Guest Post: How to Become a Professional Interior Decorator

How to Become a Professional Interior Decorator by: Joseph Rodriguez

The terms interior designer and interior decorator are often used interchangeably, though the two have very significant differences. Interior design could almost be said to be a psychology branch all of its own, because it involves understanding a client’s personality and behavior in to create a design plan for the rooms in a home or a building. Interior decorators adorn rooms according to the client’s taste.

Regardless, all employees must follow a code of regulations and work with the client’s general style and culture. Many states and Canadian provinces require that interior designers be formally trained and certified. No formal training or licensure is required for interior decorators. Anyone who possesses the requisite skills and can successfully self-market an simply start working as a decorator anywhere, and anytime.

Becoming a Professional Interior Decorator If you do want to earn a professional degree in interior design, it takes several years. With interior decorating, you don’t have to earn a four-year college degree. For interior decorating you need to possess a sharp eye for color; a deep knowledge of current fashions, an excellent sense of the way the shapes flow within a room, and excellent communication skills. You also need experience working with CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software.

More specifically, the following steps are involved:

Enroll in an interior decoration diploma or certification program. Courses can be taken either in person or online. Just make sure it’s accredited by CID (Certified Interior Decorator’s International).
Build your portfolio by decorating your family and/or friend’s homes. Photograph your finished results and provide explanations for each one. You can show these to your potential customers later.
Apply for professional membership with CID. Upon doing so, you will need to complete documentation that shows that you have completed one of their accredited programs. You will also receive a study guide to help you prepare for the examination.
Finally, your time will come to take the examination, this can be done either online or on paper. If you pass, you will receive your certification within a week.

Then, Decorate Your World!!!

Do a self-evaluation of your strengths, abilities, and weaknesses. If you’re regularly complimented on your decorating skills, this is a good sign that you have a natural talent to be a decorator. Be willing to work with various style preferences and cultures. Notice any areas that may be challenging for you and make a note to yourself to give yourself plenty of practice.

You don’t have to enroll in a full interior decoration program, just earning an AA or certification from a community college or even simply taking some home staging or home organization classes is enough to give you some validation.
Aside from helping your friends and/or family with their interior design projects, look for local opportunities to devote your skills. Even devoting your time to decorating spaces for special events contributes to your community and your portfolio.
Seek out a job in visual merchandising or interior decorating. Some places for you to start could include furniture stores, design centers, or local department stores.
If you have the time and funds for it, start your own business. You’ll need to obtain a business license from your state or town and rent some space for your office. If you don’t have time to do the fieldwork, you can work as a virtual decorator in which you evaluate what needs to be done with your client’s home through discussion and/or photographs and provide your clients with connections to the appropriate resources.

Interior decoration can be a fun and exciting career path for anyone with the right attitude. You need great self-promotion skills, a certain artistic appreciation, and a good sense of the way decorations flow in rooms.

Joseph Rodriguez writes all about careers in the the field of design. His recent work is about online MBA rankings.