Interested in Interior Design

[Anonymous]

I am a complete novice but I have been told I have good taste. I would love to help out at a local design firm part time and gain some exposure and experience...Would this be possible as non-design school graduate?

[Anonymous]

Why don’t you go to design school and put some technical expertise and skills and knowledge behind your good taste?

[Anonymous]

And once that doesn't work out, please become a real estate agent. Because it's a VERY EASY JOB and you will make SO MUCH MONEY!

[Anonymous]

They might hire you as a receptionist, but they would not hire you as a designer unless you have the credentials.

[Anonymous]

See if you can have some informational interviews with designers whose work you admire and find out what they'd be looking for in terms of credentials, how they'd advise you to proceed, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They might hire you as a receptionist, but they would not hire you as a designer unless you have the credentials.

+1 you can become an “interior decorator” without a design degree, but not an actual designer.

[Anonymous]

Another strategy is to build up a customer base is by doing a couple of projects for your friends and their only payment is good referrals.

[Anonymous]

Being a licensed Interior Design requires education, experience, and examination, not "flair." If you are serious about this as a career you should look at CIDA accredited programs: https://www.accredit-id.org/accredited-programs

If you want to pick out paint and pillows and be a decorator, you can work for someone else but the pay will be low and you can't advance much. But that is not an Interior Designer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a complete novice but I have been told I have good taste. I would love to help out at a local design firm part time and gain some exposure and experience...Would this be possible as non-design school graduate?

What sales person told you this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a complete novice but I have been told I have good taste. I would love to help out at a local design firm part time and gain some exposure and experience...Would this be possible as non-design school graduate?

Probably not. Internships for students enrolled in the local programs are hard enough to come by. I don't see how someone with no education can just walk in.

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine who was interested like you are got a job at one of the big furniture stores as a "designer." They gave her some minimal training, but she mostly just plugs client room dimensions into software and uses that to try to sell entire rooms worth of furniture. Not what you want, I know, but it might give you an idea of whether or not you really like it enough to pursue actual design credentials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A friend of mine who was interested like you are got a job at one of the big furniture stores as a "designer." They gave her some minimal training, but she mostly just plugs client room dimensions into software and uses that to try to sell entire rooms worth of furniture. Not what you want, I know, but it might give you an idea of whether or not you really like it enough to pursue actual design credentials.

That reminds me, the kitchen designer we used at Lowes was very helpful. I'm not sure what it takes to get that job but it might be an entry point.