For the right person, a career in interior design has the potential to be uniquely rewarding, enjoyable & secure for life. Individuals, brands, & businesses worldwide will always rely on the skills, talents & experience of qualified interior designers to get the job done. Having worked in the interior & spatial design industry for quite some time now, I thought I would impart my wisdom on what it’s like in this industry.
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Pros.
Being an Interior Designer Is Cool!
My career in interior design has to lead me to experiences that I would never have thought I’d have. While I’ve had my fair share of long hours staring into a screen, I’ve also had the opportunity for international travel, exposure to the fascinating operations & inner workings of various businesses & industries. There have been glamorous events & not so glamourous (but equally highly memorable) comradery moments in shipyards & building sites. Watching the gorgeous sunset while sitting on a cruise ship while she was getting built was one of them.
Interior Design is In Growing Demand.
As mentioned previously, the industry may be sizable already, but is growing at an extraordinary pace worldwide. Interior design is not just for homes, but businesses of all shapes & sizes. Which in turn means that for those with the required qualifications, experience & creativity, it is an industry of boundless potential.
Interior Design Gives You Plenty of Creativity.
There are very few creative industries that offer such an extraordinary level of creative freedom. It’s one thing to have a blank canvas, but when your canvas happens to be an entire interior living space, you can explore your creativity & imagination at a much higher level.
Interior Design Provides Great Job Satisfaction.
There can be little more satisfying than bringing your creative vision to life & delighting your clients in the process. Not only this, but there’s also the satisfaction that comes with knowing your efforts have perhaps permanently transformed an interior space into something magnificent.
Interior Design Offers Career Flexibility.
It’s also true to say that interior design is a highly flexible & accommodating contemporary sector. Whereas some may choose to focus on palatial residences or sprawling business complexes, others may find their niche in more straightforward home decorating projects & minor makeovers.
Interior Design Can Be Very Lucrative.
Potential earnings are quite limitless in the interior design industry. While those who work for established design companies may start with a relatively modest salary, those with the strongest reputations who work for themselves can write their tickets.
Cons.
Interior Design Can Be Difficult to Get Into.
A mentor of mine once told me interior design is a career for the privileged. It’s tough to get into & it will take some time before you can make a decent living out of it meaning that only those who could afford to work for free temporarily could enter it.
Interior Design Has Its Fair Share of Problematic Clients.
Working as an interior designer means you may encounter clients from all lifestyles with various personalities & senses of style. Some clients may be easy-going, allowing you the freedom & complete project control. A disadvantage to being an interior designer includes challenging clients to work with regarding the overall design process & budget use. If you are a self-employed interior designer, you will sometimes get that “impossible” client who will be picky & have unrealistic demands. A fair amount of tact, patience & subtle persuasion is needed to deal with them!
Interior Design Can Be VERY Stressful.
Again, most people face this as an interior designer, & you will probably have to put in long hours, especially when you’re starting. Dealing with clients & deadlines while coming up with new ideas is no easy task & will require a good deal of self-belief. With the fast-paced nature of trends & social media, you’ll need to learn how to be adaptable & open-minded not to mention technically savvy to master the ever-evolving software.
Interior Design Often Comes With Strict Budget Restrictions.
Working for clients means being limited to their project budget. You will have a budget to work with at the beginning of each of your projects. Planning what to purchase & the supplies, you will need before heading out to shop will save you time & money in the long run, & possibly inspire you with more design ideas for your client on their budget.
Interior Design Requires People With Thick Skins.
Some clients or team members won’t like your style & that’s okay. There’s little doubt that working as a designer requires a certain level of patience & tolerance. The pressure that emanates from both clients & managers to meet objectives & create the perfect design can, at times feel unrelenting. Everybody has their coping mechanisms when it comes to managing – & exceeding – these expectations.
Most times you put a lot of blood, sweat & tears into a design, or follow the parameters you’re given, & it could look fantastic & check all the boxes that the design is supposed to. The truth is that the client holds the bottom line & they may take one look at it & not see your vision & say they don’t like it. It can be tough to hear, but ultimately it is your job to give them what they are paying you for & have them leaving satisfied.
When you have incredibly tight deadlines, no one thinks about how you feel if they didn’t like what you worked on. You have to rework it & make it what they are looking for. However, as the designer, there are times when you need to step in & say when something absolutely will not work.
You Might Meet A Couple of “Miranda Priestly’s” Along the Way.
As with many creative sectors, you might meet a few ‘interesting’ characters. If you’re lucky, these challenging individuals will sharpen you, others; you will need to get away from asap. When someone is making comments about your work, ninety-nine per cent of the time, it’s not personal. It just might not work for that particular project, so keep your head up & be strong.
The critical thing is not allowing feelings to be attached to your design. It is best to think of design as a math problem. You are not your work, no matter how invested I am in a project. It is a facet of the greater whole. The feedback/criticism is there to polish those facets. There are very different ways to solve the equation but only one solution. Most of the time, the solution is balancing the client’s needs & the project’s needs.
Is Interior Design Really That Stressful?
All jobs & sectors have the potential to have highly stressful jobs depending on the context. If you’re willing to work your way up as an interior designer & continue that hard work throughout your career, you can be very successful. The blessing of a job that involves personal imagination is not easy to get, but it’s worth it.
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