Want to start a career in interior design? This article helps you to start a career in interior design. It is the study of understanding human behaviours to help make their property speaks about their taste.
So, Let’s Learn step by step to become Interior Design. But first, we learn what works in interior design.
What Does Interior Design Do?
The sole purpose of an interior designer is to make full use of the available space, fill it with valuable items, and speak about the person’s taste.
So, an interior designer chooses the right colours, furniture, and carpets to decorate the inside of a house. Further, he may even work for clients to create visually appealing offices and malls.
So, you can now understand that interior designers require skills like drawing and creativity. They are the most important aspects if you want to start your career in interior design.
Therefore, one can say that interior designers work with diverse clients, from small homeowners to large corporations.
As an interior designer, you will decide what kind of materials your clients can and want to use, and that will determine the costs involved.
Skills to Start a Career in Interior Design
If you wish to work in a company, you will require the following educational qualifications.
- Must have a qualified bachelor’s or master’s degree in interior design.
- Diploma in interior designing or certificate courses.
- Popular interior design degrees are B—Sc & M.Sc in interior design, and Bachelor of Design and Master of Design.
However, one should also require these skills apart from the education qualification.
- Creative thinking
- Logical thinking
- Designing Eligibility
- Problem-solving
- Communication skill
- Visual Representation
- Structure Awareness
- Computer knowledge
- Paying attention
One can see that the above skills are pretty self-explanatory.
Career Opportunities with Estimated Salary
Let’s look at some key roles one can have when willing to start a career in interior design.
- Interior and spatial designer: Designers are responsible for renovating and designing internal spaces, including structural alteration, furnishings, fixtures and proper lighting and colour schemes. An average salary ranges between ₹ 1 lakh to ₹10 lakh.
- Lightning designers: Designers focus on various lights, like what lights should be used in rooms, office areas, and other spaces is the decision of the lighting designer takes. An average salary ranges between ₹ 2 lakh to ₹ 15 lakh and above.
- Visual merchandisers: Designers are responsible for creating interesting and innovative designs for visual displays at retail outlets. average salary ranges between ₹ 3 lakh to ₹ 12 lakh. An average salary ranges between ₹ 3 lakh to ₹ 12 lakh.
- Production designer/Art director: Production Designers are responsible for set designs, film, television or theatre production. They are also responsible for creating, maintaining, and executing the director’s ideas by putting in their creativity and thoughts. An average salary ranges between ₹ 4 lakh to ₹ 8 lakh and above
- Exhibition Designer: Exhibition display designers work on various projects, from local museum exhibitions to large public exhibitions like the Ideal Home Show. An average salary ranges between ₹ 2 lakh to ₹ 10 lakh.
- Kitchen and bath designers: These designers specialise in kitchens and bathrooms and have expert knowledge of the variety of cabinets, fixtures, appliances, plumbing, and electrical solutions for the kitchen and bathroom. These designers set all kitchen designs very well. An average salary ranges between ₹ 1 lakh to ₹ 6 lakh.
- Furniture Designer: Furniture designer responsible for creating and explaining furniture design concepts, communicating with an employer about design goals, and discussing new designs with clients. These designers also Test and enhance existing designs using computer models and physical prototypes. An average salary ranges between ₹ 0.3 Lakh to ₹ 10.1 Lakh.
- Interior Decorator: These designers are responsible for enhancing the inside of buildings or specific rooms in a building to meet the needs of the inhabitants. They choose colours, paints, furniture, floor and window coverings, and lighting. An average salary is between ₹ 3.1 lakh to 11 lakh.
- Colour consultant: A colour consultant helps you to pick the best colours for your house. Their job is to take all the factors of your home, furnishings, and taste and give you a combination of colours that will work best with your space. An average salary is between ₹ 3.1 lakh to 11 lakh.
- Architect: The Architect focus on a plan and design or facilitates the execution of new building designs, strategy, and design and facilitates the execution of building expansions or renovations according to the client’s needs, desires, and financial resources. An average salary is between ₹ 3.0 Lakh to ₹ 7.0 lakh.
