Interior design careers require not only a sense of design, but also technical aptitude and sophisticated communication skills. Designing your life with a career in interior design can give you the lifetime reward of living with a job you love. Interior design careers are for the creative individual who also has the ability to manage the creativity logically and enjoys working with materials.
An interior designer works for their client. The client will issue their requests, demands and specifications for the interior design. The interior designer will then take those specifications and create a design, using creativity and talent to create a design, and educational background and on-the-job experience to make the design a reality. Textiles and materials, form and function, safety and security are all areas of study that the interior designer has to master. Your Interior Design major will begin with the fundamentals. Safety courses will include fire regulations, building codes, ADA regulations, and space constraints.
Most states require an interior designer to be insured. Once you complete your education, complete the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) exam. Section One is "the Principles and Practices of Design (Building and Barrier Free Codes included), Section Two is "Contract Development and Administration," and Section Three is "Schematics and Design Development."
An interior designer can work in general interiors in residential or commercial buildings, or they can specialize, working for just restaurants, hotels, skyscrapers, or any other specialty that they've found their talent for. An interior designer might work for a large corporation, a small design firm, or out of their own home. The interior designer's education, license, portfolio and work experience will determine reputation and career. Interior design takes a great deal of creativity, skill and knowledge.
A. Why We Need Interior Designer?
An interior designer is responsible for the interior design, decoration, and functionality of a client’s space, whether the space is commercial, industrial, or residential. Interior designers work closely with architects and clients to determine the structure of a space, the needs of the occupants, and the style that best suits both. Interior designers have to be good with more than color, fabric, and furniture; interior designers must know materials, have budgeting skills, communicate well, and oversee the ordering, installation, and maintenance of all objects that define a space. This broader range of required knowledge distinguishes them from interior decorators.
Of course, interior designers cost too. Now, that's a price worth paying!
Required Skills in Interior Designers:
• As members of a service profession, interior designers' fortunes depend on their ability to satisfy clients. Thus, they must possess three important skill sets-artistic and technical skills, interpersonal skills and management skills.
• Designers must know how to plan a space and how to render that plan visually, so that it can be conveyed to the client.
• Designers must be comfortable meeting and dealing with many kinds of people.
• Designers must have excellent time and project management skills, since they frequently work on more than one project at a time, under demanding deadlines, while looking for new projects or clients.
• Interior designers are often confused with interior decorators, but there's a difference. An interior decorator requires no formal education, usually works on homes, and focuses mainly on furnishings and decor. Interior designers, on the other hand, are professionally educated and trained. They coordinate with architects, engineers, and contractors and must understand fire codes, ergonomics, lighting, acoustics, and the implementation of technology.
How Designer Works:
• Analyzing the client's requirements
• Formulating design concepts
• Presenting concepts, getting client feedback, and revising the plan as needed.
• Preparing final drawings and specifications, including materials, finishes, furnishings, and fixtures for the people in charge of procurement and construction.
• Preparing and revising budgets
• Overseeing the implementation of the design
B. Residential Interior Designer Figures Budget Sits at Head of the Table
If you think interior design clients in the high-end don't pore over their budgets, think again. A background in accounting might be the last place you would expect to look for a key element of managing an interior design company, but interior design is as much a matter of numbers as it is colors.
The majority of residential designers I work with have virtually no knowledge or training, and quite often, no sense for numbers. Colors they are great with. Numbers? I have given dozens and dozens of design presentations to clients who came to me to take on a residential interior design project. The projects have ranged from single rooms needing high thread count fine linens that match the colors on their walls or carpets, to full residential design with drawings, space planning and project management of construction trades. What these design projects have in common, whether it is just design direction or a full-on project, is client attention to the budget.
How much is it gonna cost!
Have you worked with an interior designer before? Pretty soon, I get an idea of the scope of the work, enough so I can inquire about the client's budget. Mostly executives, professionals and business owners, my clients would find it unusual not to have early discussions concerning budgets. For instance, I can suggest to a client a fabric to cover a chair that costs $50 a yard. Or I can offer a similar fabric that costs $100 a yard. I have access to a 6,000 square foot fabric showroom to source from so there are endless choices.
I try to keep design billing as low as possible and to cover my costs with discounts I arrange from designer showrooms. The public can't shop there without a professional designer. And the way I work, clients never pay more than the product resells for in retail. I just save them the trouble and leg work of finding the products.
It is my job to take a list of often over one hundred items, linens, art, furniture, rugs, lighting, etc. and measure that against an estimate of how much the client indicated is an affordable range for the scope of work. The aforementioned table may wind up costing $12,500 and the fabric for the chair may be $60 a yard. Numbers are so important because the cost of the overall package has to match the beginning budget as closely as the design matches the concepts that were approved by the client.
C. Residential Interior Design Times: They Are Re-Arranging
1. Time is the major element that gets overlooked in most residential interior design projects shown on television. By the time 22 minutes are up, the jobs is tied up nicely. You rarely see the designer sourcing fabrics or furnishings. The trades are always available. Budget is never discussed. Times change. Today's residential interior designer's typical clients have a complete shortage of time and too many demands on what little time they do have. These people chunk life down to a size they can handle. In design, this translates not into a mansion makeover, but a room at a time or a condo makeover to suit a certain lifestyle. Designer's client lists distinctively include physicians and dentists, attorneys and accountants, entrepreneurs and business executives. Their good fortune is the ability to control their destiny by working hard at their chosen profession.
2. I purchased a condo downtown. I need someone knowledgeable to source and arrange furnishings and linens and curtains for my two bedroom condo and to deal with my executive assistant by phone and email for payments and scheduling installations.
3. We hate the ugly carpeting throughout our living room and dining room. We'd prefer a mixture of hardwood and area rugs. Where can we find a reliable hardwood specialist at an affordable price?
4. I desperately need a fabric I can wash and dry. What kind of fabric will work? What colors are available? I can't find the colors I like at the big box stores. I've been searching for a slate colored duvet cover and shams.
After the daily corporate battles these busy professionals want to retreat to rooms that look like the photo shoots of home decor magazines and re-charge their batteries for tomorrow. Time is the driver of interior design these days. If a designer can show the importance of this ability to take the job off the shoulders of busy professionals, and save them time, they'll be rewarded with referrals and repeat business.
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