepared to be a little bit flexible when it comes to discussing ideas.

Flexibility is often important when it comes to cost as well. You will need to be a good shopper and have the ability to compare items based on their total price and quality in order to assess the true value and worth of the item. You'll determine whether an item is necessary and then explain to your clients why you think so. Interior design requires that you be a salesperson as well. Not only will you have to sell your clients on specific items, colors, and fabrics, you will have to sell them on you as well. If you can't convince anybody to hire you, your style, and your ideas, then you will not be very successful.

There are also certain skills you need to be successful when it comes to interior design. You'll have to become a fabric expert by learning about fiber contents, textures, fabric widths, combining patterns, textures, fiber contents, and the appropriate fabric for any given situation, but this is something taught in all interior design schools. Another skill you may need to polish, which is emphasized less than specific design proficiency in the classroom, is teaching. Your clients will, most likely, not be very educated about good design, quality, fabric content, good taste, window treatments, types of carpet and floor covering, maintenance, etc. So, you will be responsible for teaching them about the general principles behind interior design and what they should be looking for in a room.

These are some requirements of the design field that many students forget to evaluate before becoming an interior designer. You don't need to possess these skills now; they are abilities you will learn, practice, and gain while receiving your education. However, you should be aware that this, too, is part of the job and make sure to take it into consideration when making your decision about your career and your education in the design field.

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