Interior Design Software and Tools
To start a career in interior design, you must learn to use the tools. Indeed, using the devices will go a long way toward helping you achieve success.
There are many aspects to interior design, and each has specific tools – be it room design, photo editing, or project management. In addition, some platforms might be created with larger or smaller firms in mind.
So let’s look at some tools given below:
- Home Design 3D house plans are computer-generated renderings of actual buildings based on floor layouts. Home designs 3D are computer-generated representations of actual structures created by the computer based on floor plans provided.
- Autodesk AutoCADLT is one of the most popular interior design programs today, used by decorators, architects, engineers, construction professionals, and more. This reliable software allows professionals to design, draft, and document precise drawings with 2D geometry.
- Sketchup is a 3D computer tool extensively used for many projects in design, game consoles, interior decoration, mechanic and civil engineering, landscape architecture, etc…
- TurboCAD is a CAD software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting which runs on MacOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
- ArchiCAD 25 offers computer-aided solutions for handling all common aspects of aesthetics and engineering during the whole design process of the built environment—buildings, interiors, urban areas, etc.
- Homestyler is a real 3D home décor app and a creative community for design lovers worldwide with daily design challenges. Homestyler interior design application can help you easily accomplish the space layout, interior home design, decoration, furniture layout and house decor.
Top Indian Companies for Interior Designers
Interior designers can look for decent jobs in several good companies in India. So, Let’s see the given following companies:
- Interia is a large Polish web portal and online news platform created in 2000 in Kraków, Poland. It is the 4th largest online news source in the country. It offers, among others: new email accounts, free web hosting, and domain name registration.
- Urban Ladder is rated 4.1 out of 5, based on 189 reviews by employees on AmbitionBox. Urban Ladder is known for its Company culture, rated at the top and rated 3.9. However, Job Security is rated the lowest at 3.6 and can be improved.
- Bonito design talent powerhouse with high-calibre design experts from Indian and International design schools. The startup has a team of 200+ passionate individuals. They have a cumulative experience of 400 person-years of design & delivery.
- Films Factory line-up is based on two main principles: the first focuses on original films from up-and-coming directors with groundbreaking and novel subject matters. In contrast, the second emphasises quality films with broad commercial potential and the most important productions of the year from the most critical and elite directors.
- HomeLane is a home interior company that helps buyers do their home interiors in a personalised way. With more than 21000 projects delivered nationwide, they have tremendous experience in assisting customers in building their dream homes. In addition, HomeLane offers customised design services to all its customers at no extra cost.
Also read:
Are you interested in the fashion industry? Do you want to start a career in fashion design? This article will help you.
Top Indian Interior Designers
Here is a list of top fashion designers in India:
- Sunita Kohli is a globally recognised, national award-winning architectural restorer of some of the most prominent heritage buildings, forts and palaces in India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka that are vital links to the history and culture of South Asia.
- Tanya Gyani is a Delhi-based, globally famous interior designer. Gyani graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in New Delhi, India. She completed her Master’s in Interior Design in Florence, Italy, where she was awarded the Elite Student Award of the FDA.
- Gauri Khan first expressed interest in interior design as a hobby while renovating her Bandra bungalow. As a result, Gauri Khan was named in the list of top 100 in an architectural magazine. She also received a trophy as an interior decorator for her work.
- Lipika Sud is one of India’s leading Interior Designers practising from Delhi NCR. She is known internationally for her unique design sensibilities. Her firm offers interior and furniture designing, styling, and consultancy services with turnkey design solutions.
- Shabnam Gupta An internationally renowned and award-winning design firm, The Orange Lane by Shabnam Gupta undertakes interior design projects as a design consultant.
- Aamir and Hamida: AANDH is headed by the husband-wife duo Aamir and Hameeda. Their extensive and versatile body of work ranges from interior design of residences, corporate offices, retail stores and hospitality spaces. In the past decade, they have won up to 20 National and Regional Awards for Excellence in Design, including the Hafele Trends Excellence Award in Interior Design in 2016 and 2017 and many National and Regional Awards by IIID.
