ALT-1 What you need to do before becoming an Interior Designer
Interior design can be a rewarding career as well as a challenging one. Many people assume interior designers help them pick out furniture and colors for their home. While this is something an interior designer can do, there is a huge difference between interior designers and interior decorators. Interior decorators are concerned mainly with color, theme, and style. Interior designers are licensed to remodel, design rooms, and are concerned not only with design but also with the use of the room.
Here is an example: If you were redecorating your living room and you just wanted to get some new furniture, a new paint job, and accessories, you would hire an interior decorator. However, if you needed to remodel or were making a lot of changes in your fabrics and furniture you might need an interior designer. They would be concerned with what fabrics to use, not only with the color, but also with how easily they would become worn or faded in the sun as well as other money saving and safety issues. They are also licensed to remodel and design homes up to a certain size.
To become an interior designer, then, takes a lot of hard work as well as a license. You cannot call yourself an interior designer unless you have been certified by passing the NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification). To get to this step there are some requirements you must first meet.
Education is the biggest hurdle you will have to overcome. Many schools offer courses in interior design. You can also find courses online. Here is the catch, however. To ever be able to sit for the NCIDQ, you typically need a Bachelor's degree from a CIDA (Council for Interior Design Accreditation) accredited school. This group was previously known as FIDER so some people may still know them by that name. Simply visit CIDA's website and you can search for schools who have been accredited by them. Even if you are currently not planning to be licensed, I strongly recommend going to one of these schools. They're not hard to find, and if you change your mind in the future you don't want to have to pay for more years of school. There are other routes of education you can take if you do not want to go to a CIDA accredited school, but they are more complex and detailed. Visit NCIDQ's website for more information.
After you have you Bachelor's degree you must gain work experience. Most, if not all, colleges require some sort of internship towards the end of your third year. This will usually help you find the company you plan to work for after graduation. If not, work with the college to find someone. You must have 3,520 hours of work experience before you are ready for the exam. This is roughly about two years of work. Some of these hours can be earned while you are still in college. The NCIDQ's website has the specifics of how to go that route.
Finally, there is the exam itself. After you completed your education and work experience requirements, you are ready to take the NCIDQ test. Your college will prepare you for this more as you get farther into the interior design program. Though the road to being a true interior designer sounds complicated, it is relatively simple once you figure out what you're doing. Ask a career counselor or someone at the college of your choice for more information about what you should do.
