As long as there are household interiors, they’ll need designing. And, while interior design may be one of the lesser-known and lesser-appreciated art forms, an art form it is. A well-designed interior, for instance, can help a small and stuffy home suddenly appear and feel like a palace – all because of a smart combination of practical and aesthetic knowledge and application. These principles take time to learn, but if you’re thinking of moving into the interior design business, there are steps that you can take today in order to prepare yourself for a sideways move into the business of your dreams – designing interiors around the world.
Read more after the jump:
Think Skills
Of course, the first part of your move into the interior design world should be considering the skills you’re going to need in order to excel in the job. As a job that straddles both aesthetic taste and skills with a saw – and many other practical skills besides – you’ll need to work on both your hands-on skills and your eye for beauty and taste.
As such, it’s recommended that you take some courses in both sides of the interior designer’s calling: helping you build the practical, material knowhow you need, alongside an appreciation of the art itself. Head online to find excellent courses that’ll prepare you for your career move into interior design.
Build a Portfolio
You don’t have to go straight into designing fancy homes in luxury neighbourhoods to prove your value as an interior designer. Any small interior space that you have to work with is a potential addition to your portfolio, and these, of course, start within the confines of your own home.
Think candidly about the skills you want to exhibit through your own home’s interior design and take exciting pictures of your talents at work. When it comes to sharing these images, it’s best to build your own website as an independent interior designer, linked to your social media channels: Twitter, Facebook – but especially Instagram, where photographs are so seductive.
Build Contacts
Next, you’re going to have to go through what all ambitious new up-starters have to go through: a process of networking in order to secure some of your first jobs. In the interior design world, your portfolio proceeds you, and will certainly be a major pillar of your overall networking strategy.
But elsewhere, you’ll need to attend industry events, head to conferences, galleries, and exhibitions and be cognizant always of your need to build a solid contact book that’ll help you secure some custom, advice or knowledge for the future of your career.
Taking Care of Business
As you become more successful in your venture as an interior designer, it’ll be time to take care of the business side of your career. This involves all the responsibilities you’ll have towards your accounts, towards your contractors insurance, and towards other facets like supplier relationships and financial planning. With this side of your self-employed interior design contracting in order, you’ll be prepared to make a success of your life designing the inside of homes.
There you have it: four key tips to moving into the interior design business in 2019.
