Before starting career as an interior designer
Do you enjoy designing your ideal home in your free time? Do your friends and family compliment you on your design skills? If so, a career in interior design might just be perfect for you!
Interior design is the art and science of further improving the interior of a room, house or building to achieve a more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. Being an interior designer, your job would be to plan, research, coordinate and manage such projects. But there is a lot more to being an interior designer. That is why today we are talking about things you need to know before starting a career as an interior designer.
Interior design is not interior decoration
Having a knack for choosing and arranging home decor and working with colour schemes and different textures is a good starting point. However, that alone is insufficient when it comes to being an interior designer. Educational background is very important. An interior designer must have an accredited bachelor’s degree for working in the industry.
Interior design is more than just design
You will need excellent interpersonal communication skills in addition to technical drawing, space design and furniture design skills. Maintaining good communication with your network of clients, contractors and suppliers are key skills. And when it comes to the design part, interior designers are expected to know about different materials, furniture design, and tools but also the history of design, the structural integrity of buildings, local codes, regulations and standards, etc.
You need an eye for design
Pretty obvious, but important, nonetheless. You need to have an innate flair for colour, spatial arrangements, architecture and textiles. It takes a certain eye to pull together a space and make it beautiful and functional at the same time. Keep in touch with the latest trends in interior design and practice designing spaces with the help of software and apps.
Multi-tasking is necessary
As you advance in your career, the number of projects for you to work on will increase. Working on multiple projects, juggling multiple clients, contractors and suppliers, all the while making design decisions, requires great multi-tasking skills.
Building a reputation takes time
Interior design is a competitive field. It will take some time to establish a strong business foundation and gain the attention of potential customers. You will need a dazzling and diverse portfolio if you want to impress potential clients. One important tip is to keep upgrading yourself. The more you know, the better your chances are.
It is not about having the SAME taste
Design is subjective, therefore it is not reasonable to expect your client to have the same taste as you. You should not force your style upon them. You may work for years as an interior designer and never design a space the way you would like it to look. And that is okay. The client hired you to design the space according to their needs and satisfaction.
Interior design is not a dull office job
Although it may appear that interior designers spend all of their time sitting in front of a computer, in reality, this is not the case. Meetings with clients, architects, contractors, suppliers, etc. are all part of the job. There is also on-site work, review of the completed work, design plan revival and many more reasons to get out of your office.
Thank you for taking the time to read our article on things you need to know before starting a career as an interior designer. If you are interested in studying Interior Design in Berlin, take a look at our BA program in Interior Architecture/Interior Design. Feel free to reach out to our Student Affairs team at any time via application@berlin-international.de.