Best Interior Design Courses: Details, Career, Salary and More
It has been observed that a lot of students are showing interest in interior design courses and aspiring to become interior designers.
Well, we’ve all are familiar with the term “interior design” however most of us do not have a depth idea about the details of that profession.
By details, I mean the understanding of the craft of interior designing, what goes into becoming a successful interior designer, the skills and abilities required, the educational qualifications, the career scope, and a lot more.
So, here in this article, we’re going to take a deep dive into every little detail of the interior design as a profession and towards the end, you’ll be able to find some of the best interior design courses that you might take if you’re an aspiring interior designer.
What is interior design?
The craft of planning, designing, and structuring the interior of a building to give it a pleasing look and a desirable atmosphere is called interior designing. Anything and everything that goes into making homes, offices, studios, or even stores look aesthetically perfect to the eyes, is through the efforts of interior designing only.
According to Wikipedia, some of the processes involved in interior design are:
- Developing concepts
- Planning according to the area
- Examining the site in detail
- Research
- Understanding the vision of the space owner
- Managing the construction
- Executing the design
Many times, people confuse interior design with interior decoration. The decoration is certainly a part of interior design, however, there is a lot more that goes into interior design than just decorating the interior.
If you’re among people who aspire to become interior designers shortly, here are some of the job responsibilities you need to be aware of:
Depending upon the space, there can be potentially multiple concepts that can shape the appearance of a structure, a room, or a hall and make it look really good. An interior designer has the responsibility to make a deep analysis and come up with all such concepts and suggest the best possible idea for revamping the interior appearance.
A professional interior designer’s job would require them to plan according to the given area. This means, some spaces are larger than others and therefore what works for small rooms, might not work for massive halls. The kind of planning that goes into designing a corporate office is different from the planning for a restaurant. So, interior designers are required to plan according to the given area.
As mentioned, interior design is not limited to decorating practices only therefore a lot of technical understanding of infrastructures is required. As a part of interior designer’s job, they have to study the structure and dimensions of the given space to be able to come up with relevant concepts. They also perform research upon getting the dimensional details of the space.
An interior designer is just a professional who has expertise in revamping the appearance of interiors. However, they are required to align with the vision of the owner to develop the interior as per the requirement of the person or organization who owns that space.
Therefore, detailed interactions with the management or the owner are very essential to deliver the desirable design. The designers also have a part of the job to do when it comes to managing the construction and executing the design at the same time.
These were only some of all the responsibilities that are involved in the profession of interior designing. So, if you want to become an interior designer, these are something that you need to have in mind.
However, when you take formal training and take the needed education, you’ll have more clarity about the job and how these procedures are carried out.
Professional courses to check out
Scope of Interior Design
From what has been observed lately, there is a massive scope in interior design. In the last decade or so, people are more attentive towards making their interiors aesthetically appealing. Every other person has their vision about what their home should look like.
Think of any construction, a restaurant, a salon, a shopping mall, a regular retain story, a pharmacy, an office, or any of the thousands of possible infrastructures, all of them are going to need interior design.
Even if the slightest idea about managing space and making it look good would need professional interior designing practices. So, with more advanced concepts about making an interior look good, the demand for professional interior design services has gone massively up.
Every little construction requires the use of designing, and that shows how actively the interior design industry is growing. There is certainly a good scope in Interior design.
It is quite obvious because, a place where someone will spend most of their life has to be pleasing to the eyes, and feel good. So, having things as they need and make the interior space look good is one of the challenges in the work of an interior designer. And, as has already been mentioned, the demand for interior design is not just limited to residential homes but commercial buildings like offices, shops/stores, malls, restaurants, etc.
People are emotionally attached to their offices, their stores, their restaurants, basically their business, and a physical outlet for their business needs to look good for they wish it to run for good long years.
Keeping all the requirements and visions in mind, an interior designer has to come up with concepts that fit the space well. So, if you’re wondering about the scope in interior designing, I would say there is massive scope in the industry.
Best interior design courses: Details, Career, Salary and More
To master the craft of interior design you’ll need to go through formal training that guides you from the very fundamentals to the professional skills and knowledge. There are diplomas, degrees as well as certification courses for those who aspire to learn and become professional interior designers.
