Should you go for an interior designing course?

Are you a creative person with an eye for detail? Do you take great pride and pleasure in decorating your home and keeping it in tip-top shape? Do visitors often compliment you on your home, its style, and its décor? If so, you may consider going for an interior designing course.

Before you make any rash, life-changing career changes, you must research the career requirements of an interior designer. For example, just because you love animals, it doesn't necessarily mean you should consider keeping a pet. Studies, working hours, competition and compensation are just some of the many factors you need to take into account. Here are some considerations to make before jumping into the world of interior designing.

You must have a keen, critical eye

Interior design isn't just about arranging beautiful furniture according to what you think will be aesthetically pleasing to the view of the majority. 

You need education and solid knowledge of color (including paint colors and their various shades), patterns, textiles and how to arrange furniture and such into pleasing spatial positions.    

Interior Design isn’t always loaded with fun and can sometimes be tedious

Acquiring a qualification for interior design means you need to know all sorts of not so artistic and fun knowledge. Sure, the design part of it is the biggest part of the pie. But with a proper qualification, you need to know everything from the history of design, the structural integrity of buildings, building codes, ergonomics, learning how to create designs using a computer (CAD), and much, much more. 

Even if all of this puts you off your career change, you surely have a higher regard for interior designers now!          

Don’t expect a massive salary

Research shows that interior designers who are new to the market in the U.S make around $42,000 annually. Don’t lose heart, though. As with anything, there many variables which can help this figure increase, and never forget that what you put in is what you get out! 

Factors such as effort, drive, a good way to people, location, experience and if you work with a large, successful company (as opposed to freelancing) all play a role in your annual salary figure. Also showing off your knowledge of the non-design factors in interior design such as the above (ergonomics, structural integrity), will boost your air of professionalism and impress.  

Don’t expect others to share your taste

As must as you adore a minimalistic style home, your client may want their home designed into something rustic, with an old farmhouse appeal. You may be internally screeching, but you need to remember that just as everyone has different taste in clothes, so do they when it comes to the way their home looks. 

Some clients may be very open to designs and ask you for your opinion, and what you think works best, but sadly, this is not often the case. You can, however, give your opinions based on what you are working with- meaning you are not completely out of control. Your clients are paying you, after all.

To sum up…

Before reading this post, you may have had very different views on exactly what an interior designer is, as well as the fact that it requires education and qualifications, and extensive knowledge of concepts you may have never heard of! Ergonomics? Structural integrity? Yes, the design aspect is the biggest part of the interior design but certainly not the only one- it has many facets. 

Interior design also requires hard work, professionalism, being good with people and an acceptance that not everyone shares your tastes in home decor. However, you can guide your clients if you feel they are making seriously clueless decisions, by narrowing down options that you approve of but while keeping customers in control. 

You can also expect a lower salary than you probably would have thought. Don't let this put you off, though- you can make a great living with interior design as a career based on numerous factors. Apparently, on your part, you can put in a great effort, stay up to date with all other aspects of interior design, gain experience and be a great people person. As your portfolio grows, so will your salary, and, with luck and hard work, you may end up working for a top design company!