Interior Designer

Interior Designers create the look, feel, and style of inside spaces. To do this you need artistic skills that let you pair colors, shapes, textures and sizes in your imagination. You also need the technical skills to understand building structure, building codes, wiring, and plumbing so that you can make your design fit within the physical limitations (and opportunities!) of a space. On top of this you need the people skills to communicate your ideas to your client, and manage the workers who will create your vision.

You won’t be stuck sitting at a desk day in and day out. Instead your time will be spent noting the electrical sockets on your technical sketch, working with electricians to rewire for a ceiling fan, and helping your client envision the final outcome so they will approve your flooring choice of green shag carpet. On the whole you need to envision what an interior space could become, communicate that vision to your client, then manage the actualization of the vision.

In general most designers work on a mix of residential and commercial properties, which range from living rooms to restaurants to the conversion of industrial factories into residential lofts. And while a great sense of style is obviously helpful, there are many different areas within this field in which you can specialize—and some don’t require you to stay up on the latest color trends. If you specialize in health care design, for example, you focus on clean lines and functionality instead of striving for a 17th-century, Parisian feel.