Most of us dream of one day having enough money to hire an interior decorator who can tell us which colors work best for our kitchen, and whether we should have wood or carpet in our living room.
However, if you have a passion for home improvement, design, and art, then you might be able to build a career as an interior decorator yourself. So, how difficult is it to become an interior decorator? It might not be as tough as you’d think. If you’re willing to do the work to develop your skills and build a successful portfolio, you’ll be on your way to a new career in no time.
Start with the Right Education
Like most things, the right education is often the key to a career in interior design. You don’t technically need a degree to become a decorator, but the more knowledge you have, the more likely you are to attract clients. Taking out a private student loan and earning your degree gives you a selling point to place on your resume. It ensures that you have an edge over the competition when trying to win over new clients.
Interior decorating degrees are available at various levels, with some certification programs that don’t take a lot of time. If you’re interested in pursuing an education, it’s worth checking out what’s available in your area. You never know what you might learn.
Get Plenty of Experience
Usually, some of the best experience you’ll get as you pursue your new decorating career, is transforming your own home. Re-building your kitchen from scratch and choosing all the cabinets and drawers yourself will make it easier to see if you have an eye for what goes together. It’s also worth redecorating rooms whenever you have the chance, to find out which spaces you’re most attuned to.
Think about how you felt the last time you had to decorate, and whether you enjoyed the process. If you did, then it might be worth taking the experience further by asking friends whether you can help them with their decorating. You might even be able to volunteer at another interior design company, and shadow one of the experts as they work.
Keep Working on Your Artistic Talent
You don’t have to be a great artist to be an interior decorator, but you should be building your artistic skills as often as possible. Experiment with things like sketching and painting so you can see how different shapes and colors work together. You’ll be able to use that experience in the future when you’re working with clients.
Having some kind of artistic skill will also be useful for your future career. You might discover that your clients aren’t great at visualizing the ideas that you present to them. Being able to mockup a sketch or create a floor plan could help you to sell your concepts a lot faster.
If you’re not comfortable with a pencil and a piece of paper, then you can learn how to use software instead. There are tons of great programs out there.