You very love to bring a theme to a room, to make things look just so. Perhaps friends who visit your home make remarks about wishing they could hire you to fix up their place or that they never know what goes with what. If you seem to be a natural at interior decoration, why not become an interior designer?

There are steps you can take that will ease you onto the road to becoming a professional interior designer, bringing your passion to life.

The terms interior designer and interior decorator are often used interchangeably. Both generally mean that you will create a pleasant space in the dimensions given that you won’t make major structural changes in the house. This is important as actually altering the configuration of a house, or a room, may need a permit, license and there may be other red tape which involves building contractors and other professionals.

That said, if you want to do interior decoration for a living, the following considerations may be of help.

Education and training:

While you may be able to hang out a shingle and proclaim yourself an interior designer, you may also not have too many clients. In general, people looking to hire you will want to know where you received your education. There are a lot of schools out there, many of them reputable. However, be sure to do your research before you pay for a series of classes that will never do anything except take your money.

Training will likely be more important than the mere fact that you’ve been educated in interior decoration. While it may take longer, getting a job with an established interior designer may make things easier for you in the long run. Not only will you make a salary (though just starting out may mean the salary is rather small), you will learn on the job and receive real-world training. (more…)