How to Become an Interior Designer

Want to know How to Become an Interior Designer?

Interested in a career where bringing the truly fabulous to life is the everyday norm? If you get a kick from creativity and have a real passion for people, a career as an interior designer could be right up your street! Develop skills in interior designing and learn about how to become an Interior Designer.

What do Interior Designers Do?

Below you will find out What do Interior Designers Do and what are the typical daily duties of the professional interior designer.

Interior designers are responsible for designing, decorating and remodelling interior spaces, in accordance with the requests of their clients. They may be required to plan and execute interior designs projects for aesthetic or functional purposes – often a combination of the two.

Specific duties vary in accordance with the interior designer’s chosen area. Some focus on residential dwellings, others commercial and business units, some work for healthcare providers and in many other industries like leisure and tourism. Likewise, some specialise in working with architects and developers on new-build projects – others focus on the renovation and remodelling of existing buildings.

Typical daily duties of the professional interior designer may include:

• Meeting with clients to discuss projects
• Analysing project costs and budgets
• Producing proposals in sketch form and using CAD software
• Hiring and overseeing contractors
• Quality control and ensuring deadlines are met
• Delivering and analysing the final result

Am I Right For the Interior Designer Job?

Unsurprisingly, the single most important quality to succeed in interior design is plenty of creative flair and vision. If you are not naturally creative with a passion for innovative and mindful design, you cannot expect to make it as an interior designer.

As well as creative vision however, you also need to be comprehensively business-minded and know exactly how to devise, implement, oversee and control projects from start to finish. You are not only a designer – you are also a business manager.

Just a few of the skills and character traits required to succeed as an interior designer include:

• Creative vision and a passion for design
•  Flawless attention to detail
• Awareness of all key design elements and concepts
• Plenty of imagination
• A strong understanding of the interior design profession
•   Outstanding interpersonal skills
• Flawless time management
•  Problem-solving skills
• Highly-developed communication skills

Ongoing Progression

Average salaries vary in accordance with both the position the interior designer works in and their employer. For example, a junior interior designer working with a larger firm may take home in the region of £20,000 while an experience designer may earn closer to £35,000. Self-employed interior designers with strong reputations and client bases have the potential to earn significantly more.

Professional Lifestyle

The entire working life of the interior designer is spent breathing life into clients’ dreams and watching your creative vision manifest before your eyes. It can be extremely challenging with long hours, difficult clients and in some cases unreasonable requests. Nevertheless, the satisfaction of watching your hard work come to fruition is simply beyond compare.

“I got into interior design on the recommendation of a friend who’d picked up on how I’m obsessed with decorating. I’d never thought about doing it for other people, but it’s something I’ve always loved, so why not? I studied for a year, picked up a post with a local decorating agency and have since set up my own business from home. For the first time in my life I can honestly say, I genuinely love my job!”– Abigail Moore, Self-Employed Interior Designer

Taking the Next Step

While no formal qualifications are necessary to become an interior designer, joining the industry without studying the profession is very difficult. Even with all the creative flair in the world, you still need familiarise yourself with the business side of interior design.

Learn Interior Design Online

We offer only the highest quality online interior design courses, engineered specifically for distance learning, Choose from fully endorsed courses below and Learn Interior Design Online with Brentwood Open Learning College. 

Diploma in Interior Design (Level 4)

Compliment your creative flair with the highest-level skills, insights and essential teachings from our flagship Level 4 Interior Design Diploma.

Certificate in Interior Design (Level 3)

Our Level 3 Interior Design Certificate is ideally suited to those looking to begin studying the subject at a more intermediate level.

For more information about our Interior Design certificate/diploma courses and Free Courses, get in touch with the BOLC admissions team today.