-
Diploma in Interior Design
Students who wish to pursue interior design right after completing their secondary or higher secondary education can go for a short-term course that is a diploma in interior design. Those who want to pursue a diploma right after completing their 10th standard will have to enroll in the 6 month- 1-year interior design and architecture diploma certification course.
And for those who have completed their 12th standard and wish to pursue interior design, they may wish to choose the diploma certification program in interior design or interior design and architecture whose ranges from 1-2 years.
Learn about computer courses after 12th here
These courses will guide you through the very fundamentals of the craft of interior design and will give you the needed exposure to learn about the industry of interior design. Although the diploma in Interior Design could be considered as a good start to learn the fundamentals of interior design, the placement opportunities are relatively low as compared to a Bachelor’s degree.
Overall, to start learning the craft of interior design and understand the basic theories of it, you may actually go for a diploma in Interior design, and also in case you are eligible for a diploma and not for a bachelor’s degree, you shall go for it.
Course Fees: The course fees may range anywhere between INR 15,000, INR 2,00,000 per year depending upon the nature of the course and the type of institution (Government and private colleges have very different fee structure)
-
Bachelors Degree in Interior Design
This is what a majority of aspiring interior designers prefer to opt for right after completing their bachelor’s degree in Interior Design. Most of the bachelor degree for interior design is 3-year courses. Some of them are BSc and BA in interior design.
Institutions like CEPT offer bachelor’s degree programs in interior design and Bachelor of Architecture interior design that are 5 years in duration. CEPT required the candidates to have qualified 12th standard from a recognized board with physics and mathematics as mandatory subjects.
These bachelor degree programs are most suited for those who are serious about having a career as a professional interior designer. The courses give you a very practical insight into the industry functions, and as the course progresses, you’ll be required to create your portfolios which later will serve as the professional portfolio that you can use to pitch clients for projects.
In the 5 years, the students will learn the in-depth concepts in interior design and will have a more professional approach. The chances of getting jobs right after a bachelor’s degree in interior design are way higher than that in diploma courses.
So, if you have completed your +2 science and looking forward to having a career in interior design as a professional then you might as well want to go for a bachelor’s degree in Interior Design. Having a bachelor’s degree in Interior design presents you with so many opportunities and the chances for you getting a well-paying job also increases tremendously.
-
Certification Course
Another way to go about starting a career in the interior design industry is by doing certification courses. Now, what exactly is the difference between the certification courses and the degree or diploma courses? Well, certification courses train our guide you around a particular skill, a subject, a section of the entire interior design while the degree courses or the diploma are meant to give you complete in-depth knowledge of every possible aspect of interior design as a subject.
The duration of certification courses is usually less as compared to that of degree or diploma courses. However, the certification courses are immensely valuable in fact, the students who are pursuing a degree or diploma in Interior design are also recommended to do these certification courses in their summer breaks or part-time. This is mainly because, having a certification for training around a particular interior design skill shows that you’ve been through formal training, and you might have a certain level of expertise in that skill.
So, whether you are a student pursuing a diploma or degree in interior design or you’re completely new to interior design but have relevant internet, in either of the cases, it is suggested that you shall try doing a certification course and achieve mastery in at least one vertical of interior design.
Some long-term certification courses also come with placement opportunities and that is the reason, if you’re genuinely willing to have a career in the interior design industry, this might be a good start to it.
Career as interior designer
Interior designing is a very promising profession that has really good opportunities of making good income. A person with the right set of skills can manage to make a good fortune out of this profession.
Unlike most of the professions, interior designers mostly do not look for jobs rather they build their portfolios. This means, they create dummy projects, samples, or even real work experience through referrals to build a portfolio that showcases their expertise, work and more.
And basically they pitch their portfolio to people who are in need of interior design services. So, the better your portfolio is the more likely you’re to get better projects. However, the interior designers may choose to work for organizations.
There are so many companies that offer interior design services, and for that they need professionals who are good at the craft of designing interiors. So, it works either ways, but mostly the professionals have their own portfolio through which they pitch and get projects.
