Interior designers deal with customers on a regular basis to determine needs, design plans, select and install furnishing and fixtures, and evaluate existing living spaces. The best interior designers use their knowledge of space planning, colour schemes, textures, fabrics, lighting, furniture, appliances, accessories, and accessories to help you achieve your goals in your home. They will walk you through the process and explain each step as they go along. At the same time they will listen to your wants and needs so that they can find a solution that fits your budget and your lifestyle. With their expertise they can help you make the best choice possible for your rooms.
Interior designer jobs require many facets of design and art. The skills required to be successful are diverse, but they all revolve around interaction and creativity. An interior designer must be imaginative and intuitive and have strong interpersonal skills. To succeed they must be able to visualize their design ideas and bring them to life on the physical level as well as on the virtual. Successful designers must have a strong command of business etiquette and understand how to market themselves, their services, and their portfolio.
In considering a career in interiors, you have many options. You may choose to be an architect who creates custom floor plans and furniture or a landscape gardener who creates flower beds, statues, lighting, furniture, accessories, gardens, parks, ponds, and pools. You may want to combine the two careers and become an architect who designs buildings and furniture as well as landscape gardens and pools. You can also choose to be a French country decorator who designs furniture and accents to complement the traditional french country style of decorating, or a horticulturist who grows and harvests foliage to provide plants and accessories for gardens and landscapes.
Interior designers are not limited to just residential design. Some of them go on to design museums, offices, hotels, public spaces, art galleries, restaurants, libraries, conference rooms, and public spaces. They may also work for firms that develop residential properties, planned communities, commercial properties, or for architects or furniture companies. When designing for other people, they use modern design styles. For example, if a person wants to design a hotel room, he would likely use contemporary or avant-garde style furnishings, such as bold, geometric lines, modern furniture with sharp corners, minimal carpeting, metal wall art, sleek minimalist pieces, glass tables, and black, white, or coloured rugs on the walls.
A bachelor’s degree in interior design is a good start to a long career in this field. Courses typically allow students to specialize in either residential design, commercial design, or landscape architecture. More advanced degrees may lead to positions as a full-fledged design professional, with responsibilities that include supervising the production of an interior decorator’s clients. These professionals can help a client create an interior decorating plan, complete with sketches of furniture and other interior decorating components. Once the plan is approved, the interior decorator communicates the client’s wishes to his team of interior decorators, who then create the actual decorating components.
Many interior designers often opt to be self-employed, working from home or from their own offices. Freelancing is a relatively easy way to make a living, as there are a great many freelance marketplaces where a talented interior designer can advertise and sell his or her services. In fact, many interior designers often choose to work as independent contractors to take advantage of the best rates and work experience they can find locally.