I’ll tell you everything you need to know about an interior design career path. You’ll find out about the 10 options for making money as a professional interior designer. I’ll sum up with the information on my own interior design career overview. If you need more information on how much you can earn – check out this post on salaries.
Now, why should you listen to me?
Originally from a small town in Poland I decided to move to London with barely any money. I managed to get jobs in the top London interior design companies. I worked for the celebrity designers, luxury developers: designing interiors for billionaires. Eventually, I opened my own business.
All this using my FORMULA that I teach in my free training.
10 Options for an Interior Design Career
Before I give you this information, you should know that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to interior design career. There are a lot of career paths you can choose from.
For example, before starting your own company I recommend working for someone else first to gain valuable experience. Why? Because this way you can avoid making costly mistakes with a huge financial risk.
1. The Most Common Interior Design Career Path: The All-Rounder
The All-Rounder is an interior designer who’s versatile and knows all the skills. Usually working for a small to medium sized interior design practice. You need to know a little bit of everything:
- concept design,
- interior design sketching,
- technical drawings in CAD software,
- moodboards,
- finishes,
- purchasing,
- selecting furniture/lighting
- and sometimes even the 3D renders.
An All-Rounder is a great start for your interior design career.
2. CAD Designer
A member of an interior architecture department or CAD Team. Usually known as a CAD Designer. Producing technical documentation in CAD software. In reality you’re usually not designing yourself but drawing someone else’s ideas (usually senior designer’s). This role is common in medium to large interior design companies where the roles are more specialised. So, an interior designer in the CAD team will be drawing up:
- layouts
- and everything that the builders need to construct, for example: kitchens, bathrooms, wardrobes etc.
3. FF&E Designer
FF&E* Designer in the FF&E* Department
*FF&E stands for Furniture, fixtures & equipment.
As my friend Kat described it in a great way: if you turn the house upside down – the things that fall out are FF&E.
Firstly, it’s a very defined path in the interior design career with designers specialising in soft furnishings only. If you choose this career path you’ll be:
- purchasing furniture,
- choosing fabrics,
- designing window treatments,
- picking and arranging freestanding furniture and pillows
- working in specialised software
- filling out a lot of spreadsheets. More spreadsheets than designing.
At this point you’re probably thinking “Yeah, these jobs sound great but how am I going to get one?” Don’t worry – I created a FREE training on how to get hired based on my own experience working for the top London interior design companies.
4. Interior Design Career in Large Companies
Large companies certainly usually divide the work into very specialised roles:
- purchasing furniture only,
- detailing joinery only,
- managing the designers only,
- concept design only,
- putting together presentations in InDesign.
Here’s where a lot of designers end up stuck in a rut. In other words doing one thing for several years. This can limit their portfolio and chances to get a job with a different role. It might be very comfortable (nice salary and repetitive tasks = comfort zone, hard to escape). So it’s great for someone looking for a steady job. Although, if you want to progress, be careful not to get stuck.
TIP: when looking for a job, be sure of what the position entails. Even though the job offer says “Interior Designer” it can mean several different things.
5. Architecture Studio or a Developer’s Office
This information is usually overlooked but it can certainly be an interesting step in your interior design career. Personally I did it for a year and definitely gained a new perspective with the project management knowledge. It’s an unusual experience as the main focus of the company ISN’T interior design. Therefore the workflow is slightly different. For example, you might be asked to learn software such as Revit. This software is highly tuned for architects, MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) and structural engineers. Not ideal for interior designers so much…
6. Interior Designer in a Furniture or Kitchen Showroom
In this case you may not need overall experience in interior design. Because the interior design service offered is more often than not a free gift for customers. Therefore it only requires a basic understanding of interior design. It’s a great way to start out in the industry. Especially if you find getting a job in an interior design studio difficult. You can get a lot of good insight in the one field such as kitchen design.
7. Interior Stylist
You’ll be designing interiors for; photoshoots, magazines and product marketing. Because these interiors are only temporary (sometimes only lasting a day), this type of an interior design career path is very unique. You’ll spend most of your time:
- looking for photoshoot locations,
- booking photographers,
- looking for budget friendly accessories and materials etc.
You need to be extra creative with using cheap materials. Why? Making them look good on camera is is one of the most important things.
You’ll definitely need to be:
- very organised,
- be a people-person
- be able to work to tight deadlines.
There also might be a lot of travelling involved.
8. Visual Merchandiser
Through your design skills you’ll promote the products and services of the retail shops. It’s all about creating eye-catching product displays and store layouts.
The most important thing is to attract customers and encourage them to buy. So creativity and knowing the brand design principles are a must. Although if you work for a major brand you’ll need to follow the guidelines from the head office. So it might be less creative.
9. Working for Yourself – Freelancer
There’s a common misconception about freelancers and business owners/entrepreneurs.
A freelancer works for OTHER interior design companies and the client doesn’t necessarily know they exist. Whereas a business owner markets their interior design services straight to the clients.
The best way of getting freelance work is through recruiters that match you with the big companies or through online platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr.
10. Working for Yourself – Business Owner
Opposite to a freelancer, a business owner has to present their services in a completely different way.
You need to show the clients how you’re going to provide a solution to their renovation problem. Otherwise clients won’t feel you are a good fit for them.
So, do you want the precise Formula for getting your own clients? Then sign up to my free training “Getting Clients & Getting Hired Formula”.
Information On My Own Interior Design Career Overview
My personal interior design career overview looks like this so far:
- I freelanced for a few companies whilst studying.
- After graduation I was lecturing whilst maintaining freelance work.
- I then moved to London and worked full time for large established companies designing interiors for billionaires around the world.
- Firstly with a celebrity interior designer,
- Moving on to professionally managed large developments with a luxury developer for a year.
- Then I wanted to try truly artistic and conceptual designs not limited by standard architecture so I worked on the most insane projects with my next employer. TIP: if you want to get creative jobs you absolutely need to learn sketching! Also, you can read this to find out why sketching is important for an interior designer.
- Finally, when I had enough experience I opened my own interior design business that I still run today. I would’ve never been able to do it so successfully if I haven’t previously gone through all the other steps with my interior design career.
Summary
Now, to get a sustainable interior design career path it’s good to mix and match all these different career options I’ve mentioned.
For example it would be difficult to open a company straight away and become super successful. As I said, it’s much easier to work for someone else first and learn the ropes that way.
So if you want to learn exactly how to become the professional interior designer, check out my Professional Interior Design Course as well as my Sketching Masterclass. Everything based on my experience working for the top London interior design companies to setting up my own business.
