Doris Hall

Interior Design Education

This has interior design schools and designers all over the country thrilled and discouraged at the same time. How can they convince students that architecture, space planning, applied physics, 3-D computer applications, materials and estimating, rhetorical analysis essay, technical writing, history, and safety codes are essential skills for licensure, when they’ve come in believing all it takes is $1,000, a can of paint, and good taste? Interior design is a highly technical field with rigorous licensing procedures and a requirement of at least a bachelor’s degree and two years apprenticeship, which is why many professionals are beginning to call themselves “interior architects.”

Interior Design Reality

Reality TV shows like Trading Spaces, Designer’s Challenge, Surprise by Design, The Christopher Lowell Show, and While You Were Out perpetuate several myths about the industry. One of these is that great designers surprise their clients. Nothing could be further from the truth. The client should actually be an integral, ongoing participant in the design process. A designer’s taste or personal style should have nothing to do with the final outcome. It goes far beyond aesthetics; interior design is about form and function.

However, if these shows have you considering design for real, several interior design schools now offer online degree programs, which are accredited by the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER) and prepare students for the National Council for Interior Design Qualification examination, a professional requirement.