Although, interior designers get handsome payouts and salaries, it also depends on the position in a company. There are numerous roles for interior designers such as:
- Interior Design Assistant
- Interior Design Associate
- Interior Design Manager
- Interior Design Executive
These are only some of all the roles, and there are definitely more. If one prefers to do job as a professional interior designer, their salaries are going to vary depending upon the position they hold.
Like I mentioned above, there is good opportunity in the industry, and the demand for interior designing services is increasing over time. Although, expecting steady flow of projects in the beginning might not be the right way, as one has to be little patient and build their brand presence over a period of time.
But the best part is, with experience, the income only goes high. The more experienced a professional is, the more likely they’re to get better and bigger projects and charge accordingly. So, interior design as a career is actually a very good option but one has to have good level of expertise if they wish to achieve success in this profession.
Salary of interior designer
There are 2 modes a professional interior designer can work in. The first one is by joining an organization and the second was is creating and pitching their portfolio. In either case, there is a good chance that the start would be slow, because when it comes to job the entry level salaries of interior designer is usually low, and as the companies may re-evaluate the salaries considering the skills and performance of the person.
There are some reports about the salaries of professional interior designers that you may refer to have a better understanding. According to payscale, the average base salary of a professional interior designer is INR 3,06,031 per year and it can go as high as INR 9 lakh per year. Another report from glassdoor suggests that the average base pay of interior design professionals is INR 4,49,000 per year and that can go as high as INR 8.5 Lakhs.
On an average it can be concluded that the interior designers get a relatively handsome payout.
How to be an interior designer?
If you aspire to become a professional interior designer then you need to be aware of the requirements for the job in terms of education, skills, eligibility criteria and more. Let’s discuss in details the requirements of the job and what other things you need to have to become an interior designer.
Just like many other professions, the base requirement for becoming an interior designer is to have the right knowledge about the craft and skills for the profession. For that you might want to pursue a mainstream course or a certification course.
In either of the cases, you’ll be required to have completed your higher secondary education or 10+2 from a recognized board in any stream like science, commerce or even arts. Some institutions need to have physics and mathematics as compulsory subjects in your higher secondary education to be eligible for studying interior design.
What are the subjects involved in interior design courses?
Interior design involves a lot of subjects however depending upon the course you’re taking you’ll have the opportunity to study some of them. In fact, certification courses offer training and knowledge around 2-3 specific subjects like technical drawing, model making, etc.
Here are the subjects in interior design courses:
- Freehand drawing
- Technical Drawing
- Material Purchase
- Furniture and Furnishing Designing
- Model Making
- Portfolio Designing
- Basic Photography
- Cost Estimation
- Interior Graphic Designing
These are only some of the entire subject included in the interior design courses, and there are certainly more of them which you can easily find on the web. The mentioned list only contains some of the most important and valued subjects when it comes to interior designing.
FAQs
Q. Do interior designers get paid well?
Ans- California has the highest pay per year for interior designers with an average of $57,500. The average range is between $40,000 and $78,000, which is the highest salary range in the country.
Q. Is interior designer in demand?
Ans- The employment of interior designers is projected to decline 5 percent from 2019 to 2029. There may be some demand created by new construction, but opportunities for self-employed interior designers to renovate existing homes, commercial buildings, and other facilities should be limited.
Q. Is interior design an office job?
Ans- Interior designers work in a variety of different settings. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that some designers work for large firms and typically do so in an office environment that is both comfortable and well lighted. Designers may meet with clients in their offices or in the client’s home.
Conclusion
So, these were some of the details that you need to know when it comes to learning or starting a career in the interior design field. It is not as difficult as it sounds, rather a very smooth career and a fruitful one of course. As mentioned, for learning professional aspects of interior design through a degree or diploma courses, you might need to have completed your 12th from a recognized board while some specific institutes have other requirements.
There is a good scope shortly for interior design professionals as the need for their services is going to increase. So, if you’re an aspiring interior designer who wants to learn every little detail about the craft of designing, then you shall go for the mentioned interior design course that you find most suitable.
