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The main job of Interior designers is to augment the aesthetics and safety of interior spaces. Interior designers plan interior spaces of all types of hospitals, hotels, restaurants, school, private residences, shopping malls, theaters, airport terminals and offices. An interior designer must be capable of reading blueprints and understand fire codes. Postsecondary education, mainly bachelor’s degree is necessary to start career as an interior designer.

Stages of Interior Design Career

Education: College education is most important to start profession as an interior designer. In some state, an individual will not be recognized as an interior designer if he/she does not meet certain educational requirements. Many schools, universities and colleges of art and design provide degree courses in interior design. The Council for Interior Design Accreditation sets standards for the interior design education.

Experience: Career as an interior designer is based on three main steps. After formal education in interior design, the next in entry-level experience, that is followed by qualifying examination. An internship may increase the university degree of an individual. The quality of practical experience makes an interior designer successful in his career. “Interior Design Experience Program” offers the guidance for becoming a flourishing interior designer.

Experience: To become an interior designer, an individual must pass a qualifying examination. The examination ensures whether a student is qualified to become an interior designer. NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification) is responsible for declaring individual as a proficient interior designer. NCIDQ regularly conducts research, and uses the collected information to revise the exam. To start a career in interior design an individual must have proper education in interior design, and must gain interior design experience.

An individual, who has met the experience, education and the requirements of the examination, is considered as a certified interior designer. An interior designer must be capable of managing people and customer relationships, and must have business knowledge to become successful in his/her career.

To begin your career as an interior decorator you need to complete interior design degrees from any recognized colleges and universities. There are several renowned institutes that offer various courses in interior design. These are:

Sheffield School : This interior design school offers three courses that you can pursue from your home. These are:

• The Sheffield Complete Course in Interior Design: This course enables you to learn everything you require to know about interior design. It is their oldest and most popular course. The features of this course include:

1. 30 complete and brilliantly illustrated Lessons Booklets, which cover every vital aspect of interior design.

2. Reference Guides which are created especially by a team of professional interior designers.

3. Audio CDs that contain discussions with professional decorators.

• The Complete Course in Wedding & Event Planning: This course is specially designed to embrace everything necessary for you to know regarding the art and business of wedding and event planning. The course content ranges from creating a guest list, to creating a beautiful wedding design, to hiring vendors, so as to coordinate memorable events. The features include:

1. 20 complete lessons including "Look Book" supplements.

2. 6 Sheffield Study Guides, which helps you step-by-step through your lesson.

3. 2 Virtual Internship projects that are carefully evaluated by working wedding planners.

• The Feng Shui Interior Design Course: This course is enables you to learn the Chinese system approach to interior design. This approach has been practiced since thousands of years. These are some of the features of the course:

1. 6 Feng Shui Study Guides including articles by well known Feng Shui experts.

2. Audio CDs which helps to reinforce the most essential ideas from your lessons and feature.

3. 3 comprehensive textbooks- The Feng Shui House Book, Feng Shui Revealed, and The Western Guide to Feng Shui.

Interior Design is a distinctive course that helps you to learn the combination of aesthetics, technology and professional practice. These interior designers utilize their creativeness, professional education, and experience to plan the free space and furnish the interiors of homes, and public buildings. These public buildings include restaurants, offices, hospitals, retail establishments, theaters, and hotels.

Career Options:

An interior decorator, after completing the degree of interior design successfully, has several career options to choose from. These students can begin their career as junior designer, intermediate designer, design assistant, senior designer, lighting designer, project management and many more. The professional and diverse orientation of these courses can also enable you to start a career within interior design and architectural consultancies. You can also establish your own Interior Design firm and penetrate into building or supervisory contracts including both residential and commercial projects.

Course Content:

The course content of an online interior design degree generally includes:

• Drawing
• Computer-Aided Design
• Perspective
• Architecture
• Ergonomics
• Furniture design
• Spatial planning
• Ethics
• Color and fabrics
• Psychology

Online Colleges:

There are numerous schools of interior design that offer online interior design degrees. These are:

• Penn Foster Career School : This school of interior design offers distance learning facilities to students around the world and has three programs including Floral Designer, Home Remodeling and Repair, and Interior Decorator. This school is recognized by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council and by the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools for high school and vocational-technical programs. The Penn Foster Career School is affiliated with DANTES and offers affordable prices, and 0% interest financing and personalized payment plans that suits all the students around the world.
• Ashworth University : It is a broadly respected and nationally recognized distance education school that offers two interior design degrees- Professional Floral Design Program, and Professional Interior Decorating Program. The students of Ashworth University receive ample texts and study materials by mail and the monthly tuition fee is interest free.

There are various online interior design degree programs that offer students the opportunity to learn a comprehensive set of courses. In present days designing means something more than decorating. The interior decorators have an intense impact on every people’s life by creating comfortable surroundings to live, work, and relax. Generally the course content includes history and basic principles and applications of interior design, space planning, utilization of color and lighting, blue print reading, drafting floor plan, and the application of various fabrics, accessories, and design materials in interior design.

There are also other programs which include more focused, symposium and project courses.

After completing these courses you can begin your career as:

• Interior Designer
• Fabric Designer
• Floor Plan Drafting
• Retail Store Designer
• Lighting-Consultant
  
  

Bachelor Degree in Interior Design:

A bachelor degree in interior design serves as a foundation and looks after the technical and creative factors of interior design . Completing this degree is necessary for entering the field as interior design in United States is regulated in 24 states. It is in fact a criterion that you should fulfill before applying for your license. The course content includes computer-aided drafting (CAD) and design , space planning, 3D design , problem solving, the history of design and architecture, safety and building codes, interior construction and detailing, drawing, drafting, color, and basic design principles. The coursework of some colleges and universities also contain specialty design that include hospitality design , exhibit design, corporate design , and retail store design. Additionally, this course also facilitates you to learn the different methods and procedures to correspond your interior design solutions with the help of a variety of visual media.

There are also several other interior design programs available online. These include:

• Diploma in Interior Design
• Certificate in Landscape and Garden Design
• Higher National Diploma in Interior Design
• Diploma in Image and Fashion Styling
• Certificate in Color Consultancy
• Certificate in Lighting Design
• Certificate in Commercial Design Consultancy

It is a common belief that interior design is a practical discipline and can only be studied through regular courses in a classroom or studio. Though it is indeed a hands-on skill, it is utterly possible to achieve an online interior design education. However, there are certain factors you must consider before pursuing an online degree of interior design.

Take course related advice from a recognized counselor:

While selecting an online college for achieving interior design degree you should take course related advices from a professional counselor. There are several interior design colleges and universities, who appoint professional interior decorators as advisors. In fact most of these advisors have also completed their interior design degrees through online educational institutes. Thereby they can provide a very good advice to the new students. It is a very effective method to acquire support from these experienced professional as well as to remain motivated and focused.

Get a thorough knowledge about the software:

There are several online interior design schools that are using the 3D interior design software. Thereby if you have a prior knowledge or at least pursue some crash course upon the software, it will prove to be a great advantage for your career. This will further help you to create hypothetical designs and also for cost estimations.

Get hold of the latest audio and DVD learning materials:

The online interior design degree programs that you are undertaking provides certain audio and DVDs of lectures. Apart from these, you should also obtain the latest audio or video materials so as to up date your knowledge and enhance your skills. In fact you should make the maximum utilization of the audio materials as they help you get a break from the computer screen. It also enables you to learn as you complete other works.

Staying focused and motivated while pursuing this degree is very essential to succeed. There are some online interior design schools that prepare you for qualifying the exam that will officially permit you to start designing once you successfully complete your course.