Interior designer question?

Question

this is for a reasearch project btw: I am 14 and i want to persue a career in interior designing. what can i do as of now? ideas anyone

Answer 1

Go to upscale furniture stores and model homes to see various styles and how they are grouped. You need to learn about style foremost. What is good style and what is bad. If youlive in a beautifully decorated home and all the family and friends have lovely homes you may already have good taste.

You will learn all the technical stuff about color, textures, styles, function, layering, accessories, etc at school so for now just see what you like. Keep notes. Look at your notes a year later and see how much your taste and knowledge has changed.

If you can take photos of things that are creative. ripp pages from mags and keep a portfolio of things you like. make notes why you like them. make notes how much they cost at the time you saw them.

You will have clients input of what they want, and have to work to live with their budget. The more you learn tricks that are inexpensive but create a great look the better you will do as a professional.

Study floor plans of model homes and see what you would have done differently. A home has to FUNCTION WELL for the purposes of the owners life style. That means the floorplan and interior furnishing together must allow the owners to have the life style they like. If it does not then all the style in the world will not make your clients happy.

You must assume the owners like the floorplan or their (new) home. But you study the floorplan and find out what problem areas it has. Most floor plans/interiors have some problems. So also look at the buildng as a whole and how it flows to the outside.

The style of the home's architecture will dictate a specific style sometimes. A Victorian in San Francisco or an adobe home in Santa Fe will require specific knowledge of the styles suitable for these homes. You may initially concentrate on just the basic 'transitional" homes which can take almost any interior design to look professionally done.

Also keep in mind most home owners dont' want a designer look. They would prefer to do it themselves to reflect who they are and what they like. That will be the hardest part of your job to really "get it" what they want. Sometimes they can't express what they want, so you have to learn somehow to extract it from them with minimal effort.

Great career - have fun!

Answer 2

You can go to a used bookstore and find used text books for interior design classes. Start learning space planning, color elements & presentation skills.

Get some drafting grid paper and practice drawing to scale. You can cut out furniture pieces (scale size) and create different arrangements of furniture pieces.

Better Homes & Gardens and many furniture store web sites have room arrangement software that you can create rooms with too.

When your old enough to work, you might look at retail sales. A large store that has home fashion, decor etc. Most furniture stores have interior designers on staff to assist customers with selections. One of the requirements for a designer is "sales" experience. They want to know that you can stand behind & sell your design ideas to your customer. It's a great skill.

I love painting & decorating wished I had thought of that career choice when I was younger. HGTV web site is a great resource for decorating ideas & design. Great job thinking ahead! Good Luck to you!

Answer 3

First, I would make a color notebook. It would contain swatces of plain colored fabrics as well as those with textures. Include a color wheel that shows complimentary colors and contrasting ones.

You can get all kinds of free color swatches at the paint dept at home depot. Since you are a teen and not a purchaser of paint, I would tell them what you need and ask for permission to take some. They will say yes after you show your responsiblity in asking. If they say no, just get your parent to go with you to get them. Check at home depot, walmart, sears etc. for them.

Next, You can usually get for free or up to $3, wallpaper books that will include many design styles and patterns. Use your favorites in a section of the binder or "portfolio" of what you like the best. In other words, you will be using them to define your style which will probably take several changes over the next several years--and that is a GOOD thing since you will probably have clients someday that will not fit exactly into your current style.

Finally, get the word out to family, friends, doctors offices, design centers etc... that you want all of their old magazines. Comb through them and cut out different styles of design that you see. Not just those you like, but those that will acurately represent all the different types of styles. Group them together as best fits for you.

I hope this gives you some ideas for a fun and exciting career. Above all, have fun with this project.

Answer 4

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_noban_nolnb/text/0,,HGTV_17896_28156,00.html
Well first you might want to explore color first then watch some of these shows on this site you could get great ideas from here. Explore every possible page on the designers also. but never copy create your own signature.

Answer 5

practice selling furniture because that is what you will be doing as an interior designer