A Career in Interior Decorating
By Tag Goulet
Imagine having a career that lets you use your creativity to make homes and businesses
more beautiful and comfortable. Welcome to the world of interior decorating!
There are few careers that offer so many benefits. As an interior decorator you will
have the satisfaction of making your vision a reality. You will meet interesting people,
and because many people who hire interior decorators are wealthy, you will likely spend
time in many beautiful homes and businesses. If you start your own decorating business you
can enjoy the freedom of being your own boss. And perhaps most importantly, your "work"
will be fun, interesting, and rewarding.
As long as you have the desire, you can become an interior decorator. No special
education or experience is necessary to break into this career and succeed. (Unlike
becoming a certified interior designer which has strict requirements including two to five
years of post-secondary education in interior design.) You can become an interior
decorator immediately.
If interior decorating sounds like the career of your dreams, here are 10 steps to
breaking into this fabulous job, based on the FabJob Guide to Become an Interior Decorator
published by FabJob.com:
1. Train your eye
Since you are interested in a career as a interior decorator, chances are you already
have a "good eye" for design. In other words, when you look at a room you can see what
looks good, and what could be improved. But no matter how naturally talented you are, you
can continually "train your eye" by studying what people consider to be good design.
Seek out beautifully decorated interiors to look at. You can find numerous examples of
beautiful interiors in design magazines or in your own community by visiting show homes,
open houses for sale in wealthy neighborhoods, furniture showrooms, historic homes, art
galleries, and offices of professionals such as interior decorators and corporate lawyers.
2. Educate yourself
Interior decorators are expected to know about the various elements involved in
decorating such as: space planning (how to arrange furniture and other items within a
particular space), use of color and light, furniture and decorating styles (for example,
Colonial or Southwestern), floorings, wall coverings, window treatments, and use of
accessories such as pillows and art. You can learn decorating basics through courses,
books, web sites, and even by speaking with retailers of products used in home decorating
(paint, carpet, lighting, hardware stores, etc.)
3. Practice at home
Most interior decorators get their first decorating experience working on their own
homes. Even if you have just one small room to experiment with, you can get "hands-on"
experience with a variety of decorating techniques. For example, you can make a dramatic
change to any room, quickly and inexpensively, simply by rearranging the furniture or
painting the walls a new color. Give it a try! Experiment with techniques you wouldn't
ordinarily use. Consider this room your "research lab" where you can try things out before
recommending them to a client.
4. Volunteer your services
Your friends and family members may already have asked for your advice about
decorating, but if they haven't yet asked you to actually decorate their homes or
businesses, why not offer?
Some occasions your family or friends may want to redecorate are when they experiencing
transitions in life, such as: marriage or co-habitation (help them merge two households
into one), moving into a new home, childbirth (offer to decorate the baby's room), hosting
a special event such as a wedding or dinner party, starting a home business (you could
decorate their new office), and selling a home (explain how a well decorated home can
attract buyers).
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