How to Become an Interior Designer?

Nowadays, it is explicitly impossible to imagine your new house only as a bland structure of bricks and wood. Today, hiring a professional interior designer so as to shape the whole outlook of your house, give it some unique features, has become an indispensable part of building yourself a comfortable and attractive home. If you’re planning to refurbish your old house there is no need to put yourself to trouble, thinking about new ideas, you can just book yourself the best interior designer. But, if you’re thinking of pursuing this profession yourself and test your creative imagination and do your research before signing up for a career in this field. Here is a comprehensive blog explaining how to become an interior designer!

What does an Interior Designer do?

The primary job of Interior designer involves making plans, outlining new designs and overall furnishing of interiors of residential houses, commercial sites and other buildings. They make designs which are aesthetic in nature and align with the ideas and vision of clients while simultaneously helping to improve their comfort and lifestyle. Their job demands them to coordinate comprehensively with other professionals, involving contractors, architects, engineers so as to ensure every task is done coherently in a successful manner. Interior designer also advises a client on different designing elements like spacing, layouts, furniture, decor and colour combinations. Constantly holding parleys with clients to talk about factors that could potentially affect the interior planning of the house is also a significant component of this job.

Skills Required

Interior designers don’t just need to have the ability to deal with technical details but must always work with their team. Teamwork always brings out the best results. They must have an analytical mind, along with visual sensitivity. Interior designers must work under the prescribed budget and have good communication skills to deal with potential employers. With the apt knowledge of color, texture, and material, they can bring out the best outcomes.

Responsibilities

Interior designers can either work as freelancers or with a firm and can thus plan space as per the client’s requirements. Nowadays many designers are going for sustainable designs that give a modern touch to an area along with environment-friendly technology. They must coordinate their work with contractors and owners, oversee the construction, and execute their design. Interior designers must know building codes, universal accessibility standards, and inspection regulations. Along with the relevant skills, the designers must have an upper hand at software like CAD (Computer-Aided Design), Photoshop, and Ravit. They can design homes, commercial places like restaurants, cafes, offices, or healthcare facilities like hospitals or nursing homes.

Also Read: Interior Design Courses, Colleges and Eligibility

Interior Designing Courses

We have prepared a comprehensive list of bachelor’s, masters and doctorate programs you might want to examine before taking another step forward:

Undergraduate Programs 

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design	Bachelor of Applied Science (Interior Architecture)	Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies
Bachelor of Interior Design (Honours)	BA (Hons) Interior and Spatial Design	BSc (Hons) Interior Architecture and Property Development
Bachelor of Design in Interior Architecture (Honours)	Bachelor of Design – Interior Design and Environments	Bachelor of Science in Home Furnishings Merchandising
Bachelor of Built Environment (Interior Architecture)	BSc(Hons) Architectural Technology and Design	Honours Bachelor of Craft and Design (Furniture)

Postgraduate Programs

Interior Design MA	Environmental Design of Buildings (MSc)	Master of Design in Interior Studies – Adaptive Reuse
MA Interior and Spatial Design	Climate Resilience and Environmental Sustainability in Architecture (CRESTA) MSc	Master of Arts in Family and Consumer Sciences – Interior Design
MSc Infrastructure Design and Management	Commercial Interior Management and Practice MSc	Master of Arts in Applied Design – Furniture and Woodworking

Doctorate Programs

Doctor of Philosophy in Interior Architecture

Doctor of Philosophy in Interior and Environmental Design

Doctor of Philosophy in Built Environment

Top Universities 

After pinpointing a suitable course you can initiate your search for a university with the best available resources to equip you with the knowledge structure of the interior design. Take a look at the following list mentioning some world-class universities of the field.

• New York Institute of Technology
• RMIT University
• Swinburne University of Technology
• University of Canberra
• Curtin University
• University of the Arts, London
• Griffith University
• The University of the West of England
• Dalhousie University
• Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
• Loughborough University
• University of Liverpool
• San Diego State University
• Stevens Institute of Technology

Top Colleges in India

Here is the list of one of the most famous colleges offering interior design courses in India:

• National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad
• Pearl Academy
• International Institute of Fashion Technology (IIFT), Chandigarh
• Chandigarh University, Chandigarh
• Arch College of Design and Business, Jaipur
• JD Institute of Fashion Technology, Mumbai
• Hamstech Institute of Creative Education, Hyderabad
• Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar
• MIT Institute of Design, Pune
• International Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD), Mumbai

Entrance Exams in India

Students have to appear in the following entrance exams to pursue interior designing:

1.     AIEED

Arch College of Design and Business conducts all India Entrance Exam for Design (AIEED). This exam includes the Creative Aptitude Test (CAT) and General Aptitude Test (GAT). Students can apply based on their NATA score or AIEEE rank. Students must clear the PTE exam within the first year of their study so that they can get transferred to UK University.

2.     SEED

Symbiosis International University conducts SEED or Symbiosis Entrance Exam for Design for admission in interior design. However, SEED will not be conducted this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

3.     NID Entrance Exam

NID Design Aptitude Test is conducted for admission in UG and PG programmes for interior designing at National Institute Design (NID) campuses. By scoring a valid score in this exam, applicants are eligible to take admission to seven design colleges.

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Top Interior Designer Recruiters

To get the best career opportunities, the students must prepare their portfolio. A portfolio is a collection of work done by the student during their period of study. It must be highly attractive containing a collection of pictures, sketches, drawings, and designs. One of the top interior designing firms in India are:

1. La Sorogeeka
2. Aamir & Hameeda
3. Design Qube
4. Raja Aederi
5. Morph Design
6. Savio & Rupa Interior Concepts
7. Maps of India
8. The KariGhars
9. The Grid
10. ZZ Architects

The average salary offered to freshers after finishing a Bachelor’s degree in Bachelor’s is 93,000 INR to 6,00,000 INR per annum. With the experience, interior designers can earn 10-15 lakhs per annum.

Must Read: How to Become a Shoe Designer?

Career Opportunities

When you’re finished with the higher-level studies in this field, it is time that you look at various career opportunities as an interior designer. Few of the job profiles you can explore are:

• Exhibition Designer
• Lighting Designer 
• Kitchen Designer
• Architect, 
• Architectural Technologist, 
• Product Designer 
• Textile Designer
• Production Designer

We hope this blog has provided you with all the important steps towards becoming an Interior Designer. Want to pursue a degree in Interior Designing abroad? Our Leverage Edu experts are here to help you explore the right course and institution that match your dreams and interests. Book your free 30 minutes of e-session with us today and we will help you with the customised services that can resonate with your personal career needs.