How to Start a Career in Interior Design?
Start a Career in interior design? Let’s learn step by step: given below:
Step-1: Complete your Education
One of the better ways to start a career in interior design is to get a good education about it.
- A bachelor’s or master’s degree in interior design.
- Other design degrees include a B.Sc & M.Sc in interior design and a Bachelor of Design and Master of Design.
- Diploma in interior designing or certificate courses.
So if possible, go for a bachelor’s or master’s degree, but if it is not something you want to be doing right away, you can opt for diploma courses from a private institution.
Step-2: Learn Tools Of Your Trade
Regarding interior design, It is not just about learning colour theory or design theory. However, it would be best to learn to use the tools.
Clients like visuals. Therefore, you must know how to create computer-aided design programs to demonstrate your design ideas in their absolute beauty. As an interior decorator, you must understand clients’ goals and use proper communication skills to bring their desired designs to life.
Spend time learning how to use those applications and web programs and create astounding 3D models and rendering to amaze your clients. You know online courses, so you should learn how to use them, make various floor plans, and decorate them with your space planning ideas.
In the world of AI, you provide a few pictures of your room, and the AI can suggest the elements in the room and colour combinations for it.
Step-3: Build a Portfolio
Once you want to build a portfolio, you can implement some interior design elements at your home. Remember that phrase, “Charity begins at home.” However, we will use the “design begins at home“, specifically the “interior design begins at home“.
If you can make your home look beautiful, you will find many people who want to take your help. Use it to build your portfolio. It will help you with many showcases when interacting with a potential client.
Anyone who wants to become an interior designer needs an interior design portfolio. So, a strong portfolio can create an impactful first impression and get the job opportunity.
In portfolio,
- Show your best work, and show a wide breadth of skill.
- Choose the right platform to showcase your work.
- Include professional study, Certificate courses.
- Integrate your personality.
- Describe the creative process.
- Show non-client work or side projects.
Step-4: Create a Network
If someone likes other people’s designs, they will ask for the person who has done it. So networking and word of mouth are among the best ways to get more interior design work.
So leverage social media and show your best work, especially on Instagram and Pinterest. Further, one can join any professional associations or even attend related events to connect with more and more people.
Then one can also
- Reach out to influencers in your industry.
- Reach out to designers you know and admire and ask for informational interviews.
- Attend local trade shows and industry functions.
To get a step ahead, you must also build a website. Having a digital presence is essential in the Gig economy era.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I do interior design without a degree?
Yes, It is possible to become an interior designer without a degree. With the steps mentioned above one can eliminate the degree and still build a great career in interior design. However, if you can do a local institution’s course, you can be way ahead of trying to do everything from scratch and trying to learn it.
How much does an experienced interior designer earn?
It is a broad question, and the answer will depend on how well one can opt for premium clients. For example, if you have a couple of years of experience dealing with corporate clients to design offices, the pay will be much higher than one doing shop designs.
However, an experienced interior designer earns INR 10 to 15 lakh annually. Further, if you ask me about the salary, it might be 5 to 6 Lakhs for a couple of years of interior design experience.
What kind of sector hire interior designers in India?
The sector offers employability to interior designer retailers, architectural firms, interior design companies, the entertainment industry, set designing companies and event management companies.
Is interior design a promising career?
Yes, interior design is one of the fields where proving your skills at work is more valuable than earning a fancy four-year degree. If you are interested in interior design, you can immediately start a career by learning interior design tools.
Is interior designing easy to learn?
Interior designing is easy or challenging, depending on your interest in designing. Interior design is a complex, refreshing, and highly demanding field. However, if you have an interest in design, you can quickly learn.
And if you are improving daily and learning daily, the work will start to pay you well, and you will not find it challenging.
Can I learn interior design on my own?
You can learn interior design at home through the many notable interior design home study courses available online. However, if you believe you are creative and have a business understanding, you can learn the technicalities of interior design at home.
So, YouTube also has many videos that can be a good start for your career in